Could i please get some information on Serama Chickens care?

[Judykaymayes]

I got a American Serama 5 month old Rooster Today ,coukd i please get info on his care?

 

[Sequoia Raven Bird Farms]

Hello!!! Well my Serama Randy (full name Randal) he has really small legs ( like silkies) so I need to put a ladder type roost so he can climb to the top and sleep with the hens ( that are BIG) but other than that he eats, drinks, sleeps, runs with turkeys and ducks almost the same as my BIG chickens! (make sure they can reach their waterers!) heheh

 

[Judykaymayes]

Sounds lovely ,what do you or would you do for their Winter care:?

 

[Sequoia Raven Bird Farms]

But here's a Serama fanatic heheh!! Come over here please @fluffycrow thank you!!!
(talking to fluffycrow now) I would love to show you my boy-o Noodle, he's such a gentle-rooster and loves his chicks! He's also a Polish Frizzle!!

 

[fluffycrow]

I don't do anything to help them with roosting. They're my best fliers, and more than capable of getting to any roost. As for winter care, I've not overwintered with them yet. What are your temperatures? Here we don't get crazy temps, so I don't do anything crazy. @WoDia

 

[WoDia]

I don't do anything to help them with roosting. They're my best fliers, and more than capable of getting to any roost. As for winter care, I've not overwintered with them yet. What are your temperatures? Here we don't get crazy temps, so I don't do anything crazy. @WoDia

Roosting…. I provide a few heights. My great flyers normally prefer the highest roosts, and my tinier hens (plus particular roosters) seem to enjoy a roost closer to the floor. As far as winter and my micro flock, I have my Seramas, Mille Fleur d’Uccles, bantam Silkies, Sebrights, and Porcelain d’Anvers in their own draft-free insulated building (not with standard breeds) where I actually have tin on the ceiling and the back wall to help retain heat. I have a wall-mount temperature-control heater with safety features for when it gets extremely cold during these Ohio winters. I take extra precautions with it by ensuring that it’s very secure and has a steep little ramp above it, so that a Serama can’t use the top of the heater as a roost. This tiny breed really can’t handle temperatures below 40 that well, without beginning to suffer. I’M STATING FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE ONLY. Other Serama parents will disagree with this, I know, but Seramas are tropical and teeny tiny birds that are fairly new to colder parts of the world. I’m an overprotective Serama Mamma, so I have never taken any chances with mine during freezing temperatures. If I didn’t have such a nice building (specifically built for them in mind) to house them, I’d have them in one of our garages or outbuildings to winter with supplemental heat during very nasty periods. I hope that something, in what I’ve provided, will be useful.

 

[fluffycrow]

Oh by the way, do you have any photos of the little guy ?

 

[esga]

@fluffycrow, I wish to get micro Seramas next spring. Live in US Agricultural Zone 7b. Beginning to design coop.
1. Will micro Seramas climb a ramp/ladder to access a coop at night?
2. What features did you incorporate into the coop for your Seramas?

 

[fluffycrow]

@fluffycrow, I wish to get micro Seramas next spring. Live in US Agricultural Zone 7b. Beginning to design coop.
1. Will micro Seramas climb a ramp/ladder to access a coop at night?
2. What features did you incorporate into the coop for your Seramas?

To your first question, I'd say yes. I've found my seramas to be excellent flyers, so if push comes to shove, they can fly to the coop door. Both a ladder and a ramp would work for them, just make sure that it's not very steep.

For your second question, my setup isn't the best example. Due to how hot it gets here in the summers, and how warm (compared to tiger places) it stays in the winter, most of my setups do not have a defined "coop" and "run" area. If you do have a defined coop and run area in your setup however, there is not much to change. The only thing I do differently from all my other birds, is a bit of extra insulation for the winter. I see that your zone gets quite cooler temperatures than what we get, so you might have to do more. I cover the sides, the back, and the top of my pen with large plastic tarps, leaving the front exposed to aerate the whole pen. I do this mainly to avoid frostbite issues. The open part of the pen is positioned in a way to avoid any direct wind gusts from hitting the birds. If using tarps, and keeping it away from direct wind isn't enough for you, you could try looking into supplemental heat for the wintertime.

If this is your first go with chickens in general, I will mention that for the wintertime it is best to have your roost bar be a roost plank. Round roosts mean that the birds can't get their whole toes under their fluff, which could lead to frostbite. Not very common, but still not something I'd like to risk with seramas. Flat perches work best. I've also found plant pots tipped on their side to be excellent nests for my seramas.

A few words about micro seramas. I'd encourage you to focus on getting healthy, correct according to the standard seramas, rather than focusing on size. While they are very cute, seramas are little enough; the micros are sometimes so tiny, it impacts their health. Better to have healthy, long-lived birds IMO.

Hope this helps, and good luck!