American serama thread!

[Faraday40]

Here's my gender challenged chick.
For the 1st 6 weeks it looked female. Then its comb and wattles grew a bit, so I began to wonder.....



Today: 10.5 weeks. At 1st glance I'd say male..... but it's so old to have such little development. The wattles dropped and now look red, but the comb (although growing) appears more pink.

The chick had a 'stressful' chick-hood due to a predator attack killing its sibling and giving it a couple wounds. All healed up now and feathers growing back. Broody hen left it 5 weeks ago, so I put it in with a new broody mama when her eggs hatched. Now it's the oldest.... but no longer the biggest. LOL

I just took a bunch of pics from different angles today.
What do you think its gender is?

weighs 157.2 grams


As a reference: Here's the father back when he was almost 10 weeks old

 

[ColtHandorf]

Well I'm now the proud owner of seven pairs of Seramas as my roommate moved out and I decided to keep them. It's getting cold down here. @Faraday40 do your's stay outside up there, or do you bring them in? I have cages I can put them in where they'll be out of the weather, or I can leave them in their large breeding cages outdoors. Two pairs are in smaller cages in the barn with the Orpingtons. Three pairs are outside in the big cages. The others are juveniles on the ground for the moment. The breeder I got them from said much below 50 degrees and they'd start dropping. So if I need to move them I'll have to do that when I get home. I loathe the thought because all they do is waste feed when they are inside.

 

[ColtHandorf]

And here are a few pictures I’ve taken recently:

The Barred pair I'd like to sell. I have one Barred/Crele pair already.

What do we think about this little guy? He was colored like a Belgian Quail d'Anver at hatch. And now he's looking Millie Fleur-esque. I'm keeping him just to see what he turns out like.

Another pair I'd like to sell, but I love, love, love the hen. As you can see he kept his little feathered legs. I've found more and more people that know about Seramas than I do that say the feathered legs are fairly common. I'd guess because people have crossed who knows what into them in the States so it's a bit of a gamble.

I like this little cockerel too. He's definitely carrying the Barred gene, but the bars are really pale/diluted to a creamy color in person. I think he'll be handsome when he's grown up and I plan on keeping him.

The little Silver pullet I'd like to pair with the white cockerel and the gold pullet with the little Mille look-alike cockerel.

 

[Faraday40]

Well I'm now the proud owner of seven pairs of Seramas as my roommate moved out and I decided to keep them. It's getting cold down here. @Faraday40 do your's stay outside up there, or do you bring them in? I have cages I can put them in where they'll be out of the weather, or I can leave them in their large breeding cages outdoors. Two pairs are in smaller cages in the barn with the Orpingtons. Three pairs are outside in the big cages. The others are juveniles on the ground for the moment. The breeder I got them from said much below 50 degrees and they'd start dropping. So if I need to move them I'll have to do that when I get home. I loathe the thought because all they do is waste feed when they are inside.

I bring my bantam coop/run into the screened patio (so sheltered from rain/snow & less wind) I also have a panel heater in the coop area. It keeps the water from freezing. My females are fine until temps down to single digits. When we go below 5'F during the day or below zero at night, I just bring them inside for a couple days.

My panel is either this one or one just like it.

 

[ColtHandorf]

So we think for the moment in the 40's they should be fine? They are dry and out of the wind.

 

[Faraday40]

So we think for the moment in the 40's they should be fine? They are dry and out of the wind.

If they have a place to cuddle for warmth, they should be fine. They are tougher than people think. It's the males with the bigger combs that may have trouble. Our only male becomes a house chicken for about 3 months

I don't have my serama winter coop set up yet (on next weekend's chore list). So, mine are still in the main coop with the orps. Thankfully there's enough body heat to keep them warm. It actually snowed a little here today.

 

[Compost King]

So we think for the moment in the 40's they should be fine? They are dry and out of the wind.

I did not have problems with Seramas in the cold until it got to 20 degrees and I had one who was a loner that actually died, he would not roost with the others and was frozen solid the next morning. When it goes below 20 I bring them inside for the night and put them in cages. I have a greenhouse now and I might put them in the greenhouse overnight, however the Greenhouse might not be secure enough for them. I can cage them in the greenhouse but if a predator wanted to get in to test the cage they might let cold air in clawing through the plastic which could kill my plants.

 

[Compost King]

I just wanted to add, I push all my livestock to see how cold hardy they are. If you are extra nurturing with your animals I suggest providing heat or indoor shelter when temps go below freezing. I also live somewhere where it does not stay cold for very long, even it's down to 20 degrees at night it is above freezing during the day and my coops and cages retain heat from that. Seramas are not cold hardy and if you have the smallest class of Seramas they may be even more cold sensitive than mine. However 40 degrees should be fine.

 

[ColtHandorf]

If the rain will let up I'll move them indoors. I'd planned on doing it this past weekend, but didn't have a chance. I do have some Class A's and while I don't have any micros currently, they do throw them. I'll just have to figure out the feeding situation, because dumping a tray with several pounds of food in it makes me want to scream. lol

 

[ColtHandorf]

Well I got everyone moved in yesterday evening. Setting up the six cages and catching them all was about an hour to an hour and a half of work. I stuffed them in my jacket to make carrying them in the dark and drizzle a little easier. They made the most adorable noises tucked in there and warm. It's not much warmer in the bird room as there is no heat in there, but at least it's not wet and there is no wind. I'll buy an electric heater or three to put in there in a couple of weeks when I get a pay check. Being without a job for a month and then going nearly a month without pay because of the pay schedule is a pain. I can't even put heat lamps on them right now as those are all occupied with babies.

As far as feeding, I found some small gravity feed bottoms I've used with finches in the past. the dish is about the size of a tablespoon. Hopefully that keeps the little farts from scratching it all out. I do feel a little bad for the youngsters. I'd hoped to have sold those two older pairs by now so I'd planned on each of the young pairs having their own cage. As it is, they'll be sharing for the moment.