Serama Hatch-A-Long!!

[darkbluespace]

Thank you so much. Definitely what I was hoping to hear!

Good luck, let me know how it's doing! From all those eggs, I am glad you got at least one!

 

[Naliez]

Good luck, let me know how it's doing!   From all those eggs, I am glad you got at least one! 

Me too! I think if I get shipped eggs from now on, I'll do it when the weather is more mild. My local eggs did okay, so I feel slightly less guilty about getting only one hatch out of twenty-something eggs... I'll post updates on this little guy. He sure is a feisty little one for being so small!

 

[Naliez]

Here is my little hen with her chipmunk chicks. I can tell sex from their faces. The pullet is very pretty and the 2 roos look like angry birds, it's hilarious.

That picture makes me so excited to have Seramas. I know what you mean about their angry little faces. My Silkies look like a gang of menacing thugs.

And look at this one here! Lol! You do NOT want to meet that guy in a dark alley...

 

[Naliez]

 

[darkbluespace]

Cutie!!

 

[Naliez]

This guy won't stop peeping unless he's on me. He won't make chicken friends either.

 

[darkbluespace]

This guy won't stop peeping unless he's on me. He won't make chicken friends either.

You're mommy!

If he is in with the Silkies long enough they should start to grow on him... if they are nice enough to him : ) I love their thug faces. I hope your little one settles down for you!

I have thought of getting one of those ceramic bulbs so it is dark but still warm in the brooder at night. Since the darkness puts them to sleep it would give stressed chicks a chance to recover/rest and give me a break, but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[tmarr]

Oh my goodness they are Soooo Cute!!

 

[Skink]

Sorry I haven't been posting here lately! I had 2 completely failed hatches (forgot to turn the egg turner on, then got sent some bunk eggs that were weird shaped and never developed.) I will just have to live vicariously through all your babies for now!

It's been almost a year since I posted about my first hatch here. I have 4 tiny pullets and 5 little roos to pick between for 3 pens. The rest of mine are 6 laying hens.. one I will probably sell w/a rooster, the other is a not-the-nicest blue who I might put in my outdoor coop because I've long adored her personality, and the rest I am impatient to get fertile eggs out of. Especially my Cleo! She's really extreme in type. I think I am going to try AI on her, since my house rooster doesn't know what to do with ladies but GOSH is he ever handsome. I just need to stop talking about it and actually do it. Crazy how much stuff changed in a year!

 

[Skink]

This guy won't stop peeping unless he's on me. He won't make chicken friends either.

My sweet boy Chip was a single chick. The only egg to hatch! I was planning to raise him like a chicken, but he got raised like a baby instead. With single chicks, it is a good idea to make a light weight brooder that you can easily carry around. If they are in sight of you, they will usually be pretty calm, provided there aren't other irritants (like other baby chicks that are Not The Mama.) I give them lots of little toys so they aren't bored. Things that are fun to poke, kick, or perch on. I also make it a point that if I'm sitting, I'm also holding. They love nearness with you, and will crave it pretty severely until they are almost-to-completely feathered.

The upside? This makes the chicken the most special companion you can imagine. They become hams who think they are tiny people and will do everything they can to make you smile. They become everyone's favorite and are the perfect chicken to introduce to people just meeting your chooks to give them a good impression. If you ever thought having a house chicken might be fun, well, hatching a single chick is a great excuse to do it.

Here's Chip in his droopy drawers. He's actually wearing a size Medium, because it's so large it fits him loosely, which is much more comfortable for him and the way serama stand. It also means the pocket is extra deep and the opening extra large.. harder for him to get poopy butt or to slip his diaper, a common problem with this model on other birds!




The downside? TIME. They steal so much of your time and energy in the first two months! A house chicken is not for everyone, and not all singleton chicks take super well to being put in the coop.. they will still demand all your attention when you go out. My boy gets along with other chickens just fine now that he's grown... to a fault, even, he is a sweet little doormat. Feeds EVERYONE, even other roosters. He took to outside quickly too! But he still doesn't want to be apart from me (sleeps in my bed even, he is polite enough to not crow 'til I wake up.) He also sure doesn't breed. He doesn't know what to do with the two girls that have a crush on him. He'd rather seduce a slipper or soft blanket. Never made a mess, but still hilarious, and frustrating if it's a roo you intended to breed.

If you don't want a house bird and he doesn't seem to be taking to the silkies and just continues to cry and cry, it might be worth it to consider re-homing him with someone who wants a house bird if you don't want to raise him, or to separate him again and raise him up with the plan to do that if he doesn't take to coop life once he's grown. The attitude of these birds is different. They don't know they are chickens, and they aren't always willing or able to learn. They become an individual who needs their husbandry adjusted and are much more demanding.. it's kind of like getting a dog when you expected an independent cat. Dogs are still great, but the difference is huge. I would discuss these possibilities with your family.