Sumatra Chicken

Sumatra Chicken

Description

The Sumatra is a slender, elegant ornamental chicken breed with striking glossy black plumage that shimmers with a metallic green sheen in the light. Roosters carry an especially long, sweeping, sickle-shaped tail and have dark legs and a low pea comb. Cocks weigh around 2.0-2.5 kg and hens about 1.75-2.25 kg, making it a medium-sized bird.

Habitat

The breed originates from the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, where the ancestral birds lived a half-wild life in tropical forests and scrub. Brought from Sumatra to the United States in 1847 and later to Europe as fighting cocks, it is today kept mainly as ornamental and exhibition poultry.

Diet

Sumatras feed on grains, seeds and green plant material, supplemented by insects and small invertebrates that they actively forage for.

Reproduction

Hens lay fewer eggs than common breeds, roughly 50-100 white to pale-cream eggs per year, and make excellent broody sitters. Roosters are attentive to the hens but famously combative toward one another.

Lifespan

With good care Sumatra chickens typically live around 6-8 years, sometimes longer.

Did you know?

Unlike most chicken breeds, Sumatra roosters often grow more than two spurs on each leg, a rare distinguishing feature of the breed.