The tiny serama; a Hatching adventure

[TwoCrows]

Good day eggies!!! If you already haven't do so, time to rise and shine!!

 

[GreenJay]

good morning/afternoon Greek chicks, let's grow!
Go Grace, Myzithra, and Feta!

 

[fluffycrow]

Honestly, at first it was to raise my own meat birds. That didn't work out so well, with the fox getting more that me. This year, I'm focusing more on selling the chicks, to help make ends meet.

My focus is going to go in a different direction though, as I switch from BYM to purebreeds.

There is also the joy of seeing those wet little creatures turn into adorable youngsters. It fills me with joy.

Even though a lot of pain can come from hatching as well. A lot of you know what I've gone through both last year and just this past week.

I'm very excited to see what you do with the birds you'll be getting soon.

Hatching can definitely be hard, what you've gone through this season as well as the last is a lot, but your perseverance just proves your love for these animals

I consider the joy (as well as the grief) of hatching a byproduct of breeding, not the reason I hatch and breed

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

@SwampPrincessChick raised a question (indirectly) that I'd like to answer. Why do you breed chickens? In my case, it comes down to three things that go from most, to least important.

For the love of the breed. I predominantly focus on one breed, and one llandrace. The serama is a breed that I can't say has been on my bucket list for ages, but I fell in love with them very very quickly. Their personalities are amazing, they are gorgeous to look at, they are elegant (some more than others), and so much more. They truly are a perfect little breed. Something else I love about them, is their flight capabilities. In general I think flight is so cool, and I haven't met a bird with better flight skills than a serama.

On the other hand, the Tsouloufates hold a historical significance for me. They are the birds my grandfather, great-grandmother, and grandmother used to have growing up. There have been times where I've shown my birds to older family members and they've said "oh, those look like the birds we had when we were little!". I would very much like to keep this lanrace from disappearing, because it has that connection to our roots, and I think that's really cool. Tsouloufates are also the best choice for free rangers on my property, and climate.

Second reason I hatch, are the eggs. Some people say they haven't noticed a difference in how store bought eggs and their own chicken's eggs taste. I have. I also don't like the way battery hens are treated.

Third and final reason, the meat. While I hate rounding up my cockerels to be sent to an acquaintance who butchers them for me, I prefer them having a good life up to that point, compared to what the supermarket birds had to go through.

So for those reasons, I set eggs in my incubator, and let the broodies hatch as well

I will answer this question as well!

This is actually my first time breeding my own chickens for various reasons. Our second rooster we ever kept was aggressive to humans and over-bred the hens. I did not want another rooster like him, so when he died, I started researching which breeds would typically be friendly to humans. That is when I found out that I was obsessed with chickens, because it seemed like I couldn't stop reading about them.

We finally rescued the rooster (I would consider it rescuing because it turned out the chickens were in bad condition), and he is an elderly Cochin/Ameraucana hybrid named Phoenix. For an average rooster, every negative thing in Phoenix's life that he had to experience would have turned him into aggressive, but it didn't, and that is what is awesome about him. We originally got him for fertilized eggs, but we quickly discovered that he prefers to not breed. We even set ten eggs from the hens with him, and none were fertile. Oh well, better to have a rooster that doesn't breed as much than to have one that over-breeds, right?

Fast forward to a year or so later, and suddenly we have a lot of chickens, which means we have more males than we have ever had. But none of them were in correct breeding condition, except a cockerel named Jasper. He is in the Gemstone Flock, which consists of chickens named after, well, gemstones: Jasper, Ruby, Quartz and Topaz. The last one, a Golden-Laced Sebright, died unexpectedly before we could breed her.

Ruby is my favorite chicken by far－she loves humans and would rather spend her day with humans than her own kind. I regularly let her inside of the house because she likes to peck around and explore, and I take her out of the Gemstone Flock pen every day (if the weather is good) so she can have free-range time. Jasper hates me for this, he feels like I am stealing Ruby and flogs me almost every time I get back, but that is his problem.

I wanted to preserve Ruby's legacy because she has made me so happy. I started seeing Jasper breed, which I had not for months. So I incubated Ruby's and Quartz's eggs, and now I have their chicks, which is a big plus for me. This is the first time I have hatched my own chickens' eggs, and it is a great experience!

 

[fluffycrow]

They are happily turning and deciding

good morning/afternoon Greek chicks, let's grow!
Go Grace, Myzithra, and Feta!

Good day eggies!!! If you already haven't do so, time to rise and shine!!

what their gender will be/is .

Friday is the official candling date, when ALL the eggs will be candled, and evaluated

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

They are happily turning and deciding what their gender will be/is .

Wouldn't it be good if you could tell them to decide female?

 

[fluffycrow]

Glad you loved your first hatch! Here's to many more for you, if you decide to continue!

I will answer this question as well!

This is actually my first time breeding my own chickens for various reasons. Our second rooster we ever kept was aggressive to humans and over-bred the hens. I did not want another rooster like him, so when he died, I started researching which breeds would typically be friendly to humans. That is when I found out that I was obsessed with chickens, because it seemed like I couldn't stop reading about them.

We finally rescued the rooster (I would consider it rescuing because it turned out the chickens were in bad condition), and he is an elderly Cochin/Ameraucana hybrid named Phoenix. For an average rooster, every negative thing in Phoenix's life that he had to experience would have turned him into aggressive, but it didn't, and that is what is awesome about him. We originally got him for fertilized eggs, but we quickly discovered that he prefers to not breed. We even set ten eggs from the hens with him, and none were fertile. Oh well, better to have a rooster that doesn't breed as much than to have one that over-breeds, right?

Fast forward to a year or so later, and suddenly we have a lot of chickens, which means we have more males than we have ever had. But none of them were in correct breeding condition, except a cockerel named Jasper. He is in the Gemstone Flock, which consists of chickens named after, well, gemstones: Jasper, Ruby, Quartz and Topaz. The last one, a Golden-Laced Sebright, died unexpectedly before we could breed her.

Ruby is my favorite chicken by far－she loves humans and would rather spend her day with humans than her own kind. I regularly let her inside of the house because she likes to peck around and explore, and I take her out of the Gemstone Flock pen every day (if the weather is good) so she can have free-range time. Jasper hates me for this, he feels like I am stealing Ruby and flogs me almost every time I get back, but that is his problem.

I wanted to preserve Ruby's legacy because she has made me so happy. I started seeing Jasper breed, which I had not for months. So I incubated Ruby's and Quartz's eggs, and now I have their chicks, which is a big plus for me. This is the first time I have hatched my own chickens' eggs, and it is a great experience!

 

[fluffycrow]

Wouldn't it be good if you could tell them to decide female?

Actually, I don't mind the boys. In the case of the LFs, the extra boys become food. In the case of the serama, it's a little more tricky, but they are equally tasty. What I would like to see is a very nice (conformationaly) female serama.





I think the line my birds are produces better males than females; I'd like to change that My Tsouloufates are varied (as landraces are) so there's not much to be said there. The birds I have produces so far range from what I'd consider low quality, all the way up to very good

 

[WoDia]

Happy Growing, Mercury, Tsoureki, and the Greek Egg family!

 

[Canadian Wind]

Hatching can definitely be hard, what you've gone through this season as well as the last is a lot, but your perseverance just proves your love for these animals

You mean my stubbornness, right?

Not that I don't love my critters.