Seramas

[Kandypeeps05]

are show quality sermas prolific layers? are they prone to egg-binding or any other issues like that?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Just looking at google info on Serama seems like a first year pullet would lay around 4 tiny eggs a week. It would take about 4 Serama eggs to equal a large chicken egg.

I don't think anyone can say whether they are prone to egg binding. Any laying hen has the potential for that. You want to provide a nutritionally balanced feed, fresh water and either no treats or limit your treats. Egg binding can be caused by a number of things, excess fat in the abdomen is one of them.

 

[Chicken poppy]

1. Seramas are awful layers. Do not buy them for eggs or meat, or you will be greatly disappointed. Unless you want some mini drumstick that equals the size of their body for meat and tiny specks for their eggs.
If you want a more in detailed response to that, mine ranges from .80-1.00 OZ in weight, and is a off white color. She is some extra tiny serama, (micro i believe) and is 8 ounces, almost 2 years old.

Typically, her eggs are 1.00 OZ, and often times, .95 OZ

I would also like to add that on a good week, she lays every other day, but shes not very consistent either.

Egg binding is, yes, more likely when a huge egg is being passed, but they are not more or less prone to being egg bound. I have never had my serama be egg bound, had her for about 1 year.

 

[Faiyumi]

Serama breeder here. I'm assuming since you're asking about show quality, that you would like to get into breeding them? I enjoy helping other get into raising this breed, so I'll put a bit of info out there for those interested in their general egg laying habits and capabilities.

To follow up on answers from the others in this post, Serama are almost all mixed genetics. There's true Malaysia Serama, but few people have those compared to mixes. Mixes are beautiful and can get microscopic. Being of mutt genetics it's hard to guess how many one hen will lay. I've got some who lay daily without fail and I've got some who lay 3 times a week.

They can become egg bound under artificial lighting. This will most likely affect them the first year of life. I've only personally had one hen that had issues with that. She went off the lighting and is fine now. She has her own coop with natural lighting year round. You absolutely must set the light to turn on earlier in the morning. This reduces stress. A stressed hen is not a good layer.

It is still highly advised to give them a winter break to molt. I let them molt and they go back on their artificial lighting if needed. When they molt they will change patterns a bit. This lets you see what you're working with genetics wise. Plus it's just healthy for them.

The eggs are small, but once you have a few Serama you will have tons of eggs. It's not like you will be selling all your eggs, or hatching them all. I personally cook with them. They are pretty tasty actually.

Now for the real shortfalls of the Serama eggs. Fertility. The smaller the Serama, the less fertile. I personally like to keep them above a certain weight to avoid this and other problems, but my show girls definitely lack fertility.

One quick trick for fertility issues is trimming their butt feathers. Some Serama have overly feathered butts. This won't fix everyone. It's also hard for some roosters to do the do. Some people actually do artificial insemination, not just for this breed.

Some smaller Serama have fairy eggs (eggs too small to sustain life) as well. They will not make good breeders and should just be considered wonderful pets.

14 hours of light is great for egg production, but a couple of mine need 16 hours to be in full production.

Did I mention most have heavily mixed genetics? Your smallest Serama can have higher weight class chicks than you expect and your bigger Seramas can have the smallest chicks you've ever seen. It's all luck. Now the issue here, is the smallest of the small chicks almost never make it. Between die off before hatch and after hatch, it's brutal. That's why super small Serama sell for so much.

The hens are wonderful brooders, but abysmal mother's. They love their chicks but can't comprehend their delicate size.

I cannot stress enough to anyone getting into this breed that the die offs from the chicks are not your fault. This is a very advanced breed to rear. The chicks are insanely fragile too, but once you understand their unique care, they are very successful.

There's myths out there that mixing bantams with larger breeds will cause them to become egg bound. I've never had that problem myself and I breed with my Faiyumi for fun bantams. The hen is solely responsible for her egg size I believe. I've never had a problem the other way around either. My Serama roos love the larger breed hens. To no one's surprise the larger hens do not magically lay small eggs. You will get a chick that grows to a size in-between usually, but they can still be pretty small.

The smallest chicks are weak, very weak. They cannot all make it out of their eggs at normal humidity. You'll need to get it up to at least 70% I go 75%. You may need to rescue the occasional micro chick from their shell. With experience you will know when it's right and when to wait.

