Sumatra Thread!

[G-Dekeyser]

Here is a pic of our founding male Sumatra, this is the look we strive for, he is not really gamey but he has that wild look. We also breed to meet the standard of perfection with multiple spurs and yellow bottom, we lost some of the bottoms in the duns but I know that eventually we will have that, its just to get new colors you sometimes lose something to gain something else and it just takes a few generations to get it back. I absolutely love these birds and I love the wild look, I have not tried to breed out the wild temperament and they will scream and squawk when caught . Flying Monkey Poop is my son, since everyone knows him.

WOW thats a nice male! this is what im striving for exactly.

 

[championsumatra]

humm guys I gust read the american standard of perfection and it says that the sumatra are supposed to have medium length legs.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

humm guys I gust read the american standard of perfection and it says that the sumatra are supposed to have medium length legs.

Define medium length. Not to be a jerk, but everyone has their opinion of medium like with tail length.

 

[Henferno]

I know I've posted this guy before, but this is kinda the look I like in them, maybe a touch more game looks and a little longer in the leg, but he is a tiny bantam to start with.
This is also one of the males I mentioned a while back that seems to add a spur each year. Started with 3 and no more spur bumps, up to 5 now and did notice a 6th spur bump now on one leg.

He's molting again, well about half way back in feather, once he finishes I'll update some pics of them all.

They're gorgeous, the lacing especially but... he doesn't have white in his earlobe does he?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Here is a pic of our founding male Sumatra, this is the look we strive for, he is not really gamey but he has that wild look. We also breed to meet the standard of perfection with multiple spurs and yellow bottom, we lost some of the bottoms in the duns but I know that eventually we will have that, its just to get new colors you sometimes lose something to gain something else and it just takes a few generations to get it back. I absolutely love these birds and I love the wild look, I have not tried to breed out the wild temperament and they will scream and squawk when caught . Flying Monkey Poop is my son, since everyone knows him.

hey look a here, we got mama monkey poop now!! Glad to see you joined up. And yes you both have done a great job on the sumatra too, very nice birds. I'm the one that just got the trio of duns from yall. Couldnt be happier, and yes I saw what you meant about the foot color on them. But it's still there, just not perfected, but like you also said, that's totally normal and an easy fix.

I've been working on a few in patterns over the past few years just for my own enjoyment, you loose a little you gain a little, just part of it, but it is all easily fixed with the right breeding.

And Michael,
yes I like the wings a bit higher too, that's part of what I've been trying to breed into them, so the duns will work great there. Just been hard finding a bantam line that isnt low like that, more than likely a trace back to whatever was originally used to breed them down. The hackle thing, they seem to only do that when you are in the pen, kinda flare it up at you, any other time, it looks normal, just hard to get a clear pic out of the pen withe the wire and all, so it hasnt been a big issue to me. Now one of the F3 bb red project males I have going, he has it bad, the entire back cap will flare out on him. Got to breed some of that out for sure in him. But I need to do a couple more back crosses before I'll call them finished anyway. So by then I'm thinking It'll be more reasonable anyway. time will tell.


On the leg thing, they arent supposed to be on stilts, but by and far breeders have been going lower and lower with them. They should be about like the black bird posted above. Good lenght, not a sky scrapper, but not hidden under the body either. Over time they have been getting short no doubt about it. One reason I feel, is the shorter the leg, the more emphasis it puts on the tail. In other words a short leg birds tail looks longer. Just a theory I have on it.
Either way judges have been leaning toward this shorter leg bird over the past few years because it's "flashier". BUT recently some of the US top long tail breeders (most are judges too) got together with the APA and said enough. Judge them by the standard and not what and individual likes, after all that's why you have a standard. They agreed and in recent shows from what one of them tells me, they are in fact following threw with it. Now each judge will have his or her own opinion. They leave things so vague in a lot of the standard descriptions. Like Champion Sumatras said, they call it medium. Well like FMP followed up with, what's medium??
It kinda leaves it all up to the individual doing the judging.

Either way, personally I breed for what I like in a bird. If it shows good for others great, I dont have time to go to many myself with my work schedule and 600 or so mouths to feed every day. So for myself, I breed towards the traits I like in them, yet try to keep them as close to standard as my stock will allow. All in all, they are all still nice sumatra, just depends on the eye of the beholder. And what a judge considers the standard to interpret as.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

They're gorgeous, the lacing especially but... he doesn't have white in his earlobe does he?

thanks, yes I really love the lacing in all my blues, would be hard to find any much better over all color wise.
No he doesnt have even the slightest touch of white in the lobes, that's just the flash or something you're seeing. Never even noticed it til you mentioned it.
Just blew up a pic to look at it better, its a fold in his lobe that is making it look that way

heres another one of him in better light. Really makes the colors pop when the suns on him.

will get some new ones when they are all back in good feather and some good clean head shots too.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I was out today in the gloomy rain and tried to get some pics. My phone has been acting up so every time I should have had a great shot, I got a text or it shut off so this is the best I got of one of the bantam cockerels. This guy has more of the LF look for the most part. You can also see the face of the dun cockerel, the backside of a runty dun hen (for a dun bantam project), the breast of an old blue hen, and a super dark blue young pullet right behind his tail (the only way you can tell she is blue is by the lacing on her that shows in the right light, her brother is even darker)

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I was out today in the gloomy rain and tried to get some pics. My phone has been acting up so every time I should have had a great shot, I got a text or it shut off so this is the best I got of one of the bantam cockerels. This guy has more of the LF look for the most part. You can also see the face of the dun cockerel, the backside of a runty dun hen (for a dun bantam project), the breast of an old blue hen, and a super dark blue young pullet right behind his tail (the only way you can tell she is blue is by the lacing on her that shows in the right light, her brother is even darker)

must not of been a good pic Michael, didnt even come threw HAHA

I know what you mean though, seems I have to take about 20 pics of a bird or pen of birds to get that one good shot.
I just use an old digital camera, after sitting there for a couple minutes, It will automatically shut off. Of course that always the exact moment everything is just right and all are look at you with that perfect pose. I'll get it back on and snap one real quick in desperation and you end up with that blur of a running rooster, flapping wings and crowing, or my favorite the full on butt shot of everybody in the pen. Not too bad if you are doing just a couple birds, but I try to update all my pics every year on the website of all the birds. Lord it usually takes 2 full weekends of just sitting in pen by pen til I get a couple worth showing.

They never want to cooperate do they

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Will this one work?

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I lost the cord for my digital camera so I use my phone these days which sucks, it has a 2.3 mega pixel camera but it gets the job done. It is on my Christmas wish list, either a new digital camera or an upgrade of my phone to a droid instead of the ancient slider phone I have now. I am a huge slacker when it comes to getting pics when I have to. If I have a nice day off with nothing to do, I like to wander and try to get pics of birds but most of the time I get side tracked and wander around daydreaming and forget all about getting chicken pictures until I get online at night.

I forgot to mention, we got a flock of about a dozen amazing LF black sumatras tonight from a good friend who decided to focus more on bantams. I think combining our line with the new line will create some stunning birds. Like with everything, when I get time I will try to get some pics of them.