Are they getting smaller or is it my imagination? This baby is really tiny! The dark one is the crippled that I saved the other day.. I have a splint on him and he is walking.. I thought it was gonna die for sure.. so I found this one outside and brought the lil crippled one some company.. Lil bug it is!
How sweet: I knew if anyone could save the little one it would be you. They are adorable, I know from experience if you've never had any of these little ones you just can't know small and adorable they are. I tell all my friends they are (The thief of the heart) As much as I have enjoyed so many breeds, I must say I am just as in awe of these birds as from the start. I hope you hatch tons of them...Hay
oh how cute. Happy to hear them crippled one is doing better
Gosh, they sure are tiny. And so very cute.
Thank you all. :)
Haystack.. I wrote this baby off several times.. it wasn't just splayed.. the legs were 100% horizontal.. it just wiggled on it's belly.. But I noticed it could move it's lil toes, so I thought I'd try the splint.. As soon as I put it on.. that was the last time that baby stayed on it's belly.. It's been standing ever since.. and this morning it ran!! It looks like it's doing the potty walk.. (pants around the ankles) LOL
I really really didn't want house babiez... but since they are the ones I've been waiting for so long.. cozy home it is! I'll just have to get a case of Pledge.. LOL (and ear plugs)
These are the lil Dragon style Serama babiez.. I sure hope they grow up to look like their daddy!!
Poor Dad looks awful... everyone is molting.. He had a bad habit of fighting through the fence and lost part of his comb. :(
But you might get the idea of his conformation? He is NOT posing.. he is actually running from me..
This was a good day to take Chicken pics..
Here is Elvis.. He sings and dances
This is my little guy Clark. His wife Lois was killed by a predator when she had new babiez.. He is 420grams a "B" class and a real sweetie.
This is Tina.. the mom to the new babiez.. Chauncy the dad is above..
Here is one of my lavender girls runnin from the camera.. LOL
Elvis looks like a birchen, but I'm not sure with my eyesight. Chauncy is excellent with that chest protruding out beyond the head. Thats what seramas should look like. I like Elvis' color but I like Chaunchy's stanz. I'm glad a little comb damage has no effect on future babies... That lavendar is nothing short of gorgeous. How many lavendars do you have? (hens). I know Cajun has always wanted lavendars but I'm not sure if she wanted americauna's or cochins. I really like that color and I think I like the americaunas best...Just an opinion...Hay
Thank you Haystack. I always appreciate your kind words.
Elvis was solid black and just got that little bit of what was rusty color, but now is bleaching out.. He is a tuff guy.. (yeah right) LOL If you tap his tail he will take on anything in a fight.. LOL Looks more like a dance.. and he was chatty as a baby just like Murphy! Such a sweet lil song he had. Course, he's too cool for that now. :)
Tina is my smallest hen.. I need to weigh her, but she is broody right now, so she is no doubt at a true weight.
When Chauncy has his tail in, and not so scruffy.. he is amazing to look at in the sun. He sure has the body! I love him..
I only have 4 lavender hens.. they are sweet. I love Ameraucanas.. I love EEs too.. anything that lays a blue egg is special to me. Funny that my black Ameraucana lays the prettiest eggs though.. I'm waiting for her first daughter to lay any day.. That would be my lavender split..
I wish I could ship Roos right now.. It's a shame to let them go so cheap.. but this is a bad time of year to sell around here.. No one wants the lavenders!! Blows my mind. LOL
Geez.. I didn't mean to write a novel here.. just like to keep you and all up to speed on the latest.. :)
I'm really surprised no one wants the lavenders, they are beautiful. I love the tufts of the ameracuanas. I wished it wasn't so expensive to ship chickens. I would love to send seramas to so many but the cost is so prohibitive. I think I told you I have several shipping boxes but haven't used any yet, I want to ship some seramas to some friends but yikes the cost mounts up so quickly. Are you planning to eventually hatch more lavenders to sell and ship?...Go ahead write a novel I love reading about what your doing...Hay
No one seems to know what they are! LOL Also, it's a bad time of year to sell... the mudd is coming! It might also be that people are starting to think of holiday shopping..
To ship one of these would cost a fortune.. they are big and getting bigger every day.. I've had this problem before.. I'd love to ship them to friends, but who can afford it?
That's one big reason I started in Seramas.. You can ship a whole flock for the price of one Standard roo. LOL
I don't blame you for not shipping yet.. It is a major pain.. and now it's getting cold and we will have to wait till Spring before long.
I sold quite a few seramas this summer.. I guess I'll be stocked up for next year. :)
There is a HUGE show in Jan.. I wonder if I'll have anything to sell then? Hummm Catsy!!!!! Where are you!!!
