I don't keep my seramas in pairs. I don't need that many roosters. Roosters make awesome pets, though. Anything can be used as a cage if you want to keep them inside.
In warm weather we use a day tractor and they're trained to walk back to the main coop each night. They sleep with the main flock which free ranges. (Too many hawks for the little chickens to free range.) I don't have a problem keeping the different sizes together and the roosters don't sleep with the hens anyway. In cold weather we set up a bantam coop inside the garage with a panel heater. I have had to bring them inside for a few days here & there because temps were well below zero. I house the bantams together. 2 serama boys with about 8 females. There are more right now because I need to sell some of this year's pullets and cockerels. Some of the hens are silkies & a modern game. I just don't incubate those eggs.
When a hen goes broody, she gets put to work incubating, adopting, and raising chicks. I pull the broody out and set her up in a tractor, rabbit cage, dog crate, walled off part of run, plastic storage tub, etc. Basically whatever on-hand enclosure I have available. When most of the chicks are sold, I put her back into the bantam flock with her last few chicks until she decides she's done caring for them. Then I can sell those birds. (i learned to never sell all of a hen's chicks or the mama will go into deep depression. I thought 3.5 weeks was enough time, but she disagreed. It was tragic and my poor hen was in mourning for a whole month. I'll never do that again.) We all make mistakes. That was one of mine.
In warm weather we use a day tractor and they're trained to walk back to the main coop each night. They sleep with the main flock which free ranges. (Too many hawks for the little chickens to free range.) I don't have a problem keeping the different sizes together and the roosters don't sleep with the hens anyway. In cold weather we set up a bantam coop inside the garage with a panel heater. I have had to bring them inside for a few days here & there because temps were well below zero. I house the bantams together. 2 serama boys with about 8 females. There are more right now because I need to sell some of this year's pullets and cockerels. Some of the hens are silkies & a modern game. I just don't incubate those eggs.
When a hen goes broody, she gets put to work incubating, adopting, and raising chicks. I pull the broody out and set her up in a tractor, rabbit cage, dog crate, walled off part of run, plastic storage tub, etc. Basically whatever on-hand enclosure I have available. When most of the chicks are sold, I put her back into the bantam flock with her last few chicks until she decides she's done caring for them. Then I can sell those birds. (i learned to never sell all of a hen's chicks or the mama will go into deep depression. I thought 3.5 weeks was enough time, but she disagreed. It was tragic and my poor hen was in mourning for a whole month. I'll never do that again.) We all make mistakes. That was one of mine.
