Seramas-housing indoors...tips? Ideas?

[BeardedLadyFarm]

I'm not sure about chickens, but cage birds are very sensitive to over heated non-stick pans. It kills them quite quickly.

 

[TheFarmMama]

I was told not to keep them outdoors when it's below 40* out. We have 15 chicks, 6-7wks old indoors right now. It does create dust but it's not that difficult to clean it up, especially with the help of a swiffer duster

As long as you're cleaning a few times a week (which should be done anyway) everything keeps pretty nice and smelling fresh. Our indoor cages will have multiple levels and on warmer days and in the warmer months of the year they will spend the majority of the day outside in their mini portable coop so I'm not very concerned with the dust levels. They're no where near as messy as our marans and other chicks are. My sweet husband is in construction so I have the luxury of custom designed coops-such a good man

We plan to have a wire and wood cage, definitely not glass. Not only is it totally unaffordable it seemed like a terrible idea with the dust from their dander and bedding. Keri-great ideas, I appreciate it. We're going to put a 1ft piece of board around the bottom and only fill about 2-4 inch with bedding so they won't be able to scratch out so much of it. Only 2 of ours are really mess makers thankfully. Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far-especially about the nonstick pans!

 

[carriehelene]

FarmMama, I live in upstate NY, avg temp this winter has been low teens, with many nights below zero. My Seramas have weathered these temps just fine. My BR roo has shown a bit of frost-bite on his comb but the Seramas couldn't care less about the cold. No frost-bite on my Serama roo's comb at all. And they are tiny- fit into my 11 year-olds palm. Alot of people still think because these birds are small, and come from a warm climate, they can't tolerate the cold. That just isn't true. I don't free-range my Seramas, they chose to spend alot (but not all) of their time this winter in the coop, but do go out into the run several times a day. All's I'm saying is if you want them to go out into the coop with the others, don't be afraid to, they aren't nearly as fragile as some people believe.

Ok, I'd better add a disclaimer here, my Serama's share their space with some banty cochins and silkies, when they get cold, they snuggle together. I don't know how well a couple of Serama's would fare on their own in these cold temps we've had this year in an unheated coop.

 

[riftnreef]

I have something very similar going on. We live in a non chicken friendly town, and though I keep my laying hens outdoors with no problems, my kids are showing Serama's for 4-H, so we needed Roos. I was fortunate to have a seperate room already up in my basement that I modified for the birds. With a little forethought, it has worked out great so far. I put up shop lights with special reptile bulbs that produce uva/uvb light. I added an outlet for the furnace vent that was already in the celing so they could have some heat. I rigged an exhaust fan in the basement window of that room that runs on a timer (as well as the lighting). I use good ole wood shavings for bedding and built a tray under the roost poles that I keep full of wood shavings and sweet PDZ. I clean out the tray daily into a waiting bucket and dump it when I go out to water the layers. The room is mighty dusty, but it stays in the room, and the smell level is zero! To be honest, I would prefer to have the chickens in the house over the cats...at least when chicken poo dries it stops smelling, unlike cat urine or poo. Now, the only down side that we have noticed is the morning crowing has taken some getting used to...good thing Seramas are small! Best of luck, and feel free to PM me for details on my set up, I would be glad to share some pics and links to equipment used.