Sulmtaler

The Sulmtaler is an Austrian breed of domestic chicken. It originates in the Sulmtal, the valley of the Sulm river, in southern Styria, in the south-east of Austria, and takes its name from that valley.[3]

Sulmtaler
Sulmtaler hen
Country of originAustria
StandardSSO (Austria, in German)
Usedual-purpose, eggs and meat
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    3–4 kg[1]
  • Female:
    2.5–3.5 kg[1]
Egg colorcream to light brown[1]
Classification
PCGBrare soft feather: heavy[2]

History

Like the Altsteirer, the Sulmtaler derives from the country chickens raised in Styria, particularly in the Kainachtal, the Lassnitztal, the Sulmtal and the Saggautal.[4] In the second half of the nineteenth century these were subjected to massive cross-breeding with imported Cochin, Dorking and Houdan stock to create heavy meat birds for fattening.[4] In about 1900 some breeders brought together the small remaining stock of chickens of the former type, and the original breed was reconstituted.[1]

Characteristics

Sulmtaler is a hardy dual-purpose breed, kept both for eggs and meat. Cocks weigh 3–4 kg and hens 2.5–3.5 kg. Hens are non-sitters, and lay 130-180 eggs of about 55 g in weight per year.[1]

The Sulmtaler is raised almost exclusively in the gold wheaten colour variety,[5] and this was the only colour standardised in 1958.[1] A white variety was created in the German Democratic Republic after the Second World War.[1] Silver wheaten and blue wheaten varieties were accepted in Austria in 2013. Silver-blue wheaten is not yet accepted.[1]

References
  1. Original Auszug Aus dem Geflügelstandard / 7. Überarbeitete Auflage: Sulmtaler (in German). Sondervereins der Steirerhuhnzüchter Österreichs. Accessed August 2014.
  2. Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
  3. Victoria Roberts (2008). British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 9781405156424. p. 281–83.
  4. Chickens. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 9 November 2018.
  5. Sulmtaler (in German). Arche Austria. Accessed August 2014.
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