Serama Hatch-A-Long!!

[enola]

There is a thread on this site about another chick that hatched s out 6 weeks ago with no down.

 

[formerchickenlass]

these babies! congrats on the chicks!! I always love seeing seramas next to LF chicks because I forget how small they are : )

Thank you!! Yes, I'm not sure I would've fully appreciated the size difference if I hadn't hatched them out together, also they're half bantam so maybe a fully LF chick would be even slightly bigger? The two half bantams are noticeably larger than the full blood bantam cochin chick, though it's hardly anything compared to all 3 against the seramas.

Of interesting note, the cochin/orpington chick hatched out with 5 toes! Does anyone know if that's just a random thing that happens or are there some 5 toe genes in one of those breeds?

 

[darkbluespace]

This was supposed to go here, not sure how I started the new thread.


I have no idea what I'm doing. I really want to hatch some of my seramas fertile eggs but she refuses to set. I don't have and incubator and honestly I've never tried to hatch my own chicks. My buff orpington (she's never hatched chicks either) is constantly broody so she was my next best bet.She has been setting on them since the 19th tucked another one under her on the 21st and didn't realize I made a huge mistake by not marking the first two by the 26th when I placed the third. I only marked the third egg (idk if thats even going to be an issue). I really want her to hatch them for me but I'm worried she might be too big so I was thinking of taking them out as late as possible but I highly doubt I'll have a better enviorment than my broody. Is the size of my hen going to be big deal? Is the time gap between eggs going to be an issue? Can I keep putting new eggs under her?

I did get one reply saying I should collect and store the eggs but she's laying only 1-2 eggs a week, not sure where I could store them with an unchanging temp.

I would just leave those 3 eggs under her and see how they do. The first Seramas I hatched were under a large fowl hen and she was a great mama. 2 days difference may work out just fine as they usually take a couple days after the first hatch to get off the nest. I wouldn't add more eggs unless you get an incubator to finish them in. It sounds like things are going well, keep us posted!

 

[codiallynn422]

Hello! I'm pretty new to this stuff myself but I will try to help.

From what I've read I don't think your orpington hen will continue setting on eggs for too long after 1 hatches. So it probably won't do much good to keep sticking them under her. Just wait and see what happens with the three you've already placed. Maybe she'll be too big but maybe not.

I've read that you can store eggs in a cool location such as a cabinet (say 50-60 degrees) alongside a pan of water for up to 3 weeks. The water keeps the humidity up so that the older eggs won't lose too much moisture. As it gets cooler outside it gets easier to find a cabinet in the house that's the right temperature (perhaps in a bathroom or other area that doesn't get heated regularly). Make sure you turn the eggs once a day. To do so, I keep mine in an egg carton stored large end up and each day I prop up one end or the other of the carton with a small box (like a box of bandages for instance).

I am currently incubating such eggs, testing whether they're really still good after 3 weeks, you may as well give it a try too! Since you don't have an incubator, you could start a thread here to see if anyone in your area would be willing to incubate your eggs for a small fee. You can also post such an ad on Craigslist.

Another option is to save a few eggs and then deposit them together in your serama's nest box. Just seeing a pile of eggs can make them go broody in my experience.

You may also consider acquiring a couple more hens so that you have more eggs... and more chances that one will get those broody feelings!

Good luck! Let us know how you proceed and how it goes!

I would just leave those 3 eggs under her and see how they do. The first Seramas I hatched were under a large fowl hen and she was a great mama. 2 days difference may work out just fine as they usually take a couple days after the first hatch to get off the nest. I wouldn't add more eggs unless you get an incubator to finish them in. It sounds like things are going well, keep us posted!