My Serama, at least, don't ever seem to need much calcium. They get all their calcium from their feed. It's not even layer feed. Their shells are excellent. Just in case, I still offer crushed egg shell and oyster shell once a month. This breed hasn't needed more calcium than that yet. Their egg shells are slightly stronger than a larger breed I feel.

I have ton of general Serama tips on my blog/website if you want a look. I'm always adding more. You can PM me for it. Also if you'd like to know more specific questions, never hesitate to reach out. I really enjoy this breed and think they should be in every coop. They mix well with other, larger breeds too and bring such a joy to any home.

Oh and one last cool egg fact. A lot of Serama love brooding together. They are sweethearts who are social egg layers.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Serama breeder here. I'm assuming since you're asking about show quality, that you would like to get into breeding them? I enjoy helping other get into raising this breed, so I'll put a bit of info out there for those interested in their general egg laying habits and capabilities.

To follow up on answers from the others in this post, Serama are almost all mixed genetics. There's true Malaysia Serama, but few people have those compared to mixes. Mixes are beautiful and can get microscopic. Being of mutt genetics it's hard to guess how many one hen will lay. I've got some who lay daily without fail and I've got some who lay 3 times a week.

They can become egg bound under artificial lighting. This will most likely affect them the first year of life. I've only personally had one hen that had issues with that. She went off the lighting and is fine now. She has her own coop with natural lighting year round. You absolutely must set the light to turn on earlier in the morning. This reduces stress. A stressed hen is not a good layer.

It is still highly advised to give them a winter break to molt. I let them molt and they go back on their artificial lighting if needed. When they molt they will change patterns a bit. This lets you see what you're working with genetics wise. Plus it's just healthy for them.

The eggs are small, but once you have a few Serama you will have tons of eggs. It's not like you will be selling all your eggs, or hatching them all. I personally cook with them. They are pretty tasty actually.

Now for the real shortfalls of the Serama eggs. Fertility. The smaller the Serama, the less fertile. I personally like to keep them above a certain weight to avoid this and other problems, but my show girls definitely lack fertility.

One quick trick for fertility issues is trimming their butt feathers. Some Serama have overly feathered butts. This won't fix everyone. It's also hard for some roosters to do the do. Some people actually do artificial insemination, not just for this breed.

Some smaller Serama have fairy eggs (eggs too small to sustain life) as well. They will not make good breeders and should just be considered wonderful pets.

14 hours of light is great for egg production, but a couple of mine need 16 hours to be in full production.

Did I mention most have heavily mixed genetics? Your smallest Serama can have higher weight class chicks than you expect and your bigger Seramas can have the smallest chicks you've ever seen. It's all luck. Now the issue here, is the smallest of the small chicks almost never make it. Between die off before hatch and after hatch, it's brutal. That's why super small Serama sell for so much.

The hens are wonderful brooders, but abysmal mother's. They love their chicks but can't comprehend their delicate size.

I cannot stress enough to anyone getting into this breed that the die offs from the chicks are not your fault. This is a very advanced breed to rear. The chicks are insanely fragile too, but once you understand their unique care, they are very successful.

There's myths out there that mixing bantams with larger breeds will cause them to become egg bound. I've never had that problem myself and I breed with my Faiyumi for fun bantams. The hen is solely responsible for her egg size I believe. I've never had a problem the other way around either. My Serama roos love the larger breed hens. To no one's surprise the larger hens do not magically lay small eggs. You will get a chick that grows to a size in-between usually, but they can still be pretty small.

The smallest chicks are weak, very weak. They cannot all make it out of their eggs at normal humidity. You'll need to get it up to at least 70% I go 75%. You may need to rescue the occasional micro chick from their shell. With experience you will know when it's right and when to wait.

My Serama, at least, don't ever seem to need much calcium. They get all their calcium from their feed. It's not even layer feed. Their shells are excellent. Just in case, I still offer crushed egg shell and oyster shell once a month. This breed hasn't needed more calcium than that yet. Their egg shells are slightly stronger than a larger breed I feel.

