American serama thread!

[Kevin Taylor]

Interesting. I have a chicken as well that seems 'off' a bit. He crows and carries on as normal, but misses his food like yours. Granted he's ok, by no denying that like me, you might just have a special needs chicken on your hands.

To be honest, the closest I've typically 'gotten' to any chicken has tended to be the ones that need a little extra a help along the way. It's a time commitment thing for me. Very rewarding. Add to that, I considered selling him/them off BUT WHY??? Not cool for the next people to deal with AND they may end up in social situations that could physically harm them. Their my pets and I wouldn't take that chance. Good with the bad and where there's livestock there's deadstock. It's an emotional balancing act really. I think he'll ge juuuust fine by the way you described it.

My MAIN rooster 'Dick' ended up losing his pecking order spot during the evening this past winter. He ended up outside the coop door, afraid of the new orpington rooster I'd gotten a week prior.

Would appear he was safer outside than in but when I found him the following morning, he was covered in an inch of snow and had frost bitten feet. BOTH.

There was nothing I could have done, but as of now he's hobbling around ok and starting to crow again. He'll never be 100% but the flock still respects him and leaves him be.

Here's his pic...

 

[yellowherb]

There was nothing I could have done, but as of now he's hobbling around ok and starting to crow again. He'll never be 100% but the flock still respects him and leaves him be.

Here's his pic...

Oww poor guy.

I don't mind a special needs bird, I've had a cross beak before. I'd prefer not to have special needs birds, but it happens and I'm prepared to deal with it.

My rooster is actually one I bought about 1 1/2 months ago, maybe the seller didn't know but maybe she did and sold him to me anyway. He was her favorite of the chicks she said so if I spotted something wrong as quick as I did, surely she knew it too.

The problem I have with the rooster, and I'm sorry I keep calling him the rooster, I've been trying out names for him but haven't found the one that fits him yet..The problem I have is that he is not "typey" for a serama. He looks more like a old English, but he's improved since I got him and maybe he will continue to improve as he matures. He looks more serama now than what he used to, but he's moved up to lead young male in the pecking order of chicks his age/size. He's been bullying a new silkie young male and it seems the more he bullies the more he puffs his chest and raises his tail. I wasn't looking for show birds by any means, but I did want seramas and not old English. So for the first month I was disappointed in him as a serama but still adored him as a chicken.

 

[Jewls819]

Congrats!!!!! All of the shows close to us got canceled. So here is hoping for the fall!

 

[yellowherb]

It was a really nice mild morning in florida for this time of year so I sat outside with the chicks this morning. I love to open the door and let them come out of the coop/brooder to free range a bit while I baby sit them. The orientals were showing the others that dried mealworms are yummy. The teeny serama even got in on the action. The seramas are the oldest youngsters in the hoop coop brooder/transitional housing but are by far the tiniest.

I've been watching one which I think is a pretty one but I was concerned seeing short legs on it. Then I started looking at the others from my first batch of eggs. They ALL have short legs. They are not meant to have short legs are they? I can not decide if they are Japanese short or just shorter than normal, but it does not look proportional at all to me. The one chick from my second hatch has normal length legs for it's body size.

 

[Tlmcq]

I have the tiniest little bantam and am starting to wonder if this lil one is a Serama. It doesn't seem to be growing and I'm wondering if they have a slower growth rate. This lil one is about the size of a roasting marshmallow so we named it Marshmallow.

Marshmallow next to guinea keet same age

the other chicks are standard sized chicks and 2 guineas

 

[gootziecat]

Do Serama chicks grow out of being flighty, also jumpy of noises? Thanks.

 

[yellowherb]

Do Serama chicks grow out of being flighty, also jumpy of noises? Thanks.

Mine do not seem to. I have 4-5month olds who are the first to freak out when the dogs come onto the deck, even though they have been around the dogs for months now and the dogs are not interested in them at all..

And I have little guys that are about 1 month old. I am just starting them free ranging under a big tree and shrub hedge. They are the last to leave the coop and the first ones to panic and run back to it. They are also the least friendly of the various breeds I have in the coop with them. I was disappointed in that. One of the little roosters is coming around slowly and getting closer to me each day while the other breeds swam all over me. I think it just takes time but they know they are the little guys and act accordingly to keep themselves safe.

 

[WVduckchick]

I have them to both extremes. Some are very friendly and fly up on me, others run for their lives!

 

[gootziecat]

Thank you very much for the response on this. I have a lot to do and can't afford the time spend on taming my chickens some people can. However, these guys are only 10 days old. They were hatched in an incubator and live in my kitchen next to where I spend a lot of time. I do touch and stroke them (more like chase them around the cage with my hand and corner them) a few times a day. They are talked to. Yet, it is very slow coming they can abide me. Any sudden noise, including an outburst from me, sends them in a panic.These are well bred chicks. I am most disappointed in what I thought would be an almost naturally friendly breed.

 

[yellowherb]

Thank you very much for the response on this. I have a lot to do and can't afford the time spend on taming my chickens some people can. However, these guys are only 10 days old. They were hatched in an incubator and live in my kitchen next to where I spend a lot of time. I do touch and stroke them (more like chase them around the cage with my hand and corner them) a few times a day. They are talked to. Yet, it is very slow coming they can abide me. Any sudden noise, including an outburst from me, sends them in a panic.These are well bred chicks. I am most disappointed in what I thought would be an almost naturally friendly breed.

It's up to the individual chicken of course, but overall I do not find the seramas I have to be naturally friendly. I think there are other breeds that take less time and effort to get to the pet stage than serama. Can't really blame the little guys though. Nature probably wired them that way to be jumpy and hyper vigilant because being so small they would be fair game for all sized predators.