Kikirikis!

[Ambshp]

Thank you so much for all the information you are sharing! I have been struggling trying to find definitions to some of the terms used. You have been a great help with proper translations. I know very to little Spanish and Google translate is not great. I have fallen in love with these little friendly chickens. In my desire to try to preserve my newly acquired Kikiriki line flock, I have been trying to learn more about them. But there is so much conflicting and confusing information out there and since I don’t speak Spanish, it has been very difficult to find truthful information.

 

[MGG]

Thank you so much for posting this info and these pics!! I’ve been raising bantum silkies and cochins for 6 years now and only recently found out about the kikirikis. I would love to start with a few but have no idea how to find a breeder possibly near me. We are in north central Arkansas, and kikirikis and practically unheard of here. Do you possibly have a list of a few good breeders? I know it’ll be a drive for me, but I love road trips!

I found this Facebook page online
https://m.facebook.com/groups/3095247690739588/
There's actually someone on there with a couple for sale in Arkansas! And someone that ships in the US.

 

[Chicken raiser393993]

Thank you for this post. I am on my third generation of pet quality Kikirikis. I think they are beautiful, interesting, Little Birds and I am totally in love with them. I have some that are very small under 7 oz and a few that go as large as 12 oz. I have been reaching out to a few breeders to find out more information on mine and evaluate them before I start selling chicks or pairs. Some Breeders are of the opinion that because I have Frizzle that they are not true kikiriki and do not meet the standard. It is been suggested that maybe they are mixed with Serama. Doesn't hurt my feelings in the least as they are tiny and beautiful and everyone I come across wants them. But I am honest in my dealings and don't want to advertise falsely. I would love to know your opinion of my birds and if you have heard that they do not come in Frizzle, or that it is not a standard trait. Thank you so much.

You say "don't meet the standard," are you saying there is a documented standard for kikirikis? Whenever I've heard the term, it was just used loosely to describe any general bantam in Spanish. Any size, any feather pattern, any attitude, as long as they were bantam size or smaller, they'd be referred to as kikirikis by any puerto rican I've met. I guess if we are going by the "true" puerto rican kikiriki, it wouldn't be frizzled and it would look a bit more "fino" meaning it looks like a miniature gamefowl rather than a miniature fat/fluffy breed. I know they have their signature bantams like the no tail ones, the hennie ones, and the short legged ones, but I never knew of any standard that disqualifies a bantam from being a kikiriki.

 

[Schroedermi17]

Shot you a message! I’m in MA as well and would love to get into Kiki’s!

 

[Chikitty]

Thank you for your information! I am planning to start a kikiriki pen/coop next spring I have found a couple of reputable breeders in Puerto Ricco that ship to the US. Birds are pretty pricey, but if Im going to do this I want to start with the best I can afford

 

[Chikitty]

You say "don't meet the standard," are you saying there is a documented standard for kikirikis? Whenever I've heard the term, it was just used loosely to describe any general bantam in Spanish. Any size, any feather pattern, any attitude, as long as they were bantam size or smaller, they'd be referred to as kikirikis by any puerto rican I've met. I guess if we are going by the "true" puerto rican kikiriki, it wouldn't be frizzled and it would look a bit more "fino" meaning it looks like a miniature gamefowl rather than a miniature fat/fluffy breed. I know they have their signature bantams like the no tail ones, the hennie ones, and the short legged ones, but I never knew of any standard that disqualifies a bantam from being a kikiriki.

There is no recognition of a standard "kikiriki" breed in the US. However there are breeders trying to breed to that end and strive for specific characteristics in their birds separate from other bantams.

 

[TarynLord]

Thank you for this post. I am on my third generation of pet quality Kikirikis. I think they are beautiful, interesting, Little Birds and I am totally in love with them. I have some that are very small under 7 oz and a few that go as large as 12 oz. I have been reaching out to a few breeders to find out more information on mine and evaluate them before I start selling chicks or pairs. Some Breeders are of the opinion that because I have Frizzle that they are not true kikiriki and do not meet the standard. It is been suggested that maybe they are mixed with Serama. Doesn't hurt my feelings in the least as they are tiny and beautiful and everyone I come across wants them. But I am honest in my dealings and don't want to advertise falsely. I would love to know your opinion of my birds and if you have heard that they do not come in Frizzle, or that it is not a standard trait. Thank you so much.

are you selling any kikirikis yet im in south Alabama ive been looking everywhere

 

[Essee]

Kikirikis! They've honestly become my favourite type of chicken. They're super docile and come in every colour and shape under the sun. Kikiriki is the sound a rooster makes in Spanish, but it can also be used as a nickname for bantams in Spanish, especially Latin American ones. Does anyone else here raise these? I've seen a few posts on here about them, but nothing in detail. The majority of the people here who know about them seem to think that they are just Caribbean seramas, but that does not do them justice. These are the descendants of cockfighting birds, bred down to be small and exaggerate certain features. They are really small bantams, like seramas, but with much more variety. To me, I think seramas seem boring in comparison. I have quite a few of them, and they make fantastic pets. They come in all sorts of colours and styles, but they aren't a recognised breed. They have a huge following in Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Florida and other places in the Caribbean.

