Help for a cider noob?!

I can't believe I'm about to post this...these (typically i didn't RTFM, but want you to answer my basic question) are the posts that annoy me on the beer side of the forum, but I'm at a loss. The more I read the more confused I get. If there is a good FAQ or book on cider making please point me there. ....I'm always up for learning more! I ready the sticky's for this section (and learned a lot) but nothing related to my specific issue

I am making my first cider...fresh, non pasturized juice at the recommendation of my LHBS I treated with K-meta, 24 hours later pitched wyeast sweet mead yeast (only doing 3 gallons, so didn't do a starter, just the pouch) and added yeast nutrient. fermentation was a bit slow to take off then was one of the most sulfury ferments i've ever had (SWMBO thought we had a sewer break!) I've had a few beers (lagers and Kolschs) that have had sulfur ferments but it goes away by the time primary is done.

so this has been fermenting about 5 weeks...still in primary, but still smells of sulfur fairly strongly. so:

1) what caused this? is it normal? sign of yeast stress?

2) what should I have done differently? starter? more nutrient?

3) what should i do now? rack it? I've read some posts that suggest racking several times with good spashing to try to liberate the sulfur gas...isn't oxydizing a problem like it is in beer making? I've read other posts that suggest stirring the heck out of it using a copper pipe (something about the reaction of copper with sulfur.

4) it still looks very cloudy...I assume it just needs time...lots of time to settle out. right?

5) priming and conditioning (for a sparkling cider) are just like beer conditioning, right?

Anything else I need to know to make this one drinkable? ...or is this batch doomed?

Thanks!

I would say just bottle as normal and give it 3 + months. The taste and some times smell gets a lot better with time.

Sulfer smell is part of cidermaking and is a symptom of the fact that apple juice is a fairly stressful environment for yeast. High acidity, low nutrients, and high fructose to glucose ratio all contribute to sulfer smell. I've seen nutrients, stirring, time, and copper all used successfully to minimize sulfer but the idea of splashing it around also scares me as it risks oxidizing all my hard work. Since the yeast is going to be stressed already it also helps to tightly control other factors like temperature.

All my successful clear ciders have been the result of first using pectic enzyme, time in secondary, and when necessary bentonite.

Priming is priming.