Breeds

Sussex Chickens: Speckled, Light and Red Sussex Breed Facts, Eggs, Temperament and History

Field guide · Updated October 21, 2026 · about 7 min read

The Sussex is an old English dual-purpose breed from the county of Sussex, first prized as a table bird for the London market and admitted to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 1914. Extension services describe it as an alert, easy-to-handle bird that goes broody and makes a good mother; The Livestock Conservancy lists it as "Recovering." This page gathers the standard facts, the three American varieties, the egg figures each source gives, and where sources disagree.

A hen with dark reddish-brown feathers, each tipped with white, giving a speckled look, with a red single comb and wattles and pale legs, standing on grass — A Speckled Sussex hen, as identified on the Commons file page (photographed April 2008).
Photo: Davee / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts

Fact	What the sources say
Origin	County of Sussex, England (Oklahoma State; Illinois Extension; Wisconsin Extension)
Class and purpose	English class (Wisconsin; Illinois list); dual-purpose, meat and eggs (Oklahoma State; Illinois; Kentucky; The Livestock Conservancy)
APA varieties	Speckled and Red, 1914; Light, 1929 (Illinois list; The Livestock Conservancy)
Standard weights (APA)	Cock 9 lb, hen 7 lb, cockerel 7.5 lb, pullet 6 lb (Oklahoma State; Wisconsin)
Comb, skin, shanks	Red single comb with five points (Oklahoma State; The Livestock Conservancy); white skin; white or whitish shanks; four toes
Egg shell	Brown (Oklahoma State; Illinois; Wisconsin; Kentucky); tan to brown, large (The Livestock Conservancy); tinted brown (PoultryHub Australia)
Eggs per year	200–250 (TLC breed page); about 200 "if hens are not overly fat" (TLC chart); 180–200, up to 250 in layer strains (Wikipedia); up to 280 (PoultryHub)
Temperament	Alert, stout and easy to handle (Oklahoma State); calm and curious, friendly with people (The Livestock Conservancy)
Broodiness	Goes broody (Oklahoma State; Wisconsin; Kentucky; The Livestock Conservancy); good mothers (Oklahoma State; Wisconsin; The Livestock Conservancy)
Climate	Sources differ on heat; see below
Conservation status	Recovering (The Livestock Conservancy)

The varieties and how they are marked

The APA recognizes three varieties; Britain recognizes more. Oklahoma State notes that British standards differ from the American one, and Wikipedia lists eight varieties recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. The Livestock Conservancy adds that England recognizes a Brown and that breeders have developed Coronation, Buff, White and Silver.

Variety	In the APA Standard?	Plumage, as Wikipedia summarizes the British standard
Speckled	Yes, 1914	Rich dark mahogany, each feather with a black dot and a white tip; the oldest variety
Red	Yes, 1914	Same markings as the Light on a rich dark red ground; originally black-breasted
Light	Yes, 1929	White body; black tail; black in the flight feathers and wing coverts; white neck hackles striped with black
Buff	No	Light markings in greenish black on a golden-buff ground; appeared in the 1920s
Silver	No	Like the Light, with grey thighs and a dark, silver-laced breast; the most recent
White	No	Pure white; arose as a sport of the Light
Coronation	No	Light markings in lavender instead of black
Brown	No	Recognized in England (The Livestock Conservancy); not described in the sources used here

Speckled, white tip: each feather ends in white
Speckled, black dot: a black mark just below the white tip
Speckled, ground color: rich dark mahogany
Light, body: white (tail and parts of the wing are black, not shown)
Light, neck hackle: white, striped with black
Red, body: rich dark red
Red, neck hackle: the Light's markings on a red ground

Drawn by HenClass from Wikipedia's summary of the Poultry Club of Great Britain variety descriptions, with APA years from Illinois Extension's list of recognized varieties and The Livestock Conservancy. Stylized single feathers; colors approximate. Not to scale.

Weight and build

The APA weights in the table appear at both Oklahoma State and Wisconsin Extension, and The Livestock Conservancy gives the same 9 lb for males and 7 lb for females. PoultryHub Australia's metric standard is close to those figures: cock 4.1 kg, hen 3.2 kg, cockerel 3.4 kg, pullet 2.7 kg, with bantams at 1.5 kg (male) and 1.1 kg (female). That makes the Sussex hen heavier than the Wyandotte hen (6.5 lb) and a little lighter than the Orpington hen (8 lb).

