Nothing as cute as Chickopea could ever be considered a waste of mash!
Tiny Seramas
Eufaula that is one handsome roo you have there! He looks like just about a perfect size, is he a B? I love his confirmation, at least in that picture!! Super nice.
I disagree with Haystack here.. Yeah, the long back is not great.. but all is not lost, if she is crossed with that roo, you might get a few good ones. (If you are breeding strictly to sell quality birds, he is 100% right) but that is expensive and very hard to get started. If you are doing this as a hobby, and don't mind sifting through the culls you will get.. it is possible. I have that problem with the pullets I had, along with them being heavy weights even though they were small. I got Tina from a big and heavy hen with a long back. Tina is my best hen. She is by Catsy's best roo.
Edited to add.. This is Wilder, Catsy's roo. He is an angel and he throws clones.. LOL He is a small B
This message was edited Nov 14, 2010 6:43 PM
Pictures? You want Serama Pictures??? OH yeah!!
Here is Clark when he was a few months old if that..
You want a big chest, vertical wing and short back with a high tail set. This is a decent pic...
Here is Poppy.. a one in a million Silkied Serama that came from Clark (above) and Lois who is no longer with us.
Poppy is nice, but not great.. His wings are not up and down, and look to be a little short.. He is not a cull by any means..
(I am very critical, especially of my own birds)
Here is Rusty.. He was nice, but he had a low tail set.
It is very hard to get a "pose" from a baby.. you will only get a "general" idea of confirmation by watching them.. This baby is very young.. and will grow into his wings and get some chest later..
I also wanted to add.. Pullets won't pose unless they are threatened.. they usually don't show their true confirmation in a picture. So as far as photos go, a pullet CAN look real bad. Your pullet has a nice high tail set, in my opinion and I'd wait till she matures to make a final call.
And.. What I meant by not agreeing with Haystack that it IS possible.
In his defense, I have to admire him for advising not to breed something that is not going to give you a full hatch of saleable birds. I do NOT condone breeding for chance and ending up with a bunch of "culls" that are less than perfect in the chance you might get one that is a real nice one, cause someone who ends up with the culls will no doubt breed them.. Ultimately that is the worst that can happen to the breed.
Our goal should always be to better the breed.. BUT.. given the budget to work with, sometimes it can't be avoided that we have to work with what we have.
Seramas always make me think - "little bird with a big ego." I am surprised to hear that the pullets don't automatically puff themselves up as I usually see them in photos. Your birds are impressive; I love the colors too.
They are so small. Must be kinda like raising pigeons.
I take a zillion pictures to take one that I'd post. It is very hard to get a good picture of a pullet. I don't like scaring them, but the best pictures I've gotten is when I snatched them up and put them on a table.. Even then, it's hard to get them in a "pose". They would have to be trained, or you have to be real good at catching them in a photo at just the right time.
The more I look at your lil pullet, the more I try to imagine where her neck would end and how long her back would be if she were upright. The position she is in is the worst she could be in for judging it with my "less than professional" eye.
Like, if you were to tap the ground in front of her with like a flyswatter, I would bet you would get a completely different pose.
I can't even imagine ZZs disagreeing with me, but we do agree on some things. How do I know...Well we both have a Rusty the Rooster...even though I am sure mine is prettier...LOL...I will be taking several pic's of the youngsters tomorrow to post on here. I can't really find anything ZZs said that I'd really disagree on. I really do agree big time that the pose of the pullet is hard to get as the pose they are in is depending on whats going on at the time. The Roos on the other hand seem to love the camera and for the most part are very easy to get good pics...Hay
Thanks you Guys , you are the best!! You are right about the little White babies.. they are only about 9 weeks old. I do feel that they both have too long a back but only time will tell.
they are both very skittish and do not like to be handled. I got them from a breeder who has very beautiful birds but Im sure he knew these,even at a very early age would not be what he wanted, so he sold them to me! I noticed when I met the gentleman how rough he was with his birds, (like pulling the poop off the bottoms of very young chicks, fluff and all, causing skin and probably vent damage). I would assume this would cause any young Serama trauma and fear of Humans! So Im taking my time with the pullets trying to settle them and get them used to me and handling.
For some reason this Gentleman has a strain of Seramas that are throwing mostly all white birds! They are very small and I saw several with almost perfect confirmation. So I was hoping to see if this would happen for me and I would get a white line started!
LOL Haystack.. The ONLY thing I did disagree on was that she had a cull bird and shouldn't be bred.
So show us your Rusty Haystack.. I sold mine.. His tail was not Serama Enough for me.. it was set like a Old English Game and not a Serama tail. I guess that's what some call "American Serama" but I don't like the game bird look on a serama. I like a vertical tail.
I found a pic of Lois.. This is the best picture I have.. She is a youngster here..
Oh ZZ such great looking birds!
I feel much the same way about the look that I want. Lois for instance, I like her vertical wings, but would like to see the tail a little more vertical...Having said that in another pose maybe the tail would look more vertical. The best pose' seem to be when we are not around. I believe our presence does change not only their pose but also their disposition until they are really settled in to the friendly stage...
