Bantams/Serama in an all-standard flock?

[HorseFeathers]

We have gotten a very kind offer from a man who will give us some purebred eggs in the spring (Wyandottes, Seramas, and white Ameracaunas) when/if Olympia, our Australorp, goes broody. I would loooooove some Seramas, but was wondering if one would be okay in an otherwise all-standard flock.
We have three EEs, one Aussie, one BR, one Welsie, and one rather small Red Star. All are hens, as the Serama would have to be. We would probably keep two of the hatch, both hens. One would probably be a Wyandotte or an Ameracauna.
But would this work? One Serama in a standard flock? Here are some questions I have:
1) Would she just get picked on too much or would they be OK?
2) Would their adopted mommy, Olympia, be okay with such small chicks or would that be a problem?
3) Also, Olympia is the lead hen; would that help them?
Thanks in advance for replies. I really hope there is some way it would work!

 

[HorseFeathers]

I would like to note that I would be showing the serama and obviously worry about feather-picking... Might have to get some Pinless Peepers like Dr.Doorlock made!

 

[SeramaLife]

I don't see any reason why not. My seramas are very feisty. Most of it depends on the personality of all the chickens.What breeder would you be getting them from?

 

[HorseFeathers]

I believe his name is Scott Underhill.

Note: The birds would be mixed in one small flock, not two separate flocks, and in all probability there would be just one Serama.

 

[SeaChick]

No one else has any input? Surely someone has tried keeping a serama or bantams with a small flock of standard-sized girls, no?

 

[JennsPeeps]

I've got a lone banty cochin - weight 20 ounces - in with my 3 standards. No problems.

The broody will protect them until she decides that they're old enough or until she's tired of them. They should be fine.

If you have a standard rooster, though, it's not a good idea to allow him near the banties. He can crush them and injure them.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

I think that it could go either way.
I have a lot of serama though... and not just one.
I have had my larger-than-serama bantam broodie kill some of the teeny serama chicks just by stepping on them and crushing them..they are very small, but she did fine with the rest. Shes 1/3 the size of the black stars, tho. Still small a small Mom....
I know a guy that had his larger broody hatch the eggs and he had no luck, the hen killed them all and didnt recognize them as chicks, I guess, but your hen may be different. I think if she keeps them, being the "Boss" hen will help them out for sure.
Also my Serama hens are at least 1/8 the size of my black stars, so If it did come to a fight the black stars would definately win. It would be like having a MinPin hold its own to a Blue Heeler..lol. They are pretty fiesty and my black stars are mellow, they get along here when they are all free ranging, but the serama have the larger birds in numbers.....

Good Luck!

 

[mommyof4littles]

Hi, I have a huge buff orpington and a serama hen who snuggle together all the time. She is currently keeping our new duckling company until he or she can get bigger but normally our girls all get along great, even the crested polish leaves the little one alone. I honestly would take the babies as they hatch though and raise them by hand, my hen is b class but is A class size and averages right around 6-7 inches tall when she is marching like a soldier. Plus, if you get super small ones they do NOT like the cold at all. My rooster is D class and the size of a regular bantam and loves the snow but she can't be out without running and hiding below about 50 maybe 45 if I forget to grab her and the temp drops more. She almost died last fall before I realized she could not be out in august at night due to the cold. So if you are planning on keeping a chick keep a bigger one unless it really matters if you live somewhere cold. Also, can you get rid of the other serama chicks? I have tried for a year since they were accidently mailed to me, I found homes for half of my group. Unless someone truly already wants one, due to how cold it is here- no luck. I love my babies but I really had never planned on this. I wanted a couple ameracaunas whatever they are called hens, a khaki campbell duck (female) and a giant pekin. Instead I have totally different birds. My chicks came from the feed store and were sick and died slowly from seizure things, my ducklings all died because the mail man opened the box in march and left it open when he brought them to me. He said he wanted to see the chicken nuggets. I ended up with my mistake box and what was left at orchlens last spring So, make sure whatever you get is what you actually want for sure and you can deal with any extra serama chicks.

 

[SeaChick]

Oh, that's sad about your chicks, I am sorry!

WE'll have to look into whether it would be hard to find homes for them. I think we could probably just give them back to the breeder if it came to that, but I'll definitely check.

Also, had no idea about the cold being an issue. This breeder is here in Maine as well, we'll have to ask him if he has problems and heats his coop. I doubt he does, but we'll check. Maybe his stock is stronger having been living here for generations?

 

[WalkingWolf]

Small bantam chicks sometimes get crushed by the larger chicks. I don't have Seramas but I do have Cornish and OEG bantams. Once juvenile though the little chicks are very feisty. I put a couple BR roosters in the pen with the OEGB to restore order as they are to big to push around and gentle that they don't pick on. Well that did not go well the OEGB roosters ganged up on the BRs. I ended up having to put one silkie rooster in to restore order. It took a few minutes and some pulled feathers but Rusty finally got control.

If Seramas are as spunky as juveniles as OEGBs then there will be no problem. As chicks you will probably find broken necks and suffocated chicks if you mix them. They like to pile on top of each other and jump on each other during play. You do not want a standard chick jumping on a Serama chick.