Where is the show? That would be so cool if you had some birds to take to the show, it's a great place to get your name out and what birds you raise. Outside of the state fair there is very little around here in the way of shows or swap meets for poultry or livestock. Lots of people with chickens but no one puts anything together. The seramas are affordable to ship I guess but when you couple that with what it takes to do it and the cost of the birds it's still hardly worth doing. I have had several requests to ship and even though I have the boxes I frown on it...Hay
The show is right here in the next town... I'm not sure if they even show Seramas.. it's huge.. there were 3500 birds year before last.. I couldn't go this past year, I was on the road. I will see what Catsy is gonna do too.. We have till Jan..
Yup.. I hear ya about shipping.. it all sounds great till it's time to do it.. LOL
What does "class b" in Seramas mean? How many classes are there? Love the lavender, gorgeous color!
Thank you Annie.. The lavender color has created quite a mix up as have Ameraucanas.. They are actually a "self blue" but a true blue has a dark head and tail.. a true lavender has no other colors.. I love the lavenders, and I love Ameraucanas.. :)
Seramas come in 3 sizes A, B & C It's their weight.. measured in grams. B class is up to, but not over 500 grams, which is under a pound.. I don't have any A class yet... those are dinky!! I'm workin on it though. :) Clark is my smallest Serama roo. Tina is my smallest hen.
Oop's just lost the post I was writing.
Is the Ameraucana a breed or is it an EE? Sorry to ask that but the only experience I have is with hatchery chicks and they call them both. I looked a few times and it's hard to tell but I think her legs have a lavender (blue/grey) color unlike the EE's that have a greenish tint, am I seeing her leg color right? She's a beauty and I love her munchie cheeks!
Thanks for the explanation. Wow, size B is teenie tiny, can't even imagine a size A, that's almost sparrow sized!
The Ameraucana is a breed; the Easter Egger is any chicken that lays blue/green eggs, but it will almost certainly be part Ameraucana or Araucana. So I guess you could say the Ameraucana is both a true breed and an EE.
Yes Annie, the Class A is anything up to 350 Grams, B as ZZs stated is up to 500. and class C is up to 600 Grams. Anything over that is not considered acceptable. However the Seramas do not breed true to color or size, so the largest bird can throw the smallest baby, and colors seem to just come out of the woodwork. I have had probably fifty different colors and patterns come out of four hens. Thats one of the reasons it's such a blast to hatch them. You never know what your going to get. I think ZZs would agree, every hatch is like christmas...Hay P.S. the class A's are so cute and tiny but the B Class is the best breeding stock by far...
Thanks, Hay! Sorry about the all the Seramas questions - but is there a reason the class A is not as good for breeding stock? Fertility problems or.....? Are all colors acceptable in the breed? I have a hankering for some Seramas and they'd fit in a smaller coop too!! Just thinking ahead...... LOL
Ohhhh ZZ your Seramas are just beautiful! I am working towards having some to "Crow" about too! LOL!! With all the help Ive gotten here and with a local person that raises them I hope to one day be able to show mine!
Your questions are actually excellent Annie. I'm not sure what the pro's may say but my experience has been that tiny chickens lay tiny eggs and most generally the tiny eggs seldem hatch. I can't explain the scientific reason for that, I have just taken note of that fact. I have one hen that is just out of this world, her eggs are unusually small and out of probably around two dozen eggs from her, only two have hatched and both had to be helped out of the egg. Only one of the two lived and so she has no value for future babies. I love her dearly and would never sell her. She is pure white and most people think she is a small pigeon. The seramas come in approx 2500 different colors, and there is no standard yet even though some will try to make you believe there is...My experience has been they are excellent layers even though some will say they are not good layers. I'm sure Catsy and ZZs will add some great info and opinions on these issues...Hay
I have read that it's difficult to hatch the eggs from the really small hens (A class) also. I didn't know about the class size just that some were really small. I wonder why that is. I mean I know the chicks would be small but lets face it the world has lots of small birds flying around and they seem to hatch their eggs just fine. But they are not chickens of course. I used to breed the grass finches (originally from Australia) and they are very small birds but no problems hatching eggs.
Well, it's also got to do with a tiny roo. It's a major balancing act, and a few yoga positions involved to reach.. you know.. LOL So if the roo is small, I'm sure fertility is a major issue also.
Not only is the hen tiny and since that is not a natural trait, (It's something that we breed for) there are probably hidden problems in even more than the reproductive tract. A micro or a class A bird is rare, and in all reality probably a mutant.. Seramas are naturally small, but people desire the rare and unusual...
