American serama thread!

[Faraday40]

My bet is she will be a beautiful splash when she is mature. Whatever the case, she will keep the white in some form.

You were right about the white. It multiplied. She now looks mottled.
....... Still stays with mama - who is broody again!

 

[nchls school]

You were right about the white. It multiplied. She now looks mottled.
....... Still stays with mama - who is broody again!
View attachment 2950096View attachment 2950097

Expect the splash to cover most of the body and wings as she gets older; she's a beauty!

 

[Faraday40]

Here's the male:
Is 340g (12oz) a good weight for 16 week cockerel? (big or small side?)

 

[nchls school]

Here's the male:
Is 340g (12oz) a good weight for 16 week cockerel? (big or small side?)

He is likely to mature in the B or C groups. As to big or small it really depends on what you want. Serama that mature under 12 ounces are not nearly as productive as those that are B and C. Some of my smallest hens lay an egg every 2nd or 3rd day and lay a total of 6 to 8 eggs before going broody. Then, because of the short bodies and tiny size they can only cover 4-5 eggs effectively. Serama eggs are large for the bird's body size. Rather like my little call ducks that lay eggs as big as my much larger mallards.
As for pet quality, size doesn't matter. Do you show birds?

View attachment 2950786View attachment 2950788View attachment 2950787

 

[Faraday40]

Not really into showing..... but maybe.

Son is in 4H. He only showed once at the county fair. DS wanted to bring his Modern Game bantam instead of his serama. Also entered a silkie hen. Both birds got blue and class champ. The silkie ended up Grand Champion for bantams. Not bad for a 1st timer!

It was a pain to quarantine for a few weeks before and after the fair, but it was fun to try it out. We also didn't want to risk bringing our "favorites" That's why only 2 chickens were brought.

He said he'd like to try it again, so maybe he'll bring some seramas this year. Although he likes his chickens, his real passion is computers. Kids can only take one project to bring to the state fair, and he chose computer programming. His piano-playing chicken (a poultry science project) stayed home. LOL

 

[nchls school]

Very cute video. I've never shown birds and my son is not a pet person. He, too, is into computers.

When I was younger there never was time. Now that I'm older... not going to happen.
I do try to raise the best possible as I sell them as pets. And to that end I selectively breed for pet qualities.

 

[nchls school]

Not really into showing..... but maybe.

Son is in 4H. He only showed once at the county fair. DS wanted to bring his Modern Game bantam instead of his serama. Also entered a silkie hen. Both birds got blue and class champ. The silkie ended up Grand Champion for bantams. Not bad for a 1st timer!

It was a pain to quarantine for a few weeks before and after the fair, but it was fun to try it out. We also didn't want to risk bringing our "favorites" That's why only 2 chickens were brought.

He said he'd like to try it again, so maybe he'll bring some seramas this year. Although he likes his chickens, his real passion is computers. Kids can only take one project to bring to the state fair, and he chose computer programming. His piano-playing chicken (a poultry science project) stayed home. LOL

How long did it take your son to do the training?

 

[User105877]

Turned them out the other day. They have to stay in the coop for the next few days now as we have a couple inches of snow on the ground

 

[Bonkerelli]

Hello everyone! I am a new Serama momma starting back in September. They are great birds and get a long great with my other "big" birds. I have 2 hens and a rooster. I am expecting eggs from the hens any day now.

 

[Faraday40]

How long did it take your son to do the training?

You have adorable tiny frizzles!!

It actually doesn't take long - as long as you have a smart chicken. He worked with about 6 birds the first week - then narrowed it down to the top 2 for training. The fastest learner was a Serama named Popcorn. She learned to peck at the red target immediately and could distinguish colors by the end of her 1st or 2nd 5 min session. (Not the norm) However, she did not consistently peck at the piano keys hard enough to make sound. That's why the Modern Game was used in the video. The serama also learned that click = treat, so she would simply turn around and try to peck at the clicker to make us give her a treat. In general my son worked about 5-8 min at a time over the course of 3 months. He probably could have done it in a month or less if he did it daily. As with life, some weeks he practiced daily, other weeks only twice, and he crammed 2-3 training sessions per day right before the fair. LOL