Besides being hard to raise, I wonder if you'd need a special permit, as may of the tinamous are threatened species... and not domesticated but wild, so would it be like raising bobcats or hawks or something... all kinds of legal hoops to jump through.
Haystack's New Project
I know a guy who has aseels. Not a particularly pretty bird but interesting none the less. I have William MaCrea Roundhead hens. My roo died. He was a huge, beautiful bird and very easy to handle. I have 2 game roos. One is a Hatch the other is a Gray. I don't fight my birds. I would like to show them. The Gray, Eaggie, is very skittish and he has been raised from an egg. I handled him a lot but it didn't help. The Hatch, Giggilo, came to me as a grown stag and was never handled so he is is skittish also but not as bad. Neither of them are mean. I have a game hen of unknown breeding. She wondered up here and I put her in a cage with Eaggie. I call her Orange Sherbert because of her coloring. She is very skittish too but I have no idea what her history is. I plan to rearrange my flock in the Spring. I'm going to put my 2 game roos in smaller individual cages. They have to be kept seperate or they will destroy each other and the other roos. I'm going to put my bantams together is a cage, my duck in a cage to herself and put my 3 game hens in with the other layers and Gumbo, my EE roo. I'll let the other roos continue to free range. They would be great yard roos. I have one I call Buff. He looks to be White Rock crossed with Buff Orpington. Very heavy but gentle.
We have thirty eight Serama eggs in three incubators, and being brooded by five different hens in total and this morning Cocoa and Cinnamons eggs (five) four have hatched and we are waiting for the fifth one now. Eight more are due in two days and the balance is due on the last day of the month. We are hopping for a 75 percent hatch or better. Fingers, leggs, and eyes crossed. LOL. We'll keep you posted. Hay
Wow! Are you busy enough?
Hi Porkpal!! Yeah it's been crazy around here with these seramas. I enjoy them so much but I can't seem to get them to quit laying. In my experience most hens create their clutch and then sit, once they sit they stop laying, but, Murphy started with a clutch of four and started sitting so I thought great. Today she got off of the nest and she is now sitting 13 eggs. If she stays on them to hatch them all it will take her about forty days of sitting. I don't know if she is still laying now or not. It's crazy. I sure hope not, I'll take another count on friday but I sure hope she stops soon.LOL...Haystack
Well it's almost 7 a.m. and we have all five of cocoa's hatched successfully. Three in one inc have also hatched and one in another incu has hatched so we have ten hatches so far. What a blast watching all these babies so small, so frail, and yet so tough. The watch goes on...LOL Hay.
Hay I looked up your Seramas boy are they pretty little birds.
Hi Holly: Yeah they are beautiful, but, more than that they are extremely friendly and seem to love being handled. My last count today we have hatched fourteen and found four that were not fertile. So we now have twenty to go with in the next week. I just wished everybody had at least a couple of them. It's impossible to understand the dynamics of these little buggers without experiencing some to hold and love.
Holly I have one that follows me everywhere or is on my shoulder most of the day. I put her down and before I can move she flies right back up on my shoulder or head. She coo's in my ear and loves to peck when I don't shave.
What beautiful eggs. And yes I would pay anything (almost) to see Hay in a bunny suit.
OH ELLIE!!! How could you say that, and I have always held you in such high esteem. I have always enjoyed your comments until this one. Honey I think the cheese has just slid off of your cracker...LOL. Hay
LOL Hay, I will be looking for a small rooster come spring. My 3 girls are doing well and I thought maybe they might like a little male company. I don't want alot as the girls are pretty well behaved when let loose in the summer and I don't want to get too many chickies running around the yard. There are so many pretty breeds out there something small and friendly. We will have to see what we can find.
I'd love to have a couple of them but i just don't think i can keep them warm enough in the winter. :(
You could let them sleep with you. LOL
I think my 3 cats would not approve of that CajuninKy & besides.. its not "hot" in our house bc we only run the furnace when the outside temp hits below 30. Otherwise we run electric fireplaces. Natural Gas is way too expensive here for us to run the furnace.
What kind of Electric fireplaces and are they worth it?
They are very much worth it. We have about a 1900 sq ft house, tri level. Two fireplaces, bottom level & mid level. 8 cents an hour to run. Heat Surge is the brand.
I"ll dmail you the info.
My son is 10 and discovered this breed about 2 months ago and told him I had no clue how to find him any. Would the person sell any fertile eggs so my son could hatch a clutch of tehm to raise? Please let me know!!!!
I just returned from my shop where Murphy and Joyce are sitting eleven eggs and I enticed murph with some brown rice and of course joyce could not resist. I took note that four of the eleven chicks had hatched making it a total of eighteen serama hatches so far with seven to go and then there is another doz in another incubator that are due one the fourth of Feb. This hatch has really gone well. Out of thirty eight eggs there so far has only been eight duds. I'm really pumped and I have already sold twelve of the first eighteen we have hatched. These hens of ZZ's have been amazing. I will take some group pic's soon. Hay
Wow!