I have a lot of experience with race horses, and the common term is.. "People have bred the brains right out of them" They are bred for speed... not taking into consideration bone structure, bone density, brains, endurance, confirmation, etc.. Just faster! The poor things have turned into running machines waiting to break down on legs not strong enough to support what we ask of them, and brains that are just tuned into speed. A trip to the back side of a race track would shock even the most experienced cow horse person..
Bugzy is from a tiny egg from a tiny hen.. (Tina) and only 1 hatched successfully out of 4 eggs.. I could have saved the first one if I would have intervened, but I thought it would make it out on it's own.
The lil brown one is from another hen that is identical but she is bigger.
I haven't had any luck in getting tiny adults from large parents.. but they say it's possible. All of our tiny birds came from a roo that is no larger than a B. Big hens also tend to throw big babiez.. at least in my experience.. I have a group that is small in size, but so beefy they are heavy! I am guilty of wanting to breed for size, but the vertical wing, big chest and high tail set are of a major importance to me.
Wow.. did I have too much coffee this morning or what?? LOL
Well, much luck with them. They are really cute so I hope they breed well for you.
I love what ZZs said and would agree 95%, where I disagree is not fact but opinion, The protruding chest is for sure important in the world of seramas, but I never have liked the Doll Parton look, I want my women to look normal...LOL. Hay Interesting enough is that my tiniest hen came from one of my largest Roo's. ZZs the roo is booker.
This message was edited Nov 2, 2010 10:18 AM
Screamin funny Haystack!
Haystack, I found this picture of Dot when he was a baby.. Thought you might like it..
So adorable, if you had not told me it was dot, at first I thought it was murph. I have two of his babies right now and they both look just like him...Dot is an incredible and tough little guy and still is incharge when challenged...he is all man...Hay
I have to get on my old computer to find pics of them when they were babiez.. but this is a good example of how they change!
Elvis was solid black for the longest time... so was his lil wife..
I just went out and took pics of the silkied serama baby... hopefully it will lure Catsy back. :)
ZZ, I like it when you drink a lot of coffee LOL! Interesting information! Chug-a-lug and keep on writing!
I would agree with your race horse anology. The same can be said of breeding dogs, cats, cattle and so on, for a desired trait and the rest of the animal goes to h ell in a miserable hand basket. I've been around many horses that weren't happy unless they were frantically trying to impale themselves on something or someone.
Thank you Annie! That is so sweet.. A wonderful way to start my day with kind words. :)
I'm sure it is true with all animals... I hope I don't contribute to it in the Serama world. I love the little ones, but I should be breeding only for correct conformation and a good healthy bird, and just appreciate the few and rare tiny birds that I'm blessed with.
They say that the worst thing that can happen to a dog breed is for it to become really popular. I agree that racehorses have been selectively bred only for speed with no regard for soundness either mental or physical. (If it runs fast enough to break down on the track they retire it to the breeding shed - never mind the conformation fault that caused the failure!) However I still love TBs and ride them almost exclusively - great work ethic.
Hello everyone! I missed you all.ZZ I love the baby pictures.I finally have new baby Seramas of my own and a bunch of babies from this summer. I havent gotten a scale yet but i have a little hen about the hight of a pop can.She seems to have great conformation too.I will get some pictures one day soon.I havent been online much this summer.Just too busy but im thinking now that its getting colder I will have a little more time.Good to see everyone again.
Welcome back! Looking forward to pictures.
That's cool Porkpal... it took me months to get over it when I first started swimming race horses.. There was a trailer load that went to the killers almost every couple of weeks. They go to the killers just cause they are not fast enough! I found homes for many, but couldn't possibly take care of all that broke down..
I had an appy named Double Burner that would have been a great trick horse.. I loved him since I first saw him.. and ended up owning him 3 years later when he bowed a second tendon.. He would take my rake, hammer, whatever and try to run off with it.. He would jerk the saddle pad off every time I reached down to get the saddle to put on him.. He would also stick his tongue out when I told him to. LOL How I Loved that crazy horse!
Welcome back ShEwOLFIE! I'm glad you got some Serama babiez! I can't wait for your pictures. If you aren't selling, I guess you don't really need a scale.. it's shocking how much they weigh when you think they are so tiny. I would have sworn Clark was an A class, he is just nothing to pick up... but he tips the scales at a whopping 420 grams! LOL Well into a B class..
Catsy showed me how to tell if the tail set was high... and helped me to see when they had a long back.. it took me a long time to develop an eye for a short back and proper tail set.. I'm thinking of taking pics to compare... and see if it was only me that had a hard time seeing that.. really, if you love em all, it's hard to see!
Good morning everyone!
ZZs your so right, when your very fond, it's terribly hard to see the faults...I've had that problem with you...LOL Gotcha!!!!!!!!
Welcome back SheWolfie...I figure you were out there somewhere howling at the moon...LOL. Love the Name...Hay
