American serama thread!

[TJChickens]

Shipping was rough. 6 of 12 serama eggs started and are growing as of day 7 candling.

Here's hoping for 6 chicks in 2 weeks.

 

[TJChickens]

I'm new to Serama and have a question. 7 month old boy, usually stands like this:



but struts around much more upright in the pen when he wants his hen's attention (harder to get photos). As I understand, an uprighter pose is more correct, but since he does not stand like that most of the time, does that 'count' for conformation? Or is it his normal pose that should be evaluated?

He's adorable. He may score well at a show if the excitement makes him want to strut and if he holds his wings more vertical. He would be evaluated on how he looks and performs on the table top.

 

[vasher]

Thank

He's adorable. He may score well at a show if the excitement makes him want to strut and if he holds his wings more vertical. He would be evaluated on how he looks and performs on the table top.

Ok, thank you! He is the politest little cockerel to his lady, but gets very worried and hunches down when she's out of sight. I need to get him more relaxed when she's away, I think.

 

[nchls school]

I've finally had time to get a couple pics of my Serama's.

Finding the time for new pictures, and getting good ones, ...not always easy. Here's some of mine.


When the hen's eggs failed to hatch, I gave her a few EE eggs.




For me, serama are mostly for fun...and this tiny guy is fun-4 ounces at 14 weeks...and with the silliest crow imaginable.

 

[walkerman78]

Any advice on incubating these eggs? I have researched a bit and it seems that the majority say 19 days and typical incubating practices as far as temperature and humditiy go. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[nchls school]

Any advice on incubating these eggs? I have researched a bit and it seems that the majority say 19 days and typical incubating practices as far as temperature and humditiy go. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Oddly, when I first started with my serama it did take 19 days to hatch; now I'm on 3rd and 4th generation birds and it now consistently takes 20 days for the eggs to hatch. The odd thing is the birds I now have are considerably smaller than their ancestors and lay smaller eggs. With smaller eggs a person would think they would hatch a bit sooner rather than a day later.

Now that I think about it the few older hens I have kept are also taking a day longer to hatch than what occurred when I was still in Wisconsin with a heated coop. Now it's Tennessee and an unheated coop. Environmental???

My advice is to use broody hens instead of incubators. I have better hatch rates using natural methods.

 

[froggiesheins]

Oddly, when I first started with my serama it did take 19 days to hatch; now I'm on 3rd and 4th generation birds and it now consistently takes 20 days for the eggs to hatch. The odd thing is the birds I now have are considerably smaller than their ancestors and lay smaller eggs.

My advice is to use broody hens instead of incubators. I have better hatch rates using natural methods. 

I am curious about your birds getting smaller , Do U KNOW the lineage of the original pair you have? How old were they when you first started hatching eggs? Are you hatching eggs from their offspring?
Serama eggs generally take 20-21 days under a broody. If I hatch its always under the Hen-0-bator as they are just the best at doing this
For ALL THE ANSWERS you could possibly want go to Jerry Schexnayders page, the GODFATHER of Serama

http://jerrysseramasllc.weebly.com/

 

[nchls school]

Quote:

 

[froggiesheins]

OKAY.... It is NOT advisable to hatch eggs from under a year old bird/s BECAUSE it is like humans Children having babies, so you are weaking the genes/DNA not sure so subscquently each generation that you hatch and do the same thing weakens them so on and so forth. AND you do not know what the original breeder did to begin with.

Gosh, I just realized something else, in breeding, maybe too much inbreeding, You can go one generation of father/daughter OR mom/son but it you keep doing that..

 

[vasher]

Why are there two breed clubs? They both seem to sanction tabletop shows and do not mention each other in the resources/links.

American Serama Association: "The American Serama Association is a national independent breed club with Sanctioning Authority for Table Top showing of the American Serama and a points program designed to recognize breeders of merit."

Serama Council of North America: "The definitive voice of the Serama in North America."