Tell me what are Saramas like??

[gabbyscritters]

My daughter has the opportunity to make a trade for some of her Buckeye bantams, BYC member. One of the choices is Seramas. She wants sweet friendly birds, roos and hens. Her birds get handled alot so usually if a breed has nice roosters they are good boys. She loves her Cochins and is planning on adding a few Salmon Favorelles in spring.
So what are Seramas like? Are they overall sweeties? How much of a concern is there small size, our bantams hang out alot in our horse and ponies pastures we also have peacocks that pretty much leave the chickens alone except that they do take treats away if they catch you feeding the chickens. What about the cold? We live in Wisconsin, we do have a insualted and heated coop with is attached to a second uninsulated unheated coop.
Gabby loves the idea of little chickens but we want to be sure they will be a good match for her.

 

[Akane]

If you look a page or so away in this section of the forum I just did a thread on seramas handling the cold. Mine were fine at our recent -5F temps.

It kind of depends what you are comparing a serama to but overall they are nice roos. They are nowhere near as laid back as my japanese bantams but they also aren't agressive. They willl have little arguments with each other and it's possible to get one that won't get along with other roos but all of mine are together in an 8x8 coop along with my japanese bantams. They've never tried to go after me. With handling they would likely get really tame but the only handling mine see is to move them somewhere. They do follow me around all over when I'm putting out food and occasionally land on me if they were roosting up high when I opened the feed bag. Considering the size of a horse I doubt it makes a difference if you have a serama or another bantam running about near them. Either one could equally get unnoticed and injured. The problem with their size and letting them wander is that they make easier predator snacks. Both flying and land predators of any size can carry them off and even critters that don't normally bother chickens like cats or smaller falcons could decide to injure them. Everything is bigger than a serama.

 

[TommyVT05]

Hello,

Personally, I would highly recommend the Serama for young kids because they are very easy to handle and very people friendly. If you handle them enough, they will follow you everywhere, eat off your hand, you can pick them up anywhere, etc. Thats also true for other breeds too but the Serama adapts to those things much quicker. However, prices are rather on the high if you are looking for quality. They are split up in classes. A B C and D. Well, I consider D as just Bantams and not Serama anymore since they are so big. Haha. Anyways, there are micros too but good luck finding a Micro Serama for under $100. I have one Micro right now that is about 5 weeks old and is about the size of a 9V Battery still that I probably won't sell even for $300 when he/she is full grown.

But yeah, they don't require much really, just good attention if you want them to LOVE you : )

- Tommy

 

[catwalk]

Membership in the Serama Council of North America (SCNA) is free for youths, and I highly reccommend it! She'll meet kids from all over with these sweet little birds.

Also, Jessi (BluegrassSeramas) has pics on here of her tiny little girl playing with one of her roosters.

 

[TommyVT05]

Quote:
Catwalk,

Agreed. I was coming back just to show her that. You read my mind. Haha.

- Tommy

 

[catwalk]

They are super hard to hatch though, so they aren't good for "circle of life" education. I have seven in the hatcher right now on day 20, doing nothing

 

[TommyVT05]

Quote:
Catwalk,

Yes...that TOO! Haha. Thanks for pointing that out. If they hatched out well like RIRs, they wouldn't be so pricey either : )
Happy New Year!

- Tommy

 

[Akane]

They hatch great when you have your own. You can get 90% or more from your own eggs. Shipped eggs are difficult. I've yet to have serama eggs develop and fail to hatch though and I've had a few other breeds like sebrights do that repeatedly. The only time I did not get a single serama chick was when the eggs got scrambled from poor packaging and not a one did anything.

 

[juliette2009]

I think Seramas are a great breed! I love their smallness, different colors, sweet dispositions! I hatch my own, and yes, they sometimes can be difficult to hatch and raise for the first couple of weeks. I personally have not had any problems, but then again, I do tend to be a doting mama. Their coop outside is heated for the adults (and I live in SC), and they spend the first 6-8 weeks as chicks in my computer room with me, so they are very socialized! They do tend to be more expensive to purchase than other breeds, but they are so-o-o worth it! Here is a picture of my Frizzled Serama Christmas Hatch...

 

[gabbyscritters]

Oh, they are too cute. frizzled Seramas that is too cute! Gabby now has 3 serama chicks. Very sweet and healthy, they are living the life of luxuary in the kitchen for the winter. They get to come out and play and stay warm all winter. They will move out to the coop when it is warmer and they are bigger, don't want to take any chances. The coop has a new flat panel heater whcih will keep them comfortable when they are older. Now we just hope for 1 roo and 2 little pullets.