I have ton of general Serama tips on my blog/website if you want a look. I'm always adding more. You can PM me for it. Also if you'd like to know more specific questions, never hesitate to reach out. I really enjoy this breed and think they should be in every coop. They mix well with other, larger breeds too and bring such a joy to any home.

Oh and one last cool egg fact. A lot of Serama love brooding together. They are sweethearts who are social egg layers.

Very informative. I hate malaysia and would never consider getting one because it just looks insanely un-natural to me. Very pretty coloring, though.

The shelling is very different on my serama. She lays some pretty awful eggs, and requires more time to crush up calcium because it must be a certain size.

Yes, totally agree on the the selling more for really small ones. I think i paid around $60 for mine (8 OZ) and she looks like roadkill.

Was told she was “molting” at the time.
Didn’t know seramas very well when i bought her.

 

[Faiyumi]

Very informative. I hate malaysia and would never consider getting one because it just looks insanely un-natural to me. Very pretty coloring, though.

The shelling is very different on my serama. She lays some pretty awful eggs, and requires more time to crush up calcium because it must be a certain size.

Yes, totally agree on the the selling more for really small ones. I think i paid around $60 for mine (8 OZ) and she looks like roadkill.

Was told she was “molting” at the time.
Didn’t know seramas very well when i bought her.

I'm sorry she looks like roadkill. I'm curious, I've never heard someone call their chicken roadkill lol. Do you have a picture?

What kind of calcium are you giving her? Using baked egg shell and a smaller blender can really speed up your life. They do eat the finer dusty stuff too.

$60 isn't bad for that size at all. I've seen them up to a few hundred. I don't like talking bad about other breeders, but I've seen some pretty horrible housing conditions, despite asking hundreds. I really wish more people put the money back into their flocks and not their pockets. Being such an expensive breed should enable us to better the lives of our birds, first and foremost.

 

[Chicken poppy]

I'm sorry she looks like roadkill. I'm curious, I've never heard someone call their chicken roadkill lol. Do you have a picture?

What kind of calcium are you giving her? Using baked egg shell and a smaller blender can really speed up your life. They do eat the finer dusty stuff too.

$60 isn't bad for that size at all. I've seen them up to a few hundred. I don't like talking bad about other breeders, but I've seen some pretty horrible housing conditions, despite asking hundreds. I really wish more people put the money back into their flocks and not their pockets. Being such an expensive breed should enable us to better the lives of our birds, first and foremost.

She looks much better now, before it looked like she got run over, put in the wash, and held up to a fan. I’ll get a picture.

Thats smart. I’ll try that.

No, i really agree with you on this one. It should be said, because if no one says anything they will just keep on doing it. A place where i bought some tiny birds is just completely awful. Bugs swarmed around them because they were covered in poop, dirt, and other filth. And they have never even touched grass and their 4 months old. Their feathers are also quite choopy.

 

[Chicken poppy]

I'm sorry she looks like roadkill. I'm curious, I've never heard someone call their chicken roadkill lol. Do you have a picture?

What kind of calcium are you giving her? Using baked egg shell and a smaller blender can really speed up your life. They do eat the finer dusty stuff too.

$60 isn't bad for that size at all. I've seen them up to a few hundred. I don't like talking bad about other breeders, but I've seen some pretty horrible housing conditions, despite asking hundreds. I really wish more people put the money back into their flocks and not their pockets. Being such an expensive breed should enable us to better the lives of our birds, first and foremost.

Heres the picture.

I think she looks rather horrid in this picture, and this went on for about 1 year, no improvements. She just recently improved, she looks much better.

 

[Faiyumi]

She looks much better now, before it looked like she got run over, put in the wash, and held up to a fan. I’ll get a picture.

Thats smart. I’ll try that.

No, i really agree with you on this one. It should be said, because if no one says anything they will just keep on doing it. A place where i bought some tiny birds is just completely awful. Bugs swarmed around them because they were covered in poop, dirt, and other filth. And they have never even touched grass and their 4 months old. Their feathers are also quite choopy.