Eufaula, unfortunately some people don't really care about the bird, they see it strictly as a money maker. ZZs spoke a little about what is the best thing for the breed rather than the owner. The time it takes to care for them properly without injury and trauma is well spent, and I wish there was some way to eliminate those owners who only see them as a dollar. It's okay to profit off of any product but when it comes to living things then responsibility and kindness toward that living creature is paramount...Hay
Yes I agree Hay! As for my two little girls, they will go around for their entire lifetime with no feathers at all around their vent area due to mistreatment by a thoughtless Human!
Let's see some more Serama pics! I love Serama pictures!! Come on you guyz.. I know you have some.. :)
oh ZZ love the coloring. She is beautiful. I really do like blk & wht colors on animals.
Such a sad sad Day for me today! I went to the big henhouse this morning to see why Natchez Serama and Tiny Chicopea had not come to scratch like every one else. I found Chickopea sitting in the doorway of the nesting area and making the most peculiar noise for her! I picked her up and she was shaking and baby talking like I havent heard since I got her when she was just a tiny thing. Then it hit me NO Natchez , anywhere not a feather not a scratch in the dirt nothing! I walked this entire 3 acres calling and looking for any sign! Holding Chicopea !
I began to cry.... but Checked myself... I just cannot do that any more... life is life ..but it really gets to me sometimes!
I took Chickopea back to her roost but she immediately started following me making that pathetic sound again!
I looked over to a newly opened bag of chick starter and could tell something with a very big head and Nosed its way into the sack and had eaten a good bit of it.......DOG.... or Coyote!!! Would explain no feathers .... it just picked Natchez off the roost and ran....Which means it came while they were Free ranging and the outer doors to the Henhouse was open!
This means my really best hope for the best of the Seramas is nil and void now! I only have one offspring left from Natchez...That would be little Sweet Tater here.
No Noooo Nooooo Eufaula!!! Oh my gosh I'm sooo terribly sorry!!! Just makes my heart break... You poor thing..
I will ship you something when the weather is warm enough to ship. All is not lost.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Oh no. You must be heartbroken. I am so sorry. Poor little guy.
Thanks girls! ZZ you are a sweetie! Oh Rita Im learning that the most treasured are usually the first to get gone!
Im also seeing that everyone of my light or white colored chickens are the ones that fall prey the quickest! If Im going to have anything white they have to bee confined from everything!!
That makes me know that my new white Silkies that I went and got today( to console myself) are going to have to be in a completely covered and surrounded pen! Which means I ve got to get busy!
Well my dear, even with these tough lessons, your gaining knowledge for the future. I hate it but out worst experiences seem to serve us best at how to protect our most treasured...I let my seramas free range also but in a limited sense. Your so right about the white and light colored birds, they seem to stand out the most against the green grass...Hay
It seems like every animal out there in the woods wants to eat chicken. We don't have Cayotes here and a very strick leash law so rarely do I see a stray dog although it does happen. We do have flying things such as hawks and owls and foxes and of course racoons and possum. Let us know how your new run making goes. Keep those little darlings safe LOL!
I was just looking Sweettater, she is very pretty, in fact I recently purchased four that look a lot like her especially the hackled area...
Yes she has some very good traits from her parents! I hope to have some good chicks from her in Spring, Her mate is not a really good "Stance" bird but he is a very pretty little roo! His name is Carrot. Here he is eyeing little Chickopea!
WOOOps that was Copper, these thumbnails I have to choose from are hard to see! Here is Carrot!
Let try that again
Carrot is darling! I think that will be a great match.. :)
Carrots & sweet taters? You could name the babiez stew.. LOL
Thats a good one!!!
If Chickopea had proven to be a good brood hen I was going to name her first really good roo " Hoppin' John"! LOL!
I am so sorry Eufaula. I only free range mine when I am out side with them but it could still happen if I am in the Aviary. Would take a minute to close their door before I could stop an attack. I did have a hawk swoop me with Dudley laying on my chest one day. Thankfully I have seen another one yet or the oppossum
Lets see now: Carrots, sweettater= Stew...Hmmm...We've just gotta get ZZs of the juice...LOL. Isn't she a riot...Hay
LOL Don't ask me how they went together Haystack!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
Hey they are both root crops and sweet tater stew with carrots sounds gooooood!!
Ladies I am building a new coop, ZZs will be put in an area where she cannot affect the other hens. Mesh will be used for Eufaul, Annie, miss Jester, and others so they can socialize. ZZs area will sound proofed so she can no longer infect the others with her craziness...ROTFLMBO...Hay
Fat chance you'd catch me...
It would sure be fun trying...LOL
You guys kill me!
So sorry for your loss. I know it hurts and it is frustrating. I have been very blessed to have lost so few. I have 5 free range roos and 1 on a tie chord. I also have 12 pullets in a pen with no top and have not lost any from predators other than that hungry stray dog.
The game cock on the tie chord actually killed a chicken hawk a week ago. The roo did not have a name. We just called him "that roo on the string". Could have called him Yo Yo I guess. But now DH is calling him Old Skeets. If you are a Jerry Clower fan you will get the significance of the name. LOL