American serama thread! - Page 1559

I don't heat mine. I live in North Florida and we get below freezing temps here. I have mine in a hardware cloth pen and I pull plastic around it when it is near freezing. If it drops below I usually pull hay up around the roost so they are nestled in it. Last year's low was 19. Grady lives near me and he has his in wire cages. If it get to freezing he puts them in an unheated garage in their pens. It still could be too cold but it doesn't seem like it would be that with heat and in the 20's. Is it possible they were in a draft?

Thanks I was thinking about you guys too and sure missed everyone. Ill be getting seramas hopefully in spring.

OMG, I started this reply this morning!  Ugh!

if you breed full sibs over several generations, you may get undesirable traits coming to the surface, however it is also a way to improve and zone in on desirable traits.  So the thing is, are you breeding for show, breeding to have a few more cute birds for pets, etc...  If for show, I'd say stick with only the best quality birds you have and see what hatches, then zone in on the best of the next generation, removing those that don't make the grade from the breeding pen.  Ultimately (within the first generation of the sibs, you can hopefully choose some cockerels and pullets from that first batch and start breeding them to their mother/father (which is safer as they share only half the genes theoretically) and eventually get them to breed with more distant relations.  Only breed your healthiest and most robust chickens, then the best personalities and type.  So in short, no it won't matter, but in a long term breeding program, you're going to want to "cull" from your project a lot (doesn't mean kill, but could?)  and only breed sibs if you want to enhance their combined desirable traits but be prepared for chicks who got a double dose of undesirable traits.

Yah, I know, I wanted to show how the body is shaped from above because as we're learning at CSU (the Chicken State University thread, LOL) the shape of the tail follows the body and the reproductive health of the hen.  Luna has the best tail spread of my girls with Harriet next and Hermione has a pinched tail, but I love her anyway :)

He is seriously gorgeous!

That seems nice and simple!  Is Character basically it's personality?

Edited by cluck-cluck - 1/21/13 at 8:22pm

So totally unrelated from illness and show birds - do I need to give grit to my serama chicks? And if so, what is small enough for them?

I noticed they both have one side of their chest that looks hue and bulging (that is the crop yes?) and I want to make sure they have what they need so they don't explode or something horrible =)

LOL, kukupecpec, I remember first noticing the crop, definitely one only the right side, and huge, thinking my bird was deformed or had a tumor or something!  So I looked it up and found out the crop was off to the side like that, and breathed a big sigh of relief!  LOL  So far my Seramas have only had sand and they've eaten grass for quite some time now, and haven't had a problem, so I'm going to guess sand size is enough.  They've also eaten huge earthworms that frankly I'm shocked they got down!  LOL   But I was worried about my bigger birds and bought crushed rock at home depot and though most of those rocks are too big, there are plenty of good sized ones for them in that bag.  My yard is almost pure clay, so I don't think they can get what they need in it, hence the purchase of sand and crushed rocks

Yes--it's better to act proud and "strut their stuff"  than be shy and subdued.

I cant believe this hen is still alive...she seems to be doing better and her color is back to normal..she isnt walking around but she is sitting up with her head tilted backwards...but her eyes look clear...i think she got very cold...i am purchasing one of those ceiling heaters that wont be such a fire hazard.

 

This hen was on her back with her feet up in the air twice...i dont know if i should have tried to save her...might just be prolonging her death?

 

BTW...I have been incubating some of her eggs this last month...only one made it to the 20th day...which is today...so maybe it will hatch...would like to have one chick from her just in case she dies...its in lockdown now...so fingers crossed!!!

Edited by WildWorks - 1/22/13 at 7:12am