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.
History
Like the Altsteirer, the Sulmtaler derives from the
country chickens raised in Styria, particularly in the Kainachtal, the Lassnitztal,
the Sulmtal and theSaggautal. 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. In about 1900 some breeders
brought together the small remaining stock of chickens of the former type, and
the original breed was reconstituted.
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.
The Sulmtaler is raised almost exclusively in the gold
wheaten colour variety,and this was the only colour standardised in 1958. A
white variety was created in the German Democratic Republic after the Second
World War. Silver wheaten and blue wheaten varieties were accepted in Austria
in 2013.[citation needed] Silver-blue wheaten is not yet accepted.