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to collect eggs for two weeks or so and try to store them. I'll probably only get 3 or 4. Our weather here in CA is a bit unpredicable, the temp of our house changes quite a bit during the day but I'll see what I can do. I didn't think to try to encourage her to hatch her own, seems worth a try. I'm not sure of their fertility either. Once my other girl starts laying it should be easier to plan clutches. My end goal is to turn my two pairs into five (all I have room for inside) and sell the rest until I can make them a nice shed with heat and multiple runs. I'm really nervous to try an incubator, not sure what to buy and which is the best value. Which incubator is the best at a reasonable price? Is there anyway to predict colors or patterns from parents? These are my pairs
Cookie and Colonel Sanders

Rico and Chicka

 

[formerchickenlass]

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to collect eggs for two weeks or so and try to store them. I'll probably only get 3 or 4. Our weather here in CA is a bit unpredicable, the temp of our house changes quite a bit during the day but I'll see what I can do. I didn't think to try to encourage her to hatch her own, seems worth a try. I'm not sure of their fertility either. Once my other girl starts laying it should be easier to plan clutches. My end goal is to turn my two pairs into five (all I have room for inside) and sell the rest until I can make them a nice shed with heat and multiple runs. I'm really nervous to try an incubator, not sure what to buy and which is the best value. Which incubator is the best at a reasonable price? Is there anyway to predict colors or patterns from parents? These are my pairs
Cookie and Colonel Sanders

Pretty birds! Your Colonel Sanders looks a lot like my boy, La Roux, heh.

I'm sure there are people who can predict the colors but you'd need to know more about chicken color genetics than I do. There's a book on serama colors. http://www.pixiechickens.com/1796/how-to-serama-color-genetics/

A lot of serama people like the Hovabator Genesis 1588. It holds a bunch of eggs and many serama breeders hand-turn the eggs so you could save money and not buy the turners. Personally, I have a Brinsea Octagon 20. It holds fewer eggs, but still plenty, I have 34 serama eggs in mine right now and there's room for more. It IS twice the price but seems to be more well-regarded than the genesis in comparison threads. I also appreciate that it doesn't have any external styrofoam to clean, and that there's an option to add on a water tank that completely controls the humidity throughout the incubation (I'm not ready for that yet but might be someday).

On the negative side, I don't care for the rails system for holding eggs in the Brinsea, nor for the fact that the entire egg tray must be lifted out to add water (I suspect that's by design to encourage purchase of their 150$ add-on water controller).

I have a question for you and anyone else reading who wishes to weigh in; why breed seramas in pairs? Is it to try and breed specific colors?

 

[codiallynn422]

Quote:
I have been reading up on gen1588, I think I might try that first and see how well it works for me. I want to go for a turner, frees up some of my days. They were already together when I got them, although I do plan on keeping just pairs mostly for color/texture experiments. Mine are indoor and there's limited space in a cage until we build our custom hutch, I think 3 would be crowded. During next summer I can move them outside and double up on females but winter months I can't chance it.

 

[Naliez]

I love it for brooding! I use sand for my indoor serama, though. The adults can kick it in to dust that is a lot like dryer lint. Chicks are too light to scratch it up like that though! Poop that has dried and spilled feed tends to sift to the bottom where it won't make a big smelly mess of the chicks' feet. It is also comfy and nearly dust free when they are small. It is expensive, though. Depending on how many and the breed of the chicks you might have to change it weekly rather than every couple weeks (much longer life than pine imo.)

I've been mixing pine and paper and you're right about it making a 'dryer lint' dust. I've got a couple air purifiers running by the brooder and they get covered in a day by the fuz. Im trying to figure out the best way to brood inside for the winter. By the time they're big enough to go outside, it'll be too cold, but they're already big enough to make quite a mess, even in the kiddie pool I have for them. You say sand is the best for the inside Seramas? What kind of cage do you have for them? We have a tri-level house and were thinking of building an indoor coop downstairs for the Seramas and Silkies during the cold, wet months, but they are seriously making a stinky mess. I'd like to see other peoples set ups to get an idea of the best way to go about this. If I could build or buy something where I could easily clean the bottom out regularly, that'd be great. The pool I have them in now works pretty well, but I'm still having to lug the entire thing outside every other day to dump it. Not very practical or economical, not to mention the awkward shape of the set up takes up a lot of space. I like the look of those rabbit hutches, but the reviews say they're flimsy. What's your set up like? And how many do you keep inside?

