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Light Sussex Chickens | The Pink Egg Layers

Light Sussex are a large breed of chicken that lays pale pinkish eggs.

One spring several years ago, I decided to forego ordering chicks from one of the large hatcheries, which had been my M.O. the last couple of years, and instead try hatching some chicks myself. 


Light Sussex Chickens | The Pink Egg Layers

One of those breeds I decided to hatch is the Light Sussex.  This was a new breed for me, but I was interested in raising a few because they are supposed to be a friendly breed.

Light Sussex are strikingly beautiful white birds with black tails and a black collar around their neck. They are generally a docile and calm breed, but curious and known to be good foragers.

A relatively new breed, at least here in the United States, it's thought they were brought to England fro Rome by Roman invaders around 43 A.D., but only showed up on American shores in 2007.

A regal-looking bird, the Sussex is a dual-purpose breed.  Because of their larger size, with females weighing around 7 pounds and males weighing in around 9 pounds, Sussex work well as meat birds, but are also good mothers and good layers of approximately 250 large, pale pinkish eggs per year.

Light Sussex do well in warm climates, but are also cold hardy, often laying through the winter. 

ordered fertile hatching eggs and I was ready to try and add some Light Sussex chickens to my flock. Setting the eggs in my incubator, 21 days later, the eggs started hatching.

Out of the beautiful pink hatching eggs, emerged two tiny fluffy yellow chicks. I named the chicks Daphne and Guinevere.  

"Daphne" means bright, alert and playful, charming and elegant. One look at what Daphne will look like as an adult and you know the name fits.  

"Guinevere" means fair and white (how apropos!) and of course was the legendary Queen of King Arthur.  Since this breed originated in England, I thought Guinevere was the perfect name.

By one week old it was clear this is a very friendly breed. Any time I took them out of the brooder, they seemed perfectly content to just stand on my lap.

I had also ordered day old Light Sussex chicks (as a backup plan in case none of the eggs hatched) that arrived at the same time my eggs hatched, so one more Light Sussex joined Daphne and Guinevere in the brooder.  

By a week old they were already starting to lose their yellow chick fluff and one was even sporting a few tiny tail feathers!

At a month old, their feathers were coming in white and the black markings had started to emerge.  They were some of the most beautiful chicks I had ever raised.

True to the breed, the three of them continued to be curious, friendly chicks, having a grand time exploring the ground outside their coop as I snapped photos.



By five weeks, it was clear that I had a rooster.  It's hard to tell roos from hens at this young age, but by comparing chicks of the same breed and age, it can sometimes become apparent at an early age

One chick's comb was much larger, turning red and he was already starting to grow wattles.  

His legs were thicker and he was more stocky than the two females.  So it looked like we had a Lancelot for our Guinevere!

I enjoyed watching the chicks change and grow. They were adorable chicks,  gangly teens, and as adults  absolutely stunning. 

 Here is Lancelot at 16 weeks old...he was just gorgeous.

I am so glad I chose to raise a few Light Sussex. They are extremely friendly chickens and added a nice bit of color to our flock, that up until then hadn't included any white chickens.  

And oooh, those pink eggs !  


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