The Sumatra reads more like a wild jungle bird than a farm chicken: long flowing black plumage with an intense green sheen, a very long low-carried tail, and multiple spurs on each leg. Hens lay only 100 to 120 white eggs a year — it was never kept for production — but they go broody readily and make good mothers. Sumatras are strong fliers and genuinely wild in temperament, wanting covered runs and disliking handling. The Livestock Conservancy lists the breed as threatened.
Cold hardy
Heat tolerant
Broody
Flighty
Egg colorWhite
Egg production100–120 / year
TemperamentFlighty
BroodinessFrequent
ClimateCold hardy, Heat tolerant
PurposeShow
Weight
Large fowl (Standard size)
Hen3.5–4.5 lb
Rooster4.5–5.5 lb
Bantam (Miniature size)
Hen1.4 lb
Rooster1.6 lb
How to spot it
CombPea
Small pea comb; face and comb often dark purple-black
Plumage
Black with a pronounced beetle-green iridescence
Tail
Long, full and carried low, flowing rather than upright
Pea