 

[Naliez]

Oh, I have an idea about that! If you put a tarp under the pool and tractor you could switch it out with a second tarp as it gets dirty and just hose the soiled one off outside. 

Why didn't I think of that?! That's a great idea! I've been laying down puppy pads, but it's too expensive to keep up. For people who keep Seramas inside during winter, I don't know how they do it! I'm going to have to figure something out. Our downstairs is not being utilized right now. Our plans were to turn it into a teen game room for my sons. Think they'll mind too much if I build an indoor coop down there? Lol We were planning on doing an industrial theme, with graffiti style art, black light posters and arcade games. If I got real creative, I could make the coop match the room... A Super Mario Brothers themed coop?! Lol Hmmmm...

 

[formerchickenlass]

I have been reading up on gen1588, I think I might try that first and see how well it works for me. I want to go for a turner, frees up some of my days. They were already together when I got them, although I do plan on keeping just pairs mostly for color/texture experiments. Mine are indoor and there's limited space in a cage until we build our custom hutch, I think 3 would be crowded. During next summer I can move them outside and double up on females but winter months I can't chance it.

One definite benefit to pairs that I see is you'll know the parentage for sure so you can tell who's throwing what colors, and if/when there's a problem you'll know where it is. I want to put a camera on my nest box to track who's laying each day and general frequency of lay per bird.

With other chicken breeds it seems like you can easily have problems of roosters over-mating girls if there aren't enough girls. Are seramas different in that respect? Again, not just directing at you. I know many breeders (maybe most) keep their birds in pairs, trios or quads. It's something I've been wondering about for a few weeks.

Let us know how you like that gen 1588, the gal I bought my breeding flock from recommended it highly but I'd already had my heart set on that brinsea. I think I'd get the 1588 as my second 'bator. I do enjoy using the turner. I have enough things to think about each day, don't need to add turning eggs to that list! I know a lot of the serious serama people swear by hand-turning but I don't yet see a reason to believe it would be better.

I hear you about cage space. We build a lot of our enclosures but sometimes it's just too darn time consuming. I've started looking at cages for indoor solutions. We bought a medium dog crate for our broody. Recently we were looking at the dog crates again, considering bringing our birds indoors instead of trying to figure out a better supplemental heat this year... we've been running a heat lamp on them at night but that's not a great long term solution. At any rate, the crates we like for this are the style that have two doors. We reckon you can just take two doors off & tie them together where the doors meet to make a larger space. That was our plan but Home Depot here was out of stock on the size we wanted so I just had my guy build a 3-sided box that goes up against one side of the serama enclosure and fits an electric radiator inside. Going to test that out this weekend.

If you go the dog crate route I recommend Home Depot for them, and you can buy online with free shipping. We drove around to a bunch of farm/feed stores, even Petsmart and they were all higher priced on the same type of crates. We have the American Kennel Club 36x24x26 for our broody.

Just curious, did you buy your pairs from someone local or were they shipped? If shipped I'm interested in hearing anything you'd like to share about the experience.

 

[formerchickenlass]

You say sand is the best for the inside Seramas? What kind of cage do you have for them? We have a tri-level house and were thinking of building an indoor coop downstairs for the Seramas and Silkies during the cold, wet months, but they are seriously making a stinky mess. I'd like to see other peoples set ups to get an idea of the best way to go about this. If I could build or buy something where I could easily clean the bottom out regularly, that'd be great. The pool I have them in now works pretty well, but I'm still having to lug the entire thing outside every other day to dump it. Not very practical or economical, not to mention the awkward shape of the set up takes up a lot of space. I like the look of those rabbit hutches, but the reviews say they're flimsy. What's your set up like? And how many do you keep inside?

I know this wasn't directed at me but I'd also love to hear more about using sand, what type is used and at what age they're put on it, how deep it is, etc.

Also also, Naliez, I would

to see photos of other people's serama enclosures too, indoors and out. So... I created a thread for it! Hopefully some people will come by and show us how it's done.

Here's the link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1043895/serama-house-show-off-lets-see-your-coop