Seramas can't take the cold - Fact or Fiction?

[racuda]

I've read that these birds are of tropical descent and can not be exposed to freezing temperatures. I have also read that they will acclimate to colder temperatures.

Last winter our coldest temp was 8 degrees Fahrenheit one night, and normally in the teens for a few nights a year.

I don't believe in providing supplemental heat. Can I keep seramas?

 

[SeramaLife]

It really depends on where you got them. I got mine from Louisiana and they can't take it. Neither can their chicks. I think that 8 F is much too cold even if they are more cold hardy than mine. It isn't just that they are from the tropics, I believe it has to do with their body size.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Mine did just fine in N. Texas, where we sometimes got into the 20's. I just block the wind from their coop with a tarp.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

As with PouletsDeCajun, the weather is similar here in SE Oklahoma. My Serama have survived just fine with the wind blocked and shelter from the rain. I have mostly silkie feathered serama.

 

[racuda]

I don't think I'll chance it then. Thanks for the replies. I think I'll go to plan "B" which is to go with Dutch Bantams or OEGB.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

You should be fine in NC... it doesn't get THAT cold there does it?

 

[racuda]

Quote:
I just looked up the official weather data for my part of the state. The average low in January is 30 F and the average January high is 48 F. So its not THAT cold. Its the occasional single digit temp that scares me.

I really do want seramas, but I don't want to jeopardize their well being.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

You wouldn't be jeopardizing anything. I have a friend whose parents have Seramas in Nebraska, outside, and they are fine. If you are THAT concerned, and want them THAT bad, then get some and put a heat lamp out for those exceptionally cold nights that happen every once in a blue moon.

 

[SeramaLife]

Quote:
30 should be fine as long as they are dry and out of the wind. If it does get really could, you can always have a heat lamp as backup.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

Mine are in KY and we had quite a few single digits this year.
Most of the Seramas were in a big concrete building (not drafty or wet) with a big run on the back. Since I was not breeding, I put them all (fully feathered) in there together so that they could stay warm. I kept the back door to the run shut on the really cold days and let them hang out indoors with some corn as a treat. Thank God Seramas don't take up that much room. They are all sweeties and got along well..but I had about 30 roos and hens in there.
They are all from KY stock, and although fully feathered, most of these guys were 5-7 months old.
I just had to watch the roo's combs and bring them in for the night in an indoor little rabbit hutch if any started looking frostbitten, but I put them back out the next day.
If you are not planning on keeping a bunch through winter, and you have a way to bring some in on exceptionally cold nights, I say GO FOR IT! Seramas are too little and sweet to miss out on!