I'm with you Porkpal, I don't even know what to say!!! It certainly is not due to any expertise on my part. Things have just fallen into place in such a way that I can not explain it. I would never have thought that it could possibly have gone so well. I advertised on Craigs list for about six weeks, no response, no response week after week. Finally I got a call and one gent bought four. I has not stopped since and those girls just keep on laying. I sometimes just laugh as I cannot explain how they lay so fast and furious. They have just caught on and I cannot explain that either. I will never take this for granted though and will do my best to pass on the blessings to others. I will be donating some to 4H kids as well...Hay
What incubator are you using besides your mini one hay?
Hi Mel: So good to hear from you. I have a little giant that holds about forty eggs, as well as as a RCom 20 which holds from twenty to thirty depending on the inserts you use. I also always leave a clutch of about five each with five broodies that I keep only for hatching. I have had these things full of eggs for the last three months. I have babies comming out of my ears. LOL. Sure have missed talking with you... Howie
I'm not hatching any eggs right now because I don't have anywhere to keep the chicks. Are serama the size of bantam seabrights?
They just love you, Haystack!
Thanks Porkpal, but I always remember Tina Turners song. "Whats love got to do with it"...LOL I wished I could lay claim to some sort of secret greatness but in reality it remains a mystery to me.LOL...Hay
Hi Cajun: Always a pleasure talking with you. The serama is about half - to 3/4 the size of the seabright. They come in three classes.
Class A = up to 350 grams.
Class B = up to 500 grams
Class C = up to 600 grams, and they do not breed true to size or color, they have 2500 variables in color...LOL. Hay. I can only tell you that I adore them and never will I be without them again. ZZ's had them spoiled I must admit but they (at least one or more accompany me where ever I go) They love car rides and people laugh at me a lot but thats ok, they are great conversation peices...LOL.Hay
I am going down today with a picture of one of ZZ's roosters, Maybe both, Dot, and Booker. They have a process (not silk screening) where they can put the pic on however many T-shirts you want and in any size. I am ordering twenty-five today @ nine dollars each and I will be giving them to my customers to wear. They will say "Howies Seramas and my phone #. I will even dare to model one and post it here when I get them. Howie
This message was edited Jan 27, 2010 11:25 AM
Cute idea!
Haystack... How do you do?? Hope all is well.... Love to see your pictures..
wow Haystack, you have been busy!! i want one of those t-shirts!! i think they would be awesome!!
glad to hear all is going great..sorry i havent been on, but is been brrrrrrrr really cold here..down to 1 this morning and the wind chill was -20! so i know those poor chickies wouldnt make it here..but my comets are doing just great!! they have even gone out in the snow and dug around..
stay warm all
cindy
sorr meant to tell you where the pic was taken..from my porch towards the main road..brrrr
This message was edited Jan 29, 2010 7:35 PM
Love the shirt idea. Got to see a pic. When will you be taking orders?
Can the Seramas live in the cold?
Hi Sweetie!!! Gosh, looks like a white out. This Jan has been the warmest on record since records have been kept. An average of 51 degrees. I can't believe it, we have hardly used any heat and the girls are loving the great outdoors. Glad your comets are doing well, you and hubby stay safe and warm. My seramas are hatching like crazy and they are selling very well also. I feel very fortunate. Hay.
Cajun I was told they did not do well in the cold as they are from hot and humid Mayalsia. Again it just is not true, they do well in the cold down to about thirty degrees, colder than that I am not to sure, though I spoke with a woman in Ohio who told me hers do well even in the teens. When it gets around thirty here I usual put a hundred watt bulb in with them to keep the edge off. I don't want to put them in stressful conditions. Howie.
Three more just hatched in the incubator about fifteen minutes ago. I promise to get pics after its all over. Hay
I have three Serama pullets that are spending the winter roosting in the trees with the other chickens. It's been down in the 20s some nights. I think "American" Seramas may be a bit hardier than the original Malaysian ones.
This is a very nice British site about housing and breeding Serama:
http://www.seramaclubgb.co.uk/id4.html
Thanks for the link, Cat. I'll check it out.
So far we have twenty one Seramas that have hatched and one game hen. There are fifteen still in the incubator but not all seramas. Hay
My Dear Haystack, I have put your namesake picture up..
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1073111/
I love the pic and have installed if on my profile page. Hay
Well the hatch is finally over, we ended up with 24 seramas, and two game hens. We were shooting for a 75 percent hatch rate, and unded up with a 66 percent hatch. But it's very hard to hatch nonfertile eggs. I am so happy and have already sold over half of the serama hatch. I feel so fortunate an blessed. Pic's will be taken tonight, and posted tomorrow. Hay
congrats! I want to see pictures!