American serama thread!

[cluck-cluck]

My goodness, we have EVERYONE here! How cool!!!! I bet it will become cheaper in a few years with easier methods that will make it affordable to everyone. If they could do this en mass when the chick is still an embryo, that would be the ultimate, perhaps 4 days old. After all, it would be boon to the chicken industry, who gets flack for culling males. If they never hatched males (except when needed) it would be a totally different story!

Thanks so much for that information, Lunar!

 

[Sumatra503]

I am trying to remember the name of the company, but I had my emu chick shell sexed for 20.00. So really affordable.

 

[ChristineR]

Seramas will actually die if they are exposed to cold temperatures. So they do handle it like we think about cold. LOL

They are much different from regular chooks in that regard.

If they are acclimated to cooler temps (20 - 30 degrees), they will be fine (at least mine have been). As long as they have a protected place to get out of the wind and rain, they do OK.

I wouldn't have birds shipped from SoCal and then just put them outside in 30 degree temps, though.

My youngest serama chicks are 3 weeks, normal chicks I would have off of heat by now if they were being brooded inside. These guys still have a 100 watt bulb less than a foot from the floor and spend tons of time under it. They will sit until they pant before moving out from under it, lol. They really like their heat.
And, just cause I like showing them off, here are some pics.

Very cute, Julie! Looking forward to seeing them all grown up.

Hey folks, your resident lurker here. I have done eggshell sexing for some time from Avian Biotech. I used it with my Cockatoo and my Amazon. http://www.avianbiotech.com/SexingCenter.htm

They do other tests as well and even do color testing for horses now. They are super fast and nice to deal with. It isn't exactly cheap, but if you had a specific bird you really wanted to know the sex of and was sure of its shell, you can have it done. They usually email you the results in less than 48 hrs. Then you get a certificate in the mail.

Very cool - thanks for sharing! Is it as accurate as using a feather?

 

[miss heny]

ours were hatch in this cold weather, and was raise in it (thank God) so we dont need a heater, just now i finally mad a (for now) small little run for them, i got pics of it if ya want to see it, please take note i made it in a hurry (with out wood, fencing, hammer OR nails)

 

[Lunar]

If they are acclimated to cooler temps (20 - 30 degrees), they will be fine (at least mine have been). As long as they have a protected place to get out of the wind and rain, they do OK.

I wouldn't have birds shipped from SoCal and then just put them outside in 30 degree temps, though.

Very cute, Julie! Looking forward to seeing them all grown up.

Very cool - thanks for sharing! Is it as accurate as using a feather?

I have been told that it is more accurate than feather sexing as the membrane holds DNA better and is not as easy to contaminate as you tend to hold it by the outer shell while you could touch the wrong thing on a feather much easier. I have never used a feather. I used to do blood testing and they could do several tests at once with one vial of blood. I never got a wrong answer and they were always super nice.

I have a trio of Serama's that gave me the puppy dog eyes tonight and I placed a lamp in the coop. My coop is big enough for them to have a party in so 3 weren't generating much body heat. They really looked miserable crammed in one corner and shivering. Its about 38 right now, and is supposed to drop to the mid twenties, so they got a lamp. Almost immediately, they seemed to perk up and stop shaking. I used a red light. I only hope the neighbors don't call 911 thinking its on fire.

 

[miss heny]

 

[cluck-cluck]

Since I only have 4 seramas, I suspect they'll be living with us through this winter. I'll move them into the coop when the weather warms up and then hopefully they'll acclimate naturally for next winter ??

My chicks are entering that skitzy phase, where they're afraid of everything, LOL. But my older chicks are starting to be more friendly. Since these are my first birds (starting last August) I was a bit worried that my Sultans were going to be unfriendly, but now they don't want to jump off my hands when I put them back in the broode! So sweet! I feel less nervous about the Seramas now, they'll calm down after a bit I'm sure. They sure are cute. At 2 weeks the little ones are only the size of a normal newly hatched chick, pretty amazing to think they're over two weeks old!

 

[serama hen]

Hi everyone i was thinking should i give the hen back to my friend she has a same breed male i was thinking they can have babies and id take 3 chicks or should i stick with the one i have and wait till she get broody and put some eggs under her so shell be busy with babies please before this friday i got her from VA

 

[cluck-cluck]

Serama hen, what's the story? You got your ayam kapan hen from your friend who had one hen and one roo? Then gave you the hen? Why did she want to separate them? Does she have the roo on his own as well? Or is he with other chickens? For all anyone knows, your girl may never go broody, so that could be a LONG wait. I don't know where you live, but if you have craigslist.org, you can search for a friend. Any breed you like will do, best if it's small though. A Serama, old english game bantam, or other bantam size bird should be ok. There are often many roosters looking for a home. I really don't know what you should do, don't really know the circumstances, or how much space you have, etc...??

 

[artsyrobin]

update on the serama mama- babies are almost 2 weeks now and they are alot of fun to watch, brought them into the livingroom to get pics