AllenK RGV
Chicken Addict
Hey all just a quick post to tell you I have an awesome breed recommendation for you if you are experiencing issues with either hawks/falcons/harriers ect. I have been raising Black Sumatras for the last 6 months and have yet to lose a one to predation. I notice hawk attacks at least 3 times weekly I am sure there are more as I wasn't home last Tuesday and saw two Harris Hawks circling my property coming back from breakfast. Yesterday they were screaming again so we investigated and yep sure enough there was a hawk circling again.
To be completely honest the only casualty I have seen was a falcon that slammed into the side of the house trying to get at my roosters, it recovered, but was stunned for about 5 minutes.
The Sumatra breed is a longtail breed and reportedly true flighted bird brought to the US in the 1840's and qualifies as a heritage breed. They are beautiful to look at as they have black feathers with a green irridescence. Mine all have 2+ spurs per roo and came from Meyers(via MPC). I live in a horrid region for raptors as we have 10 that overwinter here(1 is the osprey so only eats fish), but my little guys are impressive for their resilience. I do not know how the bantam variety fares as I have LF's, but would suspect this wild type fares well as a bantam too.
Regardless, for a Roo recommendation if you experience losses due to hawks give these guys a try as they have yet to disappoint us and raptor season has been horrid this winter. Out of the three roo's I keep only one is a jerk, but due to the horrid amount of raptors we get here in winter I'm keeping him.
Don't believe what you read on the comercial hatchery sites related to this breed, there is a Sumatra thread on BYC and the poor layer reports are junk from what I have read. Happy Chickening!
To be completely honest the only casualty I have seen was a falcon that slammed into the side of the house trying to get at my roosters, it recovered, but was stunned for about 5 minutes.
The Sumatra breed is a longtail breed and reportedly true flighted bird brought to the US in the 1840's and qualifies as a heritage breed. They are beautiful to look at as they have black feathers with a green irridescence. Mine all have 2+ spurs per roo and came from Meyers(via MPC). I live in a horrid region for raptors as we have 10 that overwinter here(1 is the osprey so only eats fish), but my little guys are impressive for their resilience. I do not know how the bantam variety fares as I have LF's, but would suspect this wild type fares well as a bantam too.
Regardless, for a Roo recommendation if you experience losses due to hawks give these guys a try as they have yet to disappoint us and raptor season has been horrid this winter. Out of the three roo's I keep only one is a jerk, but due to the horrid amount of raptors we get here in winter I'm keeping him.
Don't believe what you read on the comercial hatchery sites related to this breed, there is a Sumatra thread on BYC and the poor layer reports are junk from what I have read. Happy Chickening!
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