My Seramas are bullies! Anyone else have this problem?

[erinlee]

I have a mixed flock of 10 regular sized chickens; 9 hens and 1 rooster, they are all about 3 months old. I hatched out 3 serama chicks in June, they all ended up being roosters. They are the friendliest little guys to people, love to run over to anyone and fly up to their shoulder to hang out - they are almost a nuisance they are so friendly.

Unfortunately, they have started to be big bullies to the full size chickens! I was actually worried about the seramas getting picked on, not the other way around. These three little brats chase the hens all over the place, I even saw one latched on to a hens tail feathers as she ran across the yard with him in tow.

Although the rooster stands up to wild turkeys that wander through; he doesn't do a thing about the little seramas.

Anyone else have this problem? They are all free range during the day, the large chickens are locked in a coop at night and the seramas are still spending their nights in a very large brooder box in the garage - only because I was hoping they would eventually integrate into the rest of the flock and share their coop. Looks like I'm going to have to build another coop just for them.

Not quite sure what to do; if they continue to act like bullies I may have to build a run to keep the bullies penned. Any ideas?

 

[kelliepulido]

omg That is quite a sight I bet.I just started with seramas,hatched out 7 they are 1m old.But do not seem to be aggressive do you use any heat for them in the winter

 

[elmo]

Um, that's not bullying. I strongly suspect that they're trying to mate with the hens.

Depending on the size differential, this may or may not be possible. I had a Serama crossbreed rooster that was able to successfully mate with standard size hens (fertilize the eggs), but a friend of ours has two Serama roosters that keep trying (and failing) to mate with his Ameraucana hen. They keep sliding off!

 

[7&8]

Hi erinlee,

Thanks for your post on the little bullies!

I am in the same boat as you only my bullies are two Bantam Leghorn hens. It's actually the smallest, pigeon sized, hen, "#7," that is the biggest "tea kettle"!

I have five full sized hens, & a pretty laid back Salmon Favarolle roo who all take hits from the little witch on occasion. Like yours, she hangs from either hen or roo feathers while they run around shrieking! Mine either free range or hang out in pen/coop on rainy days, and coop together at night. It's this winter that I'm wondering about, when they'll be spending more time cooped.

I would like to leave them all together for shared warmth, obviously; but, if the little witches are going to generate constant grief...

I've thought about separating the banty's and making a small, temporary winter coop in the garage, but this will create more work on a daily basis throughout the winter...not that I'm lazy.

I'm trying not to anthropomorph-isize the situation...the full size birds are likely less disturbed by the banty's behavior than I am! So, as of the moment, I'm going to leave them all together, until, and/or if, I see blood drawn.

I don't want to cull the banty's - they are great little layers - their eggs make perfect "toad in a hole"! And, they are excellent little broody's.

Good luck with your little terrors, and keep us posted!

 

[erinlee]

elmo-
I have yet to see the serama roosters actually try to mount the hens; it is more chasing them around the entire yard like little terrors or latching on to their tail feathers with their beaks while the hen runs around screaming. Dang little roosters. They are lucky they are so cute LOL.

7&8 -
Maybe you're right; possibly I'm more upset with the terrorizing than the chickens actually are. Its not like the hens run and hide from them whenever they come around; just when they start getting chased from what I can tell no apparent reason. I'm lucky enough to work from home, so I get to look out my window by my desk all day long and watch them. It seems those little roosters like to pick on anything that wanders by; they were chasing a squirrel and a chipmunk this morning that happened to cross paths with them.

kelliepulido-
This will be my first winter with them; I suspect I will need to provide some sort of heat for them in their coop as they do seem to get cold easy.


I am a little concerned that I have no serama hens for the roos though; will the roosters start fighting with each other more as they get older since they have no hens around? Anyone know a place that sells day old seramas? I'd love to buy some serama hens to keep with them, but am afraid to try hatching again as with my luck I'll just get more roosters!

 

[gritsar]

In my adult flock of LF brahmas, the only bully is the one accidental bantam Maggie. If I catch her in the act I "bully" her back, but otherwise leave them to sort it out.
In my juvenile flock the three that are bullies are the salmon faverolles. One of them is always picking fights. Having read up on them before choosing my breeds, I expected it to be the other way around. Henderson's chicken chart mentions that SFs can be the victims of bullies.
Since nobody is drawing blood, I leave them to sort it out. Human interference tends to only aggravate the situation IMO.

 

[CalebtheChicken]

The Seramas are just trying to dominate and breed the hens (all at once), and the bigger roos may not see the little Seramas as a threat to their place in the pecking order or the hens (because of their small stature), so they don't care as much as they would if the Seramas were larger.

 

[erinlee]

So I've been noticing that they are really only picking on one hen. Two of the little serama brats were actually latched on to her side today and got drug around by her as she ran for quite a distance. I finally intervened and the darn little jerk had a beak full of feathers. Grrrrrrr. I was trying not to intervene, but I noticed that that poor hen is now missing most of her feathers on one side of her leg where they like to latch on.

It seems I may be building a run for the little buggers sooner than I had planned. I really don't like watching them harass her like that.