Sumatra Thread!

[dheltzel]

Greetings fellow Sumatra lovers.
I am not new to chickens, but having moved across the country I'm having to start a new flock. I decided to preserve an exotic or rare chicken breed. After much research I became.... apparently...and unapologetic-ally obsessed with Black Sumatras.

I'm trying to connect with any nearby breeders where I may obtain a bird or three for breeding/keeping bloodlines fresh, etc.

I may be starting off with some from a hatchery if I must but want to make sure I have a good Roo or two.

I'm in the Annville, Pennsylvania area (near Hershey).

Thanks in advance!

I have a single pair of Sumatras and live fairly close to you. Mine descended from a flock that the Univ of GA obtained for genetic research because they lay blue eggs. There is evidence that the blue eggs arose in multiple locations spontaneously, rather than all being descended from South American fowl. There were no non-Sumatra genes added to this flock, they laid blue eggs when they entered the country. When they were finished their research, all the birds went to Toni-Marie Astin, who dispersed them to several friends. They are still quite rare and I am trying to preserve the genetics.

I really hope I can get chicks from them this year, and will let you know if I do.

 

[jasonbubba1234]

Looking for a show rooster

 

[Fowlcraft]

dhetzel: I love the idea of a sumatra that lays blue eggs, do you know of anybody else who has them too? Sumatras are already the coolest birds, and lately I keep coming across all these interesting variations that I never knew about. Blue eggs, fibromelanism, and even long-crowing sumatras. They keep getting even cooler

onagadori: How did you get this sexy violaceous color? I don't know why green iridescence is such an important point with the show birds. You could have purple! Why wouldn't you want that? Purple is so stunning!

 

[dheltzel]

dhetzel: I love the idea of a sumatra that lays blue eggs, do you know of anybody else who has them too? Sumatras are already the coolest birds, and lately I keep coming across all these interesting variations that I never knew about. Blue eggs, fibromelanism, and even long-crowing sumatras. They keep getting even cooler

onagadori: How did you get this sexy violaceous color? I don't know why green iridescence is such an important point with the show birds. You could have purple! Why wouldn't you want that? Purple is so stunning!

Boggy Bottom Bantams has the Sumatras from UGA that lay blue eggs. If you are on FB, check their page there.

 

[Fowlcraft]

Good, I'm glad they are a more or less known quantity. It would be a shame to lose that fun gene, because then if you wanted it back you would have no choice but to outcross, and then try to restore good type all over again, fighting off all the horrible little recessive genes that pop up all over the place. How inconvenient.

Do you plan on sharing your blue egg layers? Soon (later this year) I will living about 3 or 4 hours away from your town, and in urgent need of attractive chickens. I think it would be worth the long drive for some blue egg laying sumatras, eh?

 

[dheltzel]

As I understand it from Toni-Marie, who rescued them from the U of GA when they were done with them, the loss would be permanent. They were not created by crossing in blue egg genes, but the population the came from (somewhere in Indonesia, I suppose) had that gene present. Blue eggs are caused by a gene that was inserted into chickens via a virus or bacterial phage. It is entirely possible that the blue egg gene in these Sumatras is distinct from the gene in araucanas, ameraucanas, and legbars. I wonder if a cross of the 2 blue egg breeds might result in double doses of the gene and maybe a darker blue. Of course, that could be what the UGA researchers tried and found it a dead end. In any case, crossing a white egg Sumatra to a blue egg breed would never re-create these exactly. They are a genetic treasure in a sense.

 

[Fowlcraft]

That is sort of what I meant, but you said it much better than I did. The better point is not that to recreate them would be simply inconvenient, that it would actually be impossible! Yes. That is the great value of preserving such a primitive breed. They are like the toy box from which we pulled out all of the various poultry breeds with their fabulous array of different attributes.

I'm not sure if this video of a long-crowing sumatra has been posted before. Another example of the genetic wealth of the breed. Other breeds might do it better, but sumatras did it first

 

[onagadori]

dhetzel: I love the idea of a sumatra that lays blue eggs, do you know of anybody else who has them too? Sumatras are already the coolest birds, and lately I keep coming across all these interesting variations that I never knew about. Blue eggs, fibromelanism, and even long-crowing sumatras. They keep getting even cooler

onagadori: How did you get this sexy violaceous color? I don't know why green iridescence is such an important point with the show birds. You could have purple! Why wouldn't you want that? Purple is so stunning!

Not sure how we got the color.. LOL.. We feed a good quality feed and plenty of grain and extras and they have all they could want and sprouts, and sunflower seeds now, so maybe it is just a healthy happy bird.. Even my phoenix have beautiful colors on them.. so guessing it is the feed..

 

[Fowlcraft]

Ooh, maybe to could market that... a chicken feed that makes their feathers reflect light differently. I would give it a try!

 

[altair]

I hope I can get a few questions answered from some Sumatra keepers

-Are they cold tolerant? I see they have little comb and wattle flesh so I thought that was a nice perk in Vermont.

-Egg production? I've read conflicting reports of about 100 a year (or not many), to being "abundant" layers.

-Do people have trouble getting them in coops for the night, or are they partial to trees?