American serama thread!

[froggiesheins]

Hello all

I am looking into getting into the showing of chickens and breeding, but would like to know the temperment of these fisty little birds and how much can i expect to pay for a decent pair or trio of show quality?



and how hard are they to breed?with good results..?



would japanese be harder ... just need generic temperment and good opinions on the breed.

Egg Man 10

and the Serama thread. I am the American Serama Association California State representative. Let me try to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

The ONLY color that is recognized by the American Bantam Association ABA & American Poultry Association APA is white and that is ONLY for in cage judging. The next color that is being worked on is black but again this is ONLY for in cage judging at an ABA/APA sanctioned show. It has nothing to do with Table Top showing. TT is color blind yet. Any color bird is welcome to show table top. I know that WHeaten is another color that breeders are working on to try to stabilize and get consistant.

Temperment of the Serama breed is: WONDERFUL! They are almost born human friendly. They will hold their ground against larger chickens, make great house pets, basically feathaered humans. Breeding in not a problem IF you get the "right" pair/s that lay and fertilze well. Serama have a slightly higher incident of being infertile or not laying eggs /not able to lay fertile eggs. This has to do with the downsizing of them as a whole. I honestly can't answer your question about price of pairs or trios of Show Quality birds, but I do know it will be over $100 easily.
For much more detailed information on the breed and to check out the SOP Standard of Perfection of the serama hen and cock go to this website: http://www.americanseramaassociation.org/.
I hope I helped answer some of your questions.

 

[froggiesheins]

a few pics i got yesterday- i had brought boaz(serama) and his Lady  Ginger in for the nite, and was putting drops of ivomec on them and her Ladyship decided to fly to the top of the starling cage, and Boaz had to be put there, since he can't attain flight...




and while i was doing the boaz shot, Ginger decided to retreat to the diningroom table.... that girl is fast! She is an OEGB






haven't had much time online today- quick question- i ran out of chick crumble- would it be ok to feed the babies regular crumble till i get to the store??

WOOT!!! BOAZ ROCKS!!! I love his little spit-fire girlfriend Ginger...Artsy, is he "man" enough for her????

To answer your question...YES its fine....just fill their little tummies...

 

[Lunar]

@ Froggie......when I look on the ASA site at color standards....where is mille fleur?

Do they not recognize it or is it still a work in progress? I guess different areas have their favorites and apparently around me, that is the color of choice. Now I am reeeeeeeaally hoping my birds will breed semi-true to start with.

And does anyone on here do Ginger Reds? I love that color in the OEGB's. I am hoping to get a pullet or two from a great breeder close to me. He mopped up at the show last week with his Ginger's, so I am excited to get into his line. He beat out over 100 gingers to take BV, RV, BB with his OEGB ladies. I would love to get a Ginger in the Serama's.

So, do I have this right? Only white can show caged unless its in Juniors? or is there an AOV class as well as white in caged?

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote: Boaz has settled down with her- took the edge off his hormones... perfect fit - she just gives him a stink eye if she's not in the 'mood'

will head to the feed store this morning and get their crumble- i am so paranoid of cocci after a bout with my silky chicks

 

[ocseramas]

@ Froggie......when I look on the ASA site at color standards....where is mille fleur?

Do they not recognize it or is it still a work in progress? I guess different areas have their favorites and apparently around me, that is the color of choice. Now I am reeeeeeeaally hoping my birds will breed semi-true to start with.

And does anyone on here do Ginger Reds? I love that color in the OEGB's. I am hoping to get a pullet or two from a great breeder close to me. He mopped up at the show last week with his Ginger's, so I am excited to get into his line. He beat out over 100 gingers to take BV, RV, BB with his OEGB ladies. I would love to get a Ginger in the Serama's.

So, do I have this right? Only white can show caged unless its in Juniors? or is there an AOV class as well as white in caged?

