American serama thread!

JacinLarkwell · Aug 3, 2020

homeschoolin momma said:
Ok so this is my tiny today. He will be 5 week tomorrow and weighs in at 84g. View attachment 2267464
Here are his buddies-two cockerels @Faraday40 brought to be with him. They will be 6 weeks on Friday.
View attachment 2267469 View attachment 2267470
I love the middle sized white one. Something so clean and pure about white. All three cockerela are absolute snugglers.
All 3 will carry the silkie gene. All 3 are related somehow.

This is Bella. She was born in February when the whole "we're gonna share eggs" fiasco with Phoenix and Pippin. Since there were only 2 females i kept both. I named her Bella because of her pretty color.
View attachment 2267479 View attachment 2267480
She does however have feathered shanks. It seems less than when first hatched. Hoping it disappears, but it may never fully go.
View attachment 2267484 View attachment 2267485
This is Bellas brother. The one February cockerel I kept because of his petite size. I just weighed him. He weighed 389g. Just slightly above the class A threshold. I told him he needed to go on a diet.

But late to the party, but the hen with feathered legs, if you breed her to a clean legged male there shouldn't be any feathers on chicks. I have a male (different breeds though) with sparse feathering and none of his chicks had any when he bred with a clean legged hen

Faraday40 · Aug 13, 2020

Here's "Lonely"
(Lonely-only when hatched..... but I must admit her pathetic appearance matches her name)

I also can't help but think this is her theme song:

homeschoolin momma · Aug 15, 2020

Introducing....
My first SLO of the year and its hatchmate a fancy, tiny serama weighing in at 15g.

Faraday40 · Sep 3, 2020

I still don't know the gender of this chick. Hatched 7-8, so almost a month old.

It can look very female:

No comb color

But then there are some little wattles just starting....
Normally the comb turns pink or grows a bit before the wattles. I'm selling it straight run since I just can't tell. I was able to sex its orpington hatchmates 2 weeks ago!

black_cat · Sep 3, 2020

A few serama questions for all you serama folk.....
-Can you buy seramas as chicks? If so, from hatcheries or just breeders? Or do you have to get hatching eggs?
-As adults, do they need more space as I know some smaller breeds do, from being more active? Or do they need less space because of their small size?
-Do they have any special needs as chicks or adults?

homeschoolin momma · Sep 3, 2020

Faraday40 said:
I still don't know the gender of this chick. Hatched 7-8, so almost a month old.

It can look very female:View attachment 2318609
No comb colorView attachment 2318619

But then there are some little wattles just starting....
Normally the comb turns pink or grows a bit before the wattles. I'm selling it straight run since I just can't tell. I was able to sex its orpington hatchmates 2 weeks ago!
View attachment 2318621

I say cockerel. Legs look pretty thick.

Faraday40 · Sep 3, 2020

black_cat said:
A few serama questions for all you serama folk.....
-Can you buy seramas as chicks? If so, from hatcheries or just breeders? Or do you have to get hatching eggs?
-As adults, do they need more space as I know some smaller breeds do, from being more active? Or do they need less space because of their small size?
-Do they have any special needs as chicks or adults?

You can buy seramas as chicks but they're a little more fragile. I don't sell them until at least 1 week old and full of vigor. I'm not sure if day olds would handle shipping very well. Shipped eggs can be a gamble, so finding someone local is always better.

Seramas don't require much space. If building a coop, I'd go by the standard bantam recommendations.

We have a "house chicken" who lives in a rabbit cage. However, he comes out daily to hang out with my daughter. He also spends his days outside with the hens when the weather's nice.

You need to make feeders and waterers accessible for their size and keep them safe with good predator-proofing. (Everything wants to eat chicken, & little ones can be carried off.) You also need to watch out for cold temps. Mine do OK if it drops to freezing overnight and warms up during the day. That's about their coldest limit. I have supplemental heat in their coop due to our brutal Midwest winters and just bring them inside when temps drop to close to zero and below.