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Serama

The Serama breed originated in Malaysia, apparently through the crossing of Japanese and Malaysian bantams.

General Information

Breed Purpose
Ornamental
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Frequent
Climate Tolerance
Heat
Egg Productivity
Low
Egg Size
Small
Egg Color
Light Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly, Easily handled, Calm, Bears confinement well, Quiet, Docile
Breed Colors/Varieties
This breed is not standardized yet. The Serama Council of North America is working towards ABA and APA acceptance of the white serama first. The currently recognized colors of the SCNA are White, Blue, Wheaton, Black-Breasted Red, Black, and Black-Tail Buff. These should be recognized by the ABA and APA after the white serama. A popular variety of the serama is the silkied serama. They are accepted at SCNA sanctioned shows.
Breed Size
Bantam
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The Serama breed originated in Malaysia, apparently through the crossing of Japanese and Malaysian bantams. The modern breed is attributed to the efforts of Wee Yean Een from Kelantan, who named the breed "Serama" after Rama, the title of the Kings of Thailand. There are no written standards for the breed in its native country, though they do have an overall guide on scoring and judging for competitions in Malaysia. Many breeders have a style or type that they breed to, but breeders often keep several "styles". Hence there is quite a lot of diversity in Malaysia.

In the USA, the Serama breed is promoted by a couple organisations, the The American serama association (ASA) and the Serama Council of North America (SCNA). This council helped to introduce the Serama to North America in various National Poultry shows. In the spring of 2004 a Serama only-show, known as the Cajun Classic, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was held. The "American Serama" as put forth by the Serama Council of North America has gained acceptance by the APA and the American Bantam Association, as of April 2011. In early 2012, another group known as the American Serama Association was formed to help gain APA and ABA acceptance of more varieties of Serama.

In the UK, Seramas were initially imported in 2004. Birds were imported from both the US and directly from Malaysia. In 2005, a small group of Serama owners and enthusiast decided to form the "Serama Club of Great Britain", the first Serama club in the UK. They went on to established the standard for the Serama breed for the UK. Seramas are still relatively rare and expensive in much of mainland Europe, with the Netherlands probably having the largest number of Seramas outside the UK. Most of the stock in the Netherlands are descendent from birds/eggs imported from America and from the UK.

In France and other European countries they are increasing in popularity with 4 classes of serums.

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Serama eggs

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Serama chick

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Serama hen

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Serama rooster

To learn more about this breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-serama.1110870/

Latest reviews

Great Ornamental Breed
Pros: Pretty nice
Very good looking
Bantams
Cons: Small eggs
Low egg production
Not very weather resistant
I love Seramas, they're very good for ornamental purposes!
Not great for eggs, but let's be honest, who's getting Seramas for eggs anyways?
Lots of pretty colors as well, and can be sweet when trained.
Great review of Seramas, good job!
Pros: Go broody often
Make great mothers
Lay rather frequently
Very beautiful
Don’t take up as much space as an LF
Tend to hatch early
Quieter crows
Cons: More fragile to cold
More fragile to heat
Expensive
More frequent crows
They can’t be AMAZING birds, and don’t get me wrong, they are my favorite. They aren’t very what or cold tolerant and they are rather expensive (for a reason, of course). Thing is, they are great birds, and I have never had a problem in all my time raising them. They grow up with LF chicks sometimes, and they do extremely well!
Purchase Price
$14 each
Purchase Date
Like 7 months ago
Pros: Lovely, tame, valuable, handsome birds.
One of mine lays daily with large eggs compared to her body size.
Cons: Get very cold, snacks for hawks, can be delicate.
I really love them!

People say they are rubbish layers, and they aren't the VERY best, but some can be really good.
I love true bantams but these are especially endearing.

For those who want to keep them indoors, well they can't be toilet trained, but the roos aren't that loud and many, including mine, just sound like squeaky toys.

Most can be very happy in trios or even pairs.
Don't try to keep them indoors totally though, because they do love outdoors.
Mogul Moonshine
Mogul Moonshine
100 percent agree
MageofMist
MageofMist
One of my gals lays massive eggs for her size, and I find them to be decent layers. The eggs do have a shorter shelf life though, compared to other eggs.

