Sumatra Thread!

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

There's a few here within the last couple pages that do. Just pm some of the people here, FMP, champion, etc, many more....and me haha[/QUOTE]
FMP and Infntyhrt have very nice birds and show in
some of the big shows and have accrued points as well
from what I have seen on the APA site. Lots of breeders
at that site that would have show quality birds.

 

[Infnityhrt]

Well I just put him on the bathroom scale and he looks to be 4.5lbs. This guy is one year old, from the tail end of last year's hatch and not selectively bred, but he's the best I've got to start my selective breeding. I bought my original stock from Happy Hens Hatchery but I have no idea where they got their birds from. Happy Hens lost everything in 2003 when B.C. had an avian flu outbreak. None of their birds caught the flu but they were not allowed to ship and were not compensated so they lost the farm.

He will probably put on a little more weight this year as well, but he is within the weight range for acceptable. McMurray birds tend to be on the smaller size, but not all of them, just weigh the pullets and hens, they should be 3.5 to 4 pounds. As with everything the show world will tend to ruin breeds for fads, happens with dogs, and horses all the time, so I think its our job as breeders to keep to what is true. Even the APA site will tell you to trace the bird out of the standard and compare to a picture of your bird to see where it may need more improvement, but then like the tail on the hens, it is not well spread, doesn't call for well spread, but thats what the judge place. I like your bird a lot and think he resembles the more pheasant like look that I like and that I feel they should posses. They were after all a more wild bird, an athletic bird. Most birds showing nowadays are from a few breeders that were winning and everyone else began getting their birds from them, but I say to others, lets get the more true bird out there and showing and hopefully judges will begin to question weights and research the breed and realize what they were originally bred for since the beginning of the standard. If they were originally bred for fighting, the large, heavy, to full of tail birds of today would get there bottoms kicked by the smaller more agile birds of yesterday.
The wording the standard says of the Sumatra says this fowl is of graceful form and distinct carriage. I think your rooster has a very graceful form, his tail may fill in even more after his next molt, my birds always have a thicker tail after their year old molt.

 

[championsumatra]

Quote:
if you live in AZ I am close by you. I live in NM.

 

[championsumatra]

Quote: You would be surprised how agile and stronger the bigger birds are. I may have one bird who is over weight but boy is he strong. he was out with his hen one day and my leghorn rooster started to chase his hen. they where starting to fight I ran over to stop them from fighting but when I did finally get to them my Big sumatra rooster made My leghorn rooster go slamming into the wall. they where both 12 feet away from the wall. I hate when they fight but seeing that surprised me.

after that fight my leghorn rooster was scared of him.He has a great show record he is always 1st to second Place. to me whether or not you are at a big show or not it really depends on who you are up against or if your bird is in top condition. A bird who is not in good condition is not going to place very high.

 

[ramirezframing]

Hello everyone, my name Stephen and I'm new to BYC but not new to chickens. I bought my first Sumatras over 10 years ago but I've let them do their own thing until recently when I decided I should spend the time to shape them up a bit. Here are 2 photos (taken with my phone) of the best of last years roosters that I am planning to pair with the best of some Murray Mcmurray hens I bought this year.
I chose this first photo to show his yellow feet and "pheasant like" look, and the second below shows off his profile, only the last tail feather touches the ground when he's standing alert.


My rooster has 5 spurs on each leg where the hatchery birds have only 1, but the Murray Mcmurray birds have nicer heads and darker faces so we'll see how things go. I plan on breeding toward APA's standards but my personal feeling is Sumatras should be very pheasant like with long narrow bodies, long legs and long horizontal tails; basically pheasant chickens.

So that's a bit about me and (my Sumatras mostly) I hope to chime in every so often, and if anyone has any questions or constructive criticisms regarding either my birds or the Mcmurray's birds I've bought feel free!

I have to agree with most of the replies you have already gotten, he's a very nice bird! Just from the pictures and not having seen him in real life, I would use him for breeding myself. Good luck

 

[ramirezframing]

You would be surprised how agile and stronger the bigger birds are. I may have one bird who is over weight but boy is he strong. he was out with his hen one day and my leghorn rooster started to chase his hen. they where starting to fight I ran over to stop them from fighting but when I did finally get to them my Big sumatra rooster made My leghorn rooster go slamming into the wall. they where both 20 feet away from the wall. I hate when they fight but seeing that surprised me.

after that fight my leghorn rooster was scared of him.

I had a silkie rooster who could beat up any other bird on my place (and I had some big mix breed roosters at the time) Size doesn't matter in a rooster fight, attitude does from what I have seen in over 20 years of having chickens.

 

[championsumatra]

Quote: yes it is true the strong will he had to protect her was just crazy. I did not think he had it in him.

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

I had a silkie rooster who could beat up any other bird on my place (and I had some big mix breed roosters at the time) Size doesn't matter in a rooster fight, attitude does from what I have seen in over 20 years of having chickens.

I agree.......the attitude of the bird does factor in a fair deal. I have also
learned to keep my breeds separate......helps with keeping the eggs
pure and keeps down the fighting among the roos.

 

[championsumatra]

Quote: I was not breeding them at the time. They where molting so no problems with getting a mix. I was letting them out for a while to give them some fresh air and to get some sun. They Really needed to get out of those small coops... I only have two coops one is for my moms laying chickens and the other one is for my sumatra's. my moms laying chickens are free range all day.. so it's not like I could get them all in... as long as I keep an eye on them they are fine.

 

[ramirezframing]

At the end of August I will be purchasing Sumatra hatching eggs. Does anyone know a show standard breeder that will ship eggs?

I would recommend looking through this thread and looking at the pictures and seeing what birds/ colors you like best. Or asking for pictures of peoples birds and the weights of them and any known problems they might have. Good luck on your search.