Sumatra Thread!

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Okay....this will sound dumb but I want to ask it because I think
it's a valid thought. Back in the stone age when I was showing
horses a lot of folks had started taking a short cut, of sorts, to
get a deep shine on the horses coats without needing to do so
much brushing and proper feed by adding corn oil to the feed.
They got to the point of adding huge amounts and it wasn't long
before some but not all of these horses started having digestive
issues. The vets concluded that it could be the oil was coating the
intestines to the point of the nutrients from the feed could not be
absorbed properly. I'm not a vet and don't know if this could truly
be an issue but if it can, can it be an issue with chickens as well
or is the digestive system completely different in how it works. How
much would be too much if you are adding corn and BOSS which
are higher in oils than other feeds. I know we should feed a balanced
diet and we do, but is there a limit to the oils we add to the feed?

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Yes alfalfa works great! There is a boat load of things that will brighten the yellow pigment, some of those are corn, carrots, and what works best for me and is free, is to use fresh grasses with lots of weeds such as clover in it ( very much like alfalfa but fresh).

Okay, so when I was allowing my birds to have alfalfa I was doing an okay thing, on another thread I listed what I fed my birds & how I kept them and everyone said alfalfa was bad, which I thought was weird as we never had unhealthy birds, and when my daughter was showing her birds they always looked great & they had the same diet as the non show birds. I am guessing we where keeping & feeding her birds different then other people showing though.

Basically we kept the birds the way I had experienced keeping them as a child on my Grandparent's farm, like regular farm chickens. First they all got free-range time in the garden, under lots of fruit trees, and in all the garden beds (so they got exercise, space, and what ever they could scrounge). All the creepy crawlies I found when gardening they all got, they all got tons of snails. We fed heavy on the wild seed side & left over rice (we eat lots of rice), lots of fruits, the birds had access to alfalfa, scratch, various other grains, oyster shell, tons of table scraps too. We did not know the JF we kept needed a special diet, we just assumed more wild foods for all are chickens was healthier. We even one year for fun sowed the wild bird seed to grow our own plants to give to the birds. BTW chickens will eat Lemon Grass to the ground, I had no idea till it was to late to save those cooking herb plants that chickens love Lemon Grass.

I am finding the purple/green sheen discussion way useful, as I always heard/read the purple sheen was poor diet, but if it can be genetic does that mean something else is wrong with the birds internally or is it just a preference for that colour in the SoPs based on the belief that purple is sickly?

Here is a roo with very purple black feathers.


This is a Green/Red JF cross... I figured his diet was bad, but maybe no it is genetics after all.
From this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...xploring-the-significance-of-cemani-mutations

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Lauravonsmurf...... that is a very interesting looking bird
and he is gorgeous. Is his comb two-toned or just a play
of the lights that makes it look that way?

 

[NWSumatras]

Oh my so many great subjects I cant help but be hooked on here right now.

Lauravonsmurf, its a more complex subject than what I said. Obviously nutrition fuels the body and develops the feathers in a way that reflects the light. Pigments do come from the diets. Think of the wild birds and all their colors. The webs on each feather are put together in a way that can create different reflections from the light. Of course I am not the person to explain this and there are several articles and even books on it. However, take a pair of birds with purple feathers and breed them together, you normally get more purple offspring. I know because when I was younger I started out with hatchery birds that were purple and so were their young, and every single generation from that. This didn't change until I introduced quality green birds from a breeder. That to me says genetics. I am all ears though.

Coop Scoop Boogie, though I have taken the classes for animal nutrition, I am far from an expert in any way. I like the good old fashion way of things. I heard some crazy, and I mean crazy things about feeds people use. I have heard, blood, raw meats, cooked meats, road kill, 100 dollar feeds and all sorts of grains and mixtures. I got to hand it to people but I am just not willing to go that route. When I show my birds next to someone else's at the show, you will not see or feel a difference in feather quality on my birds. Yes it is important to give them a balance diet. I completely and 100% agree. I guess I cant wrap my mind around a chicken flock chasing down a cow out in the pasture and one grabbing it by the throat as the others tackle it.

 

[tridentk9]

If a bird can't use certain minerals etc in their diet, that could change feather color. The reason could be genetics, epigenetics, lack or addition of another substance, or an illness.

 

[Chickenwingo]

I have a question wouldn't you want the bottom of there feet as black or dark as possible?

A little humor for you all. Why was tiger looking in the toilet? He was looking for Poo. LOL

 

[NWSumatras]

I have a question wouldn't you want the bottom of there feet as black or dark as possible?

Per standard they must be yellow. Sumatras are a yellow skinned breed.

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Per standard they must be yellow. Sumatras are a yellow skinned breed.

Are pink or light colored feet a DQ or points off and how many points?

 

[NWSumatras]

It is a DQ. If the bottom of the feet are pink, it just means they have white skin, which is why it would be a DQ. However, it is not to be confused with a bleached out laying hen.

 

[ramirezframing]

Oh my so many great subjects I cant help but be hooked on here right now.

Lauravonsmurf, its a more complex subject than what I said. Obviously nutrition fuels the body and develops the feathers in a way that reflects the light. Pigments do come from the diets. Think of the wild birds and all their colors. The webs on each feather are put together in a way that can create different reflections from the light. Of course I am not the person to explain this and there are several articles and even books on it. However, take a pair of birds with purple feathers and breed them together, you normally get more purple offspring. I know because when I was younger I started out with hatchery birds that were purple and so were their young, and every single generation from that. This didn't change until I introduced quality green birds from a breeder. That to me says genetics. I am all ears though.

Coop Scoop Boogie, though I have taken the classes for animal nutrition, I am far from an expert in any way. I like the good old fashion way of things. I heard some crazy, and I mean crazy things about feeds people use. I have heard, blood, raw meats, cooked meats, road kill, 100 dollar feeds and all sorts of grains and mixtures. I got to hand it to people but I am just not willing to go that route. When I show my birds next to someone else's at the show, you will not see or feel a difference in feather quality on my birds. Yes it is important to give them a balance diet. I completely and 100% agree. I guess I cant wrap my mind around a chicken flock chasing down a cow out in the pasture and one grabbing it by the throat as the others tackle it.

That would be a sight to see

. Though I must admit, I do have a few roosters that are mean enough to give it a go