chickens – Storybook Farm

Selling a Prize Winner to a Deserving Junior

This past spring, a woman named Pirjo contacted me. Her daughter was in her last year in the junior division and wanted to purchase some chickens for show purposes. She wanted Ameraucanas, which I did sell to her, but she also bought my big, beautiful Light Sussex cock, whom we called “Buddy-son,” since he was the son of an older cock we had called “Buddy.”

She wrote me recently to say that her daughter won the Grand Champion award of the junior division in her show with Buddy-son! Pirjo wrote, “Best in show, judge said it wasn’t even a close contest! He was also the most admired and photographed bird in the barn. He really did great. And I must say, he is happy to be back home! Thanks for the great birds. They all did well.”

For me, her daughter’s happy face made saying goodbye to this beautiful cock worth it. But why did I sell him? Buddy and Buddy-son are gorgeous: big, robust, and fertile. There’s just one little issue with them: they are “split to Coronation.” What does that mean?

Light Sussex and Coronation Sussex

Buddy-son
Light Sussex cock
Photo courtesy: Morton Estate
Coronation Sussex cock

The Coronation Sussex (pictured on the right above) has the same color pattern and egg color as the Light Sussex, but with lavender in place of the Light Sussex’s black. This color pattern was created for the coronation of King Edward VIII of Great Britain in 1936 – an event which never took place because Edward abdicated in order to marry a divorcee before he was officially crowned.

Coronation Sussex are a rare and beautiful variety of the Sussex breed: they are docile, large, and lay very large to jumbo pinkish, brown, or tan eggs (depending on the hen). The Coronation pattern is recessive; to oversimplify, like blue eyes in humans, a bird must carry two recessive Coronation pattern genes to look like a Coronation Sussex. A bird that appears to be a Light Sussex (with black markings on hackles and tail feathers) can mask Coronation genes. The only way to find out if a bird is “split to Coronation” is to breed him with either a bird known to be split, or with a full Coronation bird. In the first instance, 1/4 of the offspring should show the Coro pattern; in the second, half (statistically) will be Light Sussex and half Coro.

To return to my story, Buddy and his son were both drop-dead gorgeous Light Sussex males, but as we bred this past year, we hatched about 80 Light Sussex eggs from these boys and another cock from a different line that we thought was a pure Light Sussex (with no Coronation genes hiding underneath). About 1/2 of these chicks feathered out to be Coronation Sussex. This means that all their siblings and cousins that appear to be Light Sussex are either split (they carry the Coronation gene, but we can’t see it) or they are “pure”— they carry two of the genes that yield the dominant Light Sussex pattern.

We were both surprised and a bit downhearted to realize that, aside from pair mating and hatching LOTS of chicks next year, there is no way for us to tell if we are selling pure Light Sussex chicks ongoing. So, when Pirjo came this spring looking for show quality birds, I gladly sold Buddy-son to her! He won best in show, proving that he has what it takes to be a winner! He has a good home, and we have his wonderful genes in our Coronation lines moving forwards.

What this means for us going forwards…

As we look to hatching in 2020, we plan to move all of this year’s Light Sussex birds out and concentrate on our Coronation Sussex and our Marans (wheaten, blue wheaten, and black copper varieties). We will also not be continuing with Ameraucanas in 2020. We are, in general, downsizing our chicken operation because of our new involvement with our Mini Nubian goats.

This is post #2 of 2 in a series on keeping chickens with children.

Post #1 focused on the research you should do, and decisions that you as the adult should come to, before you introduce the idea of a chicken-keeping project to your child. If you take the time to narrow down options, and identify your goals for this adventure, you have more options and a greater chance of success.

1. From the list you’ve narrowed down, help your child to choose his breed(s).

He might want to specialize in one breed if he’s thinking of breeding and showing in the future, but most kids will want an assortment of breeds when starting out. This gives a rainbow egg basket, and variety in the hens’ appearances. There’s always time to specialize later if you become interested in breeding more seriously.

2. From your earlier research, with your child, choose your breeder.

There are large hatcheries that provide (how to put this?) basic chicks inexpensively. (Read a good article on this here.) These chicks would not be exhibition quality and, more importantly, as the article states, large hatchery chicks tend to be weaker, watered down versions of the terrific birds of yesteryear. Large hatcheries usually allow random breeding (many roosters among many hens in large poultry houses), whereas those who breed heritage birds for exhibition or simply to improve their breeds use selective mating. The difference here is similar to buying a puppy from a pet store vs. a breeder. Generally, the rule is you get what you pay for with chicks. I wrote a whole blog post on this, if you want even more food for thought.

In case you’re wondering: I put this step here because involving your child in this decision gives him experience in cost/benefit choices that we all make in the adult world. However, you may want to narrow down his choices ahead of involving him, so as to not get his hopes pinned on one gorgeous picture that a hatchery happens to post. After you make this choice together, you’ll need to read details about how to order chicks from your breeder (all are different) and when to expect them after you do. But — before you order — read on!

3. Purchase (or build with your child) a coop for your chicks well ahead of their arrival.

Some people start chicks in a simple brooder — it can be a box or baby’s wading pool with a light for heat, food, water, and shavings that starts in your house, but quite quickly you want to move the chicks to their permanent coop.

Note well, please: chicks produce dust after about a week or two that can be dangerous to humans, especially if it gets into food. Always keep chicks in the house for as short a time as possible, and don’t brood them in your kitchen ever.

There are as many plans for making coops as there are people keeping chickens. In this post, I talk about the best coop I’ve ever worked with, and sell plans for it here. In this post, I talk about general features to look for in any coop plans. Check them out, discuss their features with your child, and be sure to get that coop (and all needed equipment, like food, water, and feeders/waterers, as well as grit, perches, etc.) in place before ordering any chicks or hatching eggs! (If you plan to hatch eggs, you’ll need an incubator as well!)

4. Now you can order your peeps (or hatching eggs)!

Again, I’m not a fan of starting with hatching eggs as a beginner, but if that’s your choice, then order hatching eggs at this point. Otherwise, order your peeps and start talking with your child about feeding and watering practices.

As stated above, you and your child can both access online communities where you can learn about rearing chicks. We, at Storybook Farm, sell four different breeds of large fowl, heritage chickens. All of them are excellent choices as dual purpose, gentle, friendly birds. (They are grandchild tested, so we know for sure! 🤗 ) If you are interested in learning about our French Copper Marans, our Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks, our Light Sussex, or our Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas, click here.

This article should get you started. Do you have any questions? Feel free to post comments and I’ll do my best to answer. Good luck!

Tag: chickens

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