Chicken Breed Focus - Sulmtaler

[sumi]

The Sulmtaler breed is named after the Sulm valley in the region of southern Styria (Steiermark) in southwestern Austria. Sulmtalers were developed in the 19th century to fill the need for large, heavy hens. The breeding efforts resulted in a hardy, fast-growing breed that is easy to fatten, particularly if fed maize. The Sulmtaler had become an extraordinary delicacy at the royal courts of Vienna and France by the late 19th century and in celebration of Napoleon's coronation in December 1804, there were 150 Sulmtaler capons and 50 hens ordered from the Styrian authorities.

Today the Sulmtalers are having quite a comeback after going nearly extinct. They are classed as rare in Britain but are still popular in Austria and other European countries. In Austria Sulmtaler meat is considered one of the best chicken meats available and sells for upward of €35.00 per kilogram. Sulmtalers were imported to the United States in 2011 (Arizona and Florida).

Sulmtaler hens have rather sturdy bodies, with twisted single combs and a tuft-like crest on the back of the head. Although calm natured these birds are good flyers and will require reasonably high fencing. The eggs are light cream colored and rather large. Although they were originally quite good layers, some of this quality got lost during decades of non specific breeding. Sulmtalers now are an average layer with 150 to 200 eggs per year. The Sulmtaler is a very hardy breed. It strives in various climates. They are great foragers that like to find their own feed and prefer the range over the coop.

Details:
Detail Value
Breed Purpose Meat Bird
Comb Single
Broodiness Frequent
Climate Tolerance All Climates
Egg Productivity Medium
Egg Size Large
Egg Color Light brown/cream
Breed Temperament Friendly; calm
Breed Size Large Fowl



Pic by @Tarps


Pic by @juststruttin


Pic by @juststruttin

BYC Breed Reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/sulmtaler-austrian-origin

BYC Breed Discussion:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/664596/sulmtalers-thread/0_30

Do you own Sulmtalers? Are you a Sulmtaler breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

 

[FaerieChicken]

OH I would love to have a few of these to add to my Dual Purpose breeding project! They are beautiful! Maybe even breed them to get their numbers up. Perhaps find out what their original crosses are and breed back a generation to an egg productive breed to try and get the egg laying up again!

 

[chickenshiha]

What breeds were used to create this breed? They look so beautiful I would kill for them . I love all dual purpose breeds there my favorite. I don't like non dual purpose

 

[GabrielBane]

Love my Sulmtalers.

I have documented the growth of my Silver Wheatens closely with weighings, I love this breed very much.

In-coming photo over-load in chronological order.












































Everyone's living outdoors and not our detached office anymore, so I'm going to try and get better photos tomorrow. This is a breed I love to say I'm helping conserve and help grow.

 

[FaerieChicken]

I really want to get us some! I want to order them from the person on BYC that has them.... I had to wait until after the holidays ugh

 

[tzischke15]

Hello,

what size or height do you mean when you say "reasonably high fencing" for the Sulmtaler? We have 1 rooster and 6 hens!

 

[Sambowling]

Some guys on here think my cockerel is a sumtaler...