Sumatra Thread!

[ramirezframing]

You are so sweet!

We borrowed the incubator. It is a styrofoam one called the Genesis. Not the highest tech one out there, but they have used it with success many times. But the last person that borrowed it didn't have a great hatch rate either, but better than ours. It had a thermometer and humidity reader. I thought it would be fine set as is since it had been used before. But the temp did read 101F which seemed a little high. The humidity was always about 50% and I did think it was weird that on day three prior to hatch day, when I put the little red plug in and filled the bottom with water to make humidity go up it actually went down. So maybe that little reader wasn't right all along. I will do my homework next time.
Miss Song has stopped laying. She gave us 12 eggs total when the weather cooled a little and then she quit laying again. She is an older bird.
Hmm I wonder what RIR x Sumarta would look like. I'm scared I'd be stuck with that Frankenstein breed, they would probably all hatch and no one would want them. I guess I could bring day olds to feed store and not say what breed they are....

I did this cross when I had just a sumatra rooster and RIR hens yearsssssss ago. The sons (which oddly enough were all I got from this cross) were bigger than the RIR hens and of the bb red color pattern. They all had a modified pea comb and all but one had a good temperament. Most went to the stew pot after a year or so of age. The one that was not of good temperament was a beautiful cranberry red, but with the RIR rooster attitude he also meet the stew pot.

 

[4Hgirl]

I was offered a blue leghorn cockerel yesterday, i would have taken  him there and then but we haven't got room just yet. I was a bit depressed to find two of my pekin hens squashed under a board of wood. i had a board of wood rested on the side of a coop to stop the wind for the birds  inside the coop, and it got blown over onto the pekins. its a shame as they hadn't even started laying they were young.


Out of my hatches i have 2 definite cockerels and 1 definite hen, and there's one who is looking more hen than cockerel.if it(the undecided one) is a hen ill be pleased. I'm going to keep the best cockerel and hen, and then try and get blue Sumatra hatching eggs from England. Then what hatches from the eggs goes in breeding pens with the two chicks i have currently.

Did someone mention knowing some blue Sumatra breeders in the UK?

So sorry to hear of the death of your Pekins

 

[4Hgirl]

I did this cross when I had just a sumatra rooster and RIR hens yearsssssss ago. The sons (which oddly enough were all I got from this cross) were bigger than the RIR hens and of the bb red color pattern. They all had a modified pea comb and all but one had a good temperament. Most went to the stew pot after a year or so of age. The one that was not of good temperament was a beautiful cranberry red, but with the RIR rooster attitude he also meet the stew pot.

Well that doesn't sound too bad. Most people around here care nothing of breed. I cant cull and eat our birds. My daughter would kill me! I'd love to though. I like knowing where my food comes from.

 

[4Hgirl]

Anybody going to the Ohio Nationals next weekend? I am taking my granddaughter and another 4-H member and his mom who is the club advisor. We all want to be able to meet you all and talk poultry and my granddaughter really wants to get a pair of Sumatra's to start breeding. Hope to be able to meet some of you there!

One of our 4H families are going. They gave us their last sumatra. They are into Pheonix now and bringing some they hatched this year. Have fun and I hope you find a nice breeding pair!

 

[4Hgirl]

I usually get mine from poultry supplies.com   There is a good article on Oxine http://shagbarkbantams.com/oxine.htm  I just have a regular small hand held sprayer that you pump air into that I take to the show and just mist the cage before the bird goes in.  I don't use the citric acid to "activate it and make the chlorine more active.  It will explain in the article, it seems to do just fine without it.  Same stuff they put in water systems for drinking water.  Good stuff   

Yes I've read the article and it does seem to be good safe stuff. I'm ordering it now!

 

[championsumatra]

Wow my school interviewed me about my chicken's and sumatras!!! It is in our schools news letters!!

I read it, they did a good job on it. if you guys would like to read it you can just PM me.

 

[4Hgirl]

 Wow my school interviewed me about my chicken's and sumatras!!! It is in our schools news letters!!  I read it, they did a good job on it. if you guys would like to read it you can just PM me.

Good for you! Hard work pays off.

 

[championsumatra]

Thanks,

 

[ST3PH3N]

Well my flock editing is nearly finished for the year! What a chore and I culled hard this year. After subtracting 51 birds I am now left with 45 chickens and pheasants, 23 are sumatras (4 roosters and 19 hens). I'll be hatching from 1 rooster and 5-7 sumatra hens, keep a few backups and sell the extra MMcM hens. I'll be keeping the hens separated and moving the roo from pen to pen. Any thoughts on how to keep the hatching chicks identifiable? I figure I'll set the eggs on different days and try to put little partitions in the hatcher, after the chicks hatch I'll put a tie-wrap band on em, or maybe paint a spot on their head... I just need to figure something out because often I've got lots of chicks hatching overnight and once they walk away from their shell I've mixed them up so any thoughts would be great!

-Stephen

 

[championsumatra]

I am doing a lot of hard culling this year too. I am only keeping one out of all the ones I hatch out in 2012. Their good but they are not really what I am looking for in a sumatra.