The roosters do sound like little squeaky toys and are quieter, though higher pitched. The birds are also smaller so you can keep more in a smaller space, though they still greatly enjoy bigger spaces.

Also if unable to provide them outside access due to an epidemic sweeping the area, provide vitamin D supplements as well as giving them things to do to prevent boredom and the hens plucking the shiny tails off your poor roosters, such as dustbaths, romain lettuce leaves, stuffed bellpeppers, paper balls full of treats and scatter feeding.

Comments

We have a roo who is like that. His crow is very high pitched and ear piercing! He does come at us like that when we try to hold him also. We do hold him and try to get him to be more used to us & a little nicer. We have a younger roo who is the total opposite. He is a sweetheart! We also have two hens. One just laid her first egg this past Sunday! Our other hen has gone broody & is laying on an egg now.
 
Can someone tell me how much space they require? I originally only had 2. Now I have 8. Need to decide if I need to move them. They are in with a crippled black sexlink who was
alone before!
 
I totally agree...I love mine and wouldn't take anything for them. I now have my 2nd generation on the ground. My little broody has done a wonderful job hatching/raising chicks for me.
 
My friend has two serama hens. One goes broody often sitting on nothing when she does lay eggs, she breaks them open and eats them. She is dumber than the silkie hen she has.
 
lol drumstick, some chickens are so strange. Gertrude we raise our own. We actually sell a lot where we live too.
 
Where on earth did you get your Seremas? I want some!
Are the hens very broody? I dont want to deal with spoiled eggs\throwing hens off of eggs. If you dont hand raise them, are they still friendly?
 
I've really wanted a pair of Serama for a while now. I would love to have a male and female breeding pair. I have been raising standard size chickens now for six years and I love them all. They all have names hahaha! My RI red rooster is Cocktail! I have a variety of breeds. My ideal would be to have a nice big bird cage for them (in the house, like you would have a pair of cockatiel which I've also had and loved them too) but my fiance says I can't have them in the house :( Now we have two miniature horses and a very nice barn and cozy stable. I would keep my Serama couple, maybe a cock and two hens, in the barn with them, as the horses love the chickens. I wouldn't keep them in the chicken coop with the big guys. Are you selling chicks? How much are they and where are you? Please respond. My email is [email protected]. Thank you. Jean
 
Sometimes I put a diaper on her. She's usually good enough that on any car trip less than eight hours, she is fine. Often on a longer car trip I have to worry more about food and water than that.
 
I have a golden Serama that was given to me a year ago. She was hand raised and the friendlies bird I have ever seen. She flies up to my shoulder when I am out and she talks to me. I have three Chihuahua's and they leave her alone because she will chase them across the yard. She is fearless when she is threated. A brave little chicken. Love her.
 
have had serama about 5 years now and am top breeder on the island with show quality birds, occasionally we get duds and rehome them as oegb. lovely , smart, tame, very expensive in terms of meds, vaccines, wormers, special feed for babies ... worth every penny
 
We want some so badly! They are so adorable and they could fit with our Old English if we only got hens. I can't wait til we find the right pair for the right price.
 
Jajajajajaja...You have told more about yourself than the breed....Could you please impart additional info about the characteristics of the breed's personality, needs of food, temperament? I would greatly appreciate everything you can tell!!!

Turk
 
jajajaja...I think every kid has had a 'rooster cogburn since the first movie was released...perhaps even before the movie. Similarly, every family who raises goats has had at least one 'Billy-the-Kid'. whooppp...lolol
 
Cute! They are cute chickens, that's for sure. I'm more into the bigger kinds, though, like Pekin bantams :). But Seramas sure are tempting!:D
 
Generally show-type seramas are more at risk, as are roosters. I find that the usual indicators are purple combs, weight loss, trouble breathing, low energy, and irregular heartbeats. If you see any of these symptoms, get the bird to your local avian veterinarian. If not, humanely euthanize the bird as fast as possible. It's a slow, painful way to die.
 
Excellent review! You have sold me on the Serama. Do you think they'd get along well with similar breeds? I'd like to add some friends for my Japanese
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
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