Oklahoma State describes a rectangular body with close-fitting feathers, red wattles and earlobes and white shanks. The Livestock Conservancy adds wide shoulders, a deep, broad body, a horn-colored beak and reddish-bay eyes; PoultryHub says the tail sits at about 45 degrees. Plan housing for a heavy bird with the coop space calculator.

Eggs: count and shade

Sources give different counts, and two of them tie laying to body condition:

The Livestock Conservancy breed page: fair-to-good layers of about 200–250 large tan or brown eggs a year, laying best when not allowed to get overly fat. It also says the breed puts on fat very easily.
The Livestock Conservancy comparison chart: rate of lay "very good; ~200, if hens are not overly fat."
Wikipedia: some 180–200 tinted eggs a year, up to 250 in some layer strains, at about 60 g each.
PoultryHub Australia: up to 280 eggs a year, less productive than the Australorp.

Shell color is brown in the US extension sources and tan to brown at The Livestock Conservancy, so Sussex eggs usually sit on the lighter side of the brown range; compare them in the egg color chart. For feed that keeps hens laying without getting overweight, see feeding laying hens and the treat limits in what chickens can eat. For output by age, see how long hens keep laying.

Climate: sources differ on heat

Cold: The Livestock Conservancy breed page says Sussex do well in winter, and PoultryHub says the heavy plumage makes the breed cold tolerant. The Conservancy's chart notes that combs can be prone to frostbite; see winter care.
Heat: the Conservancy's chart rates the breed "good in hot and cold," but its breed page says Sussex are not fond of heat, and PoultryHub does not recommend it for hot climates. In hot regions, plan for shade, airflow and water; see heat stress.

Temperament, foraging and broodiness

Easy to handle. Oklahoma State calls Sussex alert, attractive, good foragers, stout and easy to handle. The Livestock Conservancy calls them calm, curious and friendly with people, suitable for beginners, families and 4-H.
Mixed flocks. The Conservancy says Sussex are not aggressive toward other breeds but may need watching if more assertive birds share the flock.
Space and enrichment. They do well in confinement if they can roam, enjoy free-ranging part of the week and are not prone to flying; the Conservancy suggests cover, leaf piles, stumps and perches in the run.
Broody hens. Oklahoma State, Wisconsin and The Livestock Conservancy say hens go broody and make good mothers; Kentucky lists the Sussex among breeds that may go broody, and PoultryHub calls it easily broody. See broody hens.

History in brief

A table-bird region. The Livestock Conservancy says Kent, Sussex and Surrey have been known for fine-flavored poultry since Roman times, and that Sussex birds were judged the best of the region's chickens for the London market in the Victorian era.
1845. 289 birds described as "Old Sussex or Kent Fowl" were shown at the first poultry show at London Zoo (Wikipedia).
Decline. Crossing with Asiatic fowl in the mid-1800s made birds larger but coarser, and few pure flocks were left by 1900 (The Livestock Conservancy).
1902–1903. A standard with Light, Red and Speckled varieties was drawn up in 1902 (Wikipedia). In 1903 Edward Brown urged Sussex farmers to save the breed, and that July E. J. Wadman formed a breed club (The Livestock Conservancy).
To America. The breed reached the US around 1912; the APA admitted the Speckled and Red in 1914 and the Light in 1929 (Oklahoma State; The Livestock Conservancy; Illinois list).
Utility role. Until hybrid strains arrived around the Second World War, the Sussex and the Rhode Island Red were the two main meat breeds in the UK (Wikipedia), and Oklahoma State and Wisconsin say the Light has figured in many commercial strains.
Today. Oklahoma State and Wisconsin say the breed is more popular in Canada, England and elsewhere than in the US; The Livestock Conservancy lists it as Recovering.

Is it a fit for your flock? A checklist

You want a calm, easily handled bird for a family or beginner flock.
You have room to forage. Sources describe good foragers that like to range part of the week.
You can keep hens from getting fat. Two sources link laying to body condition.
Your egg expectations match the sources: roughly 180–250 tan to brown eggs a year, depending on source and strain.
You are fine with a broody hen now and then.
Your summers are mild, or you can manage heat, given the split between sources.
Compare breeds in the breed directory, including the Plymouth Rock and Leghorn, and look up terms such as sport, hackle and APA Standard in the glossary.