I've been told they can't handle temperatures below 50°F (10°C), but I've had them outside in Massachusetts in temperatures as low as 20°F (-7°C) so far. I have a small heater in their well-insulated coop which only goes on when temperatures are beneath 28°F (-2°C), and it raises the temperature in their coop about ten degrees warmer than the outside temperature. I don't want it warm in their, just enough to keep them alive. Their yard is completely covered in plastic this winter as a windbreak. It's clear they can't tolerate it as well as my other birds, but they've been surviving so far.

I wanted to share some of mine and see some that other people might have. I was thinking about writing an article on them based off of what I know, if enough people are interested in learning about them. If you don't speak Spanish, however, it would be difficult to buy them. All of the breeders I've met are awesome, amazing people, but you really need to know Spanish to communicate.

Anyway, here are some of mine! There is much more variety out there, but I'll start off with what I have, and people are interested, I'll show you some of the really nice, competition-quality ones that others have.
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This one is Tiny. She is my favourite one, as she was my introduction to kiris. I bought her at a flea market in West Palm Beach. She was too little to live with my chickens when I first got her, so she used to live with my quail. As you can see, kiris are quite good flyers. She flew up to the top of the roof of the shed as if she were a normal bird, about twelve feet (3,5m). She's extremely friendly, and very hand-tame. We have a childcare at our home, so she makes a fantastic pet for the children.
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This is Peloncilla (little baldy in Spanish). She is a piroca (naked neck) and a bola (rumpless, literally means 'ball' ). She's my 'special' chicken. The first picture is her in the box when I was taking her home, and the second is her in her new coop. For those familiar with it, the box is a Dunkin' Donuts Munchkin box, so this'll give you a reference for size. She is about eighteen months in the first picture.
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This one is Negrita (little blacky). She is a moñahueso (This term, although ungrammatical in Spanish, means a crested kikiriki, or one with a vaulted skull, like a Polish chicken. Moña means 'bun' or 'ribbon', and hueso means 'bone'. Moñahueso can be translated as 'bone-bun'.) and also a pata corta (a chicken with the short-leg gene, like that found in Japanese Bantams. Pata usually means 'paw', but a better translation is 'animal foot'. Birds don't have 'paws' in English, but both dogs and chickens have patas in Spanish, for example.) Moñahuesos and patas cortas are usually the most expensive kind of kiri to buy, due to their low hatch rates. Small-sized chicks with vaulted skulls and the potencially-lethal short-leg gene can lead to hatch rates of about 60% sometimes.

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Here are the two of them after I snuck them on a commerical flight from Florida! Spirit flights allow birds, but only 'small, household birds' and not 'farmyard poultry'. I only showed the gate agent Negrita, and told her it was a black dove. It worked, and I even managed to do it a second time since then! I've brought a total of nine kikirikis home to Massachusetts this way.

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These two are Calabaza (pumpkin in Spanish) and Poppy. They are also both moñahuesos and patas cortas.

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Here is one of my hens, Minky, with her chick, Bonko. The are with Calabaza and Poppy in the second picture. She is a bola, piroca and a moñahueso. The same goes for her blackish chick. The whitish chick in the box was just a bolo, but unfortunately, it did not survive long. The four of them lived in the bottom of my quail hutch as they acclimatised to the New England weather and got to know the other chickens. They now live with the rest.

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Here are some of my kiris living with the other birds in my yard. If anyone is interested in learning more, please ask! This does not cover all of the types, and all of these are mediocre-to-pet quality birds. They get a lot nicer than this. There are a lot of terms to describe the different types of these birds, and although I speak Spanish, I don't know what all of them mean, or what they mean in these situations. I can go more into detail later if you want.

They are one of my new favorites as well, alpng with my silkies. I don't know alot about them but am reading alot. I have 15 eggs in an incubator right now. I know they can be hard to hatch and hope they make it. 12 definitly look viable. Enjoyed reading.

 

[artsyrobin]

I found hatching eggs in Oklahoma, are they fragile to keep?

 

[Petitebird]

are you selling any kikirikis yet im in south Alabama ive been looking everywhere

I am in Mississippi, I have Kikis.