Welcome to my blog! Seramas are known as the smallest chickens in the world…and they are just adorable! They are absolutely the “cutest” fowl you will ever come across! I am not new to chickens, but I am new to the world of Seramas. I am trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can, and I would love to have you accompany me along my new journey! I have learned so much in the past few weeks, and it is my desire to share this adventure with you…Perhaps you’ll want to keep Seramas as well!
I had never even seen a Serama chicken up close and personal until last Friday, and I now have a flock of 18 Seramas, along with 10 chicks, and I have decided to breed Seramas as well…How could that be, you ask? Well, in a nutshell, this is what happened…I went to the poultry show in Camden, SC last Friday, met Luann Keller and Vicky Mills, both Serama breeders in South Carolina, and came home with the aforementioned birds from Vicky. Now, this obviously was a spur of the moment decision, and it left us in quite a quandry (“Us” includes my husband who went to the show with me)…After all, where do you instantly put these birds, who are not friendly to each other (there were 5 breeding roosters along with their multiple partners)? We currently have 5 temporary pens in our once-clean garage, a kiddie pool with 10 chicks in our house, and 5 temporary pens set up in our backyard, so that the chickens can get fresh air and sunshine in the daytime. That’s right, my husband takes the birds out to the pens each morning, and back into the garage every evening. My yard looks like a Tent City, according to my son, since the tops of the pens are covered in muslin…partly to keep the birds from flying off, partly to shield them from the hot sun, and partly to keep them from being carried off by hawks. It really is a site to see!
It honestly wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I had joined several Serama groups and forums online, designed a chicken coop in my head, had been scouring the internet amassing information and innovative ways to care for chickens, wanted to have everything in place before ever buying a single chicken, and then, Poof! All of a sudden my husband is making daily trips to the feed store and the lumber yard and the feed store again, and magically a chicken coop is coming to life in my backyard. I am awakened every morning to the sound(s) of several roosters in my garage, which just happens to be underneath my bedroom, by the way…My cat, who is an indoor/outdoor cat, is now unable to leave the house when the chickens are outside (she routinely brings me moths, moles, mice, and snakes – even bats, so I shudder to think of her “meeting” my new pets right now), and our dog, a doberman, who is completely bewildered by these noisy creatures who are taking up so much of my husband’s time (she is a big Daddy’s Girl!). Ah, well, the best laid plans of mice and men, right?
You can see the beginning of our new coop here…my husband, working hard, trying to make me the coop/hen house of my dreams…It will be 10 x 12 feet, with individual runs on each side…one side for winter, one side for summer.
I have already named the roosters, so that I can label their corresponding eggs when I start breeding…Pumpkin, Pretty Boy, Winston, Walter, and Handsome.
Handsome is a Mille Fleur, and the others are a Chocolate Lace. Winston and Walter have a very quiet crow, and I am intrigued with the idea of trying to come up with a line of “quiet” roosters, those that have a softer crow to them. They are not “Squeakers”, as some roosters are called, but it gives me a place to start…Check out Mr. Wonderful here……Isn’t he fantastic?!? Gorgeous, but quiet! And last but not least, my baby Seramas, about 3 weeks old now…
WOW, I know how you feel and how it happened. I have not had chickens in 35 years and I went to the feed store to buy dog and cat food and they had just received a shipment of chicks. I came home with 4. The next week I was there when UPS arrived and came home with 8… long story short I am up to 24, and I still want more. I love them. I am almost finished with my coop, 7′ x 4′ x 8′ tall. The girls are now 6 – 8 weeks old and are very ready to move in. I think I’ve got it bad because I want to be there every Thursday when the shipment arrives so I can get the pick of the day old chicks.
How big does this breed get? I didn’t see that information but may have missed it. Does anyone raise them in Central Texas? I’m in the Hill Country. Congrats! linda/
Linda-
Good for you! These “new” adventures in life are so magical, aren’t they? Seramas are very small birds, only about a pound or so full-grown. They are a tropical bird from Malaysia, a fairly new breed, and have only been in the U.S. since 2000 or so. I find it comical that I fell in love with them online, before ever seeing one in the flesh! They do not breed true, which means that mating 2 black parents, for example, will yield different colors and patterns almost every time, a trait I find most endearing! Aside from googling Seramas on the net, I joined several Yahoo Groups for Seramas (http://groups.yahoo.com/, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Seramas/),as well as the NCSA (http://www.scnaonline.org/), which was founded by one of the original importers of the breed into this country. You should be able to find breeders or members near you through one of these organizations. I am new to the breed myself, but I am captivated by them…Two of my newly purchased roosters have very quiet crows – not true “squeakers”, but I have decided to breed for this trait (A Serama’s crow is 1/3 the volume of a regular rooster!) This breeding “thing” is new to me, so please check back or follow along with me…who knows? Maybe you’ll get hooked as well and we can travel this new path together! Juliette
Vicky, also helped me get started with Seramas. I am hatching my first new ones now. I to really like them and Vicky was and is a great help.
Bill,
Have long have you been raising Seramas and how many do you have? How did your first hatch turn out i.e. hatch rate?
I have my first hatch in the incubator, due to hatch on Friday or Saturday of this week. So far, they all look viable. I will be posting the results when they occur. I am so excited!
Juliette
The 2 CLUBS you posted breed only show birds, if your not into that or don’t pay to join they are no help.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Seramas/
http://www.scnaonline.org
SCNA is controlled by MODERATORS who dictate what they will allow to be posted and a small group who post that are their freinds only to get better birds, yet they have a lot of members who do not post.
They have no idea about breeding poultry other than to inbreed them till they get that one prefect bird, not caring if it can reproduce only that it can win them that special ribbon.
That yahoo group has now started a club called SCA they all were kicked out of SCNA and they require you to know 2 members to join after paying dues and basically it is run the same way.
There is only one serama yahoo group that is free and has all kinds of information about seramas and how to go about breeding them without the genetic problems, with no fear of being kicked out or being treated poorly.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/AMERICAN_MAYALSIA_SERAMAS/members
Steve-
Thanks for your post…I am always interested to find informational sources about Seramas, and to meet other like-minded people! I have joined this group also, and I look forward to seeing you there!
Juliette
Juliette, have been in the seramas for about 6 months. So far have had 4 out 6 hatch 3 times and they all are doing fine. As hard as it is to believe I think they are all hens. I really have enjoyed the Seramas and look forward to more and more colors….
I am really captaivated by these little birds and want to get some as soon as possible. Do you know of any breeders in Ca., the Central Valley preferably/ I found one ad on Craigslist, replied to it but never got an answer. The ad did not give a phone number. Do you sell and ship by chance?
I just wanted to let you know that the 4 seramas I got from you are doing fine. As I was reading under your topic of breeding, I came across where you are trying to come up with a line of “quiet” roosters. I just wanted to see if you are having any luck with it yet. I am intested in trying to do the same thing and come up with a line too that has a softer or lower crow. I love Mr. Wonderful, would be cool to get a line going like him with the soft crow that he has. I just wanted to see if it is worth trying to breed for.
Randy-
I’m glad to hear all is well! Yes, I had been working on a line of “quiet” roos, but the problem, and it’s a big one, is that you have to hatch out, and then GROW, a lot of roos to get that special one or two that meet your criteria! I was looking for softer crows PLUS type PLUS size PLUS color, and believe it or not (LOL), it’s difficult to find all of that in one little package! And then, of course, comes the problem of finding homes for all those roos! So, in the end, at least for now, if a roo has a softer crow, it’s a big plus in keeping him, but only if he meets my other criteria. It’s still a tantalizing idea, though…