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Seasonal Care

Guides on spring, summer, fall and winter.

Spring

Guides in this section are being added.

Summer

• Summer Heat Management: Shade, Water, and Recognizing Heat StressHeavy, feathered hens suffer when the weather turns hot. Shade, cool water and quick recognition keep a flock safe.

Fall

• Cold Hardy and Heat Tolerant: How Speckled Sussex Handle Extreme WeatherSussex have a reputation for taking cold in stride. Heat is a different story, and both depend more on your management than on genetics.
• Molting in Backyard Hens: What It Is and How to Feed Through ItFeathers everywhere, laying stops and the flock looks ragged. Why molting happens and how to help your hens through it.
• The Molt Season Survival Guide: Feather Loss, Protein Needs, and PatienceMolt looks like a crisis and is actually routine. What to expect from your Sussex hens and how to help them through it.

Winter

• Winter Care for Heavy Breeds: Frostbite, Ventilation and Keeping Water LiquidSpeckled Sussex are cold hardy, but cold hardy is not cold proof. Where winter problems really come from and how to avoid them.
• Winter Care for Speckled Sussex: Water, Ventilation, and Egg ProductionThree things decide how a Sussex flock does in winter: liquid water, moving air and enough light. Everything else is detail.