She's got a really cute face! She's actually rather interesting. I think there's genetics in a lot of Serama that have bit of a choppy feather. I am completely guessing here, but I'm assuming it's from breeding them with the frizzled versions. I have some with the trait and others without it. The place I got them from had both the frizzles and standard feathers. They kind of just let them breed at will. It's definitely a trait that passes down. Only one of my roosters had it and only his offspring have a chance of carrying it. It doesn't matter how well you take care of them, the feathers just get all weird. The ones that don't have it, have no issues at all with their feathering. That rooster has since been replaced because I feel like it makes me look like I don't care for them good enough. I hate having to explain over and over that it is in fact the genetics. This does seem to get better with molts. Personally I like the look, as one may a frizzled. It's unique.

Unfortunately they are going to keep doing what they are doing. I've seen plenty called out on here for shadiness and even on the BBB. They are still running to this day. The insect's and filth part is unfortunate.

Just to defend them a little, not raising them outside may have been a safety measure they had. From a breeders perspective, with avian influenza on the rise, I often advocate "locking up" rare bloodlines that are endangered or just your cherished pets.

Mine are not raised outside, they instead have huge enclosed coop/runs. A legit reason for not raising them outdoors is biosecurity. I can control what comes in and out of their environment to a larger extent. I don't think people realize the trust they are really placing with us to be honest and protect their flocks. Buying just one bird from me can wipe out your entire flock. In some cases with something like Marek's, you may also be introducing a virus that won't be leaving the environment for years. In extreme cases, my mistake can wipe out a whole community of chickens.

I've held my most cherished chicken as she died. My heart will never be as full as when she was around. That's not something I can ever willingly do to another person. Breeders need to take responsibility, and many do. I hope many other breeders will follow suit and learn that there can be creative, fun and ethical ways to enrich an enclosed environment for smaller flocks. Such as proper space, low lighting plants, other decor and painted walls. Sun light is tricky because it needs to be unfiltered, but also protected from those pesky bio things that we are trying to secure. The goal should be to expand on their environment every chance we get. Mine make me happy and I strive to do the same for them. Once they leave the breeder program, they become free range. Ultimately, we have to worry about the health and safety of everyone's chickens.

 

[Chicken poppy]

She's got a really cute face! She's actually rather interesting. I think there's genetics in a lot of Serama that have bit of a choppy feather. I am completely guessing here, but I'm assuming it's from breeding them with the frizzled versions. I have some with the trait and others without it. The place I got them from had both the frizzles and standard feathers. They kind of just let them breed at will. It's definitely a trait that passes down. Only one of my roosters had it and only his offspring have a chance of carrying it. It doesn't matter how well you take care of them, the feathers just get all weird. The ones that don't have it, have no issues at all with their feathering. That rooster has since been replaced because I feel like it makes me look like I don't care for them good enough. I hate having to explain over and over that it is in fact the genetics. This does seem to get better with molts. Personally I like the look, as one may a frizzled. It's unique.

Unfortunately they are going to keep doing what they are doing. I've seen plenty called out on here for shadiness and even on the BBB. They are still running to this day. The insect's and filth part is unfortunate.

Just to defend them a little, not raising them outside may have been a safety measure they had. From a breeders perspective, with avian influenza on the rise, I often advocate "locking up" rare bloodlines that are endangered or just your cherished pets.

Mine are not raised outside, they instead have huge enclosed coop/runs. A legit reason for not raising them outdoors is biosecurity. I can control what comes in and out of their environment to a larger extent. I don't think people realize the trust they are really placing with us to be honest and protect their flocks. Buying just one bird from me can wipe out your entire flock. In some cases with something like Marek's, you may also be introducing a virus that won't be leaving the environment for years. In extreme cases, my mistake can wipe out a whole community of chickens.

I've held my most cherished chicken as she died. My heart will never be as full as when she was around. That's not something I can ever willingly do to another person. Breeders need to take responsibility, and many do. I hope many other breeders will follow suit and learn that there can be creative, fun and ethical ways to enrich an enclosed environment for smaller flocks. Such as proper space, low lighting plants, other decor and painted walls. Sun light is tricky because it needs to be unfiltered, but also protected from those pesky bio things that we are trying to secure. The goal should be to expand on their environment every chance we get. Mine make me happy and I strive to do the same for them. Once they leave the breeder program, they become free range. Ultimately, we have to worry about the health and safety of everyone's chickens.

I completely agree.

This was very interesting to read! Thank you.


Im so sorry to hear about your passing chicken. That truly breaks my heart.