There is no color standard for millie fleur at this time. As the Serama is still considered a new breed, we are working on each of the OE colors one at a time. Currently, there are colors descriptions for wheaton, exchequer, mottled, black, white and those are the colors that are being worked on for ABA/APA acceptance. I believe there are a few other descriptions that are drafted but not sure they are posted. Refer to the OE colors for descriptions. As Table Top showing is color blind, there is really no rush for color descriptions. Through the end of the year, Serama are show as AOV for in cage. Beginning in January, we need to label them with a color that most closely describes each bird however, there is no expectation that they be a perfect match. There is much discussion on this top in the ASA forum. I highly recommend you join ASA so that you can review the discussions and ask questions. It's a wonderful organization and I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to be apart of it.

 

[catwalk]

Here's how you keep your birds warm, folks! Cannonball and his wives enjoy their bun warmer; it's a Christmas cookie tin with a low watt spiral bulb installed inside. Just make sure that the bulb doesn't touch the metal, and wire it safely. In the past, I made them a light inside a cardboard box (to keep the heat in), but nobody used it. With the cookie tins, the birds stay comfey all winter. Just make sure you have enough surface area for everyone to climb aboard!

 

[catwalk]

I just thought of another idea! I have thick styrofoam slabs that I still haven't gotten out of storage. I clean out the pen, lay down the styrofoam, cover it with cardboard, and lay down bedding. It's important to protect the styrofoam from the chickens, because they'll eat it. I've had issues in the past with tunneling mice. I don't think it would be a good idea to lay down bait directly on the floor, but keep in mind that if you may be giving them a nice place for the winter as well.

 

[Aschenfire]

*bounces* YAY! I have my first eggs from my own Serama babies I hatched out in July! Ava and Slash (black and Exchequer) are the proud parents of three little eggs! I am expecting two dozen eggs in the mail today, so once I set them out to come to room temp and such, I will set all of these together (probably late late tonight). Hoping the ones my babies gave me are fertile...we shall find out

 

[cluck-cluck]

Quote:

An AOV is all other varieties. And the pattern of the chick when all feathered out should be something similar to my avatar.

Oooh, that'll be so lovely!

AOV any other variety. sorry, I was just wondering. I saw several at the show down here last Saturday. Most were in Juniors, but some were not. Of course, there were the whites too. ....

Thank you, and thanks for the pictures, I'm getting excited now

I think it takes at least 5 different breeders, 5 years of breeding, and 50 birds of that color (I heard somewhere it was only 25 but I'm not sure which is true) at a qualifying meet with whatever color has been put in for recognition before a color is approved. 2014 is when they are hoping to get the Black Serama recognized.

Wheaton is still a work in progress, I think fall of 2016 is when they are going to try to get that done.

As far as I know those are the only 2 colors that SCNA is actively working on getting recognized. I'm sure if you got enough people rallied around and wanting to work on a certain color then they may also put in a petition for that color as well.

If it were cheap enough, I have 2 birds that I would get tested for color. One pullet that is like a white tailed buff... but she has very dark lacing on her neck... but the top of her head, her chest and her wings are white... she is just weird. I think the prettiest colored girl I have... but weird colored lol. Then I have 3 Cockerels, all basically the same color but one may be a tad darker or lighter then the others, so I could just test 1. Anyway they are like chocolate laced, then mottled on top of that. I'm just curious what they would be called. And seeing as genetics are very interesting to me, it would be nice to know what genes my birds have.

Great explanation and I didn't know you could have the genetics of a bird done, wouldn't that be awesome if breeders could do that inexpensively?

artsyrobin, Boaz is adorable!

Thanks for the ASA link, froggiesheins, I've never been there before!

Lunar, I don't think there is anything "Official" to those colors, maybe you should send in pictures of your birds and ask them to include Mille Fleur? The rest of us would really appreciate it

That looks great, catwalk, but I'm afraid I don't understand how you made it? LOL

Wow, Aschenfire, time really flies! Eggs already!!!

 

[Aschenfire]

Time does fly! I remember the day these guys were hatched, and it seems like just yesterday.