Serama pictures

Here are some pix of the seramas that I hatched a couple of months ago.

here's a pretty hen

and two tough guys fighting

some gum on my foot?

another nice hen

the instigator

the instigator LOL she looks like a fussy librarian!

MollyD

The second one down is my favorite!!!

i thought the second was my favorite, till i saw the fifth...

the instigator, that should be his name! must be a hoot watching something so small fight like it is so big LOL

thanks for the pics, maineiac, be looking for more from you!

tf

Do they mature faster than standards?

I believe they do mature faster, as I have been told that they start to lay eggs around 16 weeks. Not sure if thats true - but sure hope so. I can get started on my F2 birds a little sooner than planned. LOL...Scott

Scott, the pictures are very nice. Lovely birds, but too small for me. I like much larger.

GG

oh i love the pics scott they r adorable!!! boy did they grow fast!

I don't know.. I'm stuck between the pretty hen & Gumby.. leaning towrds Gumby..
Their all pretty cute though.. good job scott... can't wait to see F2s

That 2nd one down, the pretty hen, has almost peach colored feathers. Never saw a chicken that color. Hope she stays that color. Gumby - LOL that name will definitely "stick". HO HO HO. I will get some pics of the rest, there are 14 that survived. All the tiny ones from the other breeder died from that cussed AE thingy.

Silkie - I have been eyeballing more of Davids eggs on eggbid, 48 for like $28 plus shipping. How did your serama hatch turn out, and how are they doing now?

nevr mind silkie - just saw your other post - going to check it out now...

i bought 48 eggs from him he sent me 60 and only 1 cracked on the way. he is an awesome seller with excellent stock!!

hey scott, since your so good at this successfull hatching thing.. how bout some inviting a few silent investors? Two or more people paying a shared $48+ shipping is pretty cheap...

I am going to need a larger incubator if I start taking on silent partners. Actually, I already have one "silent partner" here at home after I just ordered another new incubator today without "prior approval".
Frans - That's a good idea to get someone else to tie up their money, I do the hatching, and then split the profits from selling the chicks.

Scott, I am thinking of creating my own domestic "silent partner":0). Which brand of incubator do you have? Would you recommend it? I have the LittleGiant with egg turner and fan...I'll have my first hatch next week, but I would prefer not to do staggered hatches for hygienic reasons--so a third incubator would be useful. Now if they would just make them in camo.

i had mine all packed away and all chicks but five moved outside. then whammo! PO calls & DH comes up stairs to say "YOU HAVE EGGS???!!!"

So, they are out again. And just a moment ago i mentioned the breeding cages i'll need built by December for all those bantams to be separate, so i can MAKE $ selling hatching eggs.... the conversation ended with my promising he won't have to think about it again for a while...

Cat,
I have the little giant also, plus the homemade styros. I am sure that they are not being adequately sanitized between hatches because the styro "soaks up" the nasties during the hatch. Therefore, I just purchased a Brower top hatch auto turn for about $140. It comes with digital type thermostat, fan and turner, plus you just pop out the inside tub and put in the dishwasher between hatches. Never seen one, never talked to anyone that had one, but it just seems to make sense. Plus - Brower has been around forever, so it must be a good product if they put their name on it.

TF,
I'm down with the whole hatching egg selling deal to pay for grain and justify the size of the flock. If I can turn a profit then maybe my wife will be a little more "on board" with the program, and let me diversify a bit more.

yeah, but how long before we can accomplish this, and how many more compalints until such time....

he is gonna have to get on the ball. the two pens he built were for the OEGs only, and they both are filled with asst bantams. yesterday somebody decided to peck holes in DH's little white polish's head! i am still trying to figure out who, so i can pull it out. i suspect the PBR that is in with them. he pecks at Chuck a lot too...

i know someone on BYC who sold mixed eggs and made enough in one week to pay for two weeks feed... but this year i gotta sell enough eggs to pay for their feed all winter, or we will be culling BIG TIME come fall...

I bet the key is selling a lot of hatching eggs for a reasonable price, maybe on ebay in a "buy-it-now" format. Plus selling some free-range eating eggs to the co-op at a premium price, and maybe selling some "culls" that don't fit the breeding program. Let's not forget hatching some extra chicks to sell also. Probably can't or wouldn't want to make this a full-time gig, but could end up with some Christmas money and a free hobby.

I need to get onto the breeding pens after little league finishes up in June.

oh, i meant selling fresh eating eggs this year. i won't do hatching eggs till Feb-April...

not gonna do ebay. eggbid or poultry bid or ovabid maybe. or maybe just from my website, under construction www.otoolefarms.net

plus DAve is working on an auction site here... look under products and sources tabs...

i have shippe dout hatchihng eggs this year on three occasions. i want to perfect the packing process so as to preserve the eggs and have a high hatch rate. with no tacs. so far so good...

i will charge less for my eggs and more for shipping... plus a handling fee. still will be more than the 3 bucks i get for fesh eating eggs...

yes, we will certainly have culls. the way i understand it you sometimes don't know what to cull until they are a year old?

anyhow, sounds like we have a plan. and maybe we can swap eggs next year. make sure to get yours tested, i am not taking eggs from anyone without papers...

Hi Scott--I've never heard of a Brower--right now I am using my homemade as a hatcher and it seems to be working well--if I can find a good source I might just keep using new styrofoam boxes as hatchers and fitting them out with the same glass and heat source. But I do need another incubator. I'll look at the Brower--. Thanks!

I think Brower is the one that made those "antique" round galvanized incubators that we used when I was a child (hey - wait a minute, I have one full of eggs upstairs now) and they still work great today. If I can get any more of those styro boxes I am going to make more hatchers from them, like you mentioned, Cat.

I got a couple of tiny surprises this morning, my little seramas are laying eggs now, 16 weeks old to the day. I haven't seen the roosters on the hens yet, but I put the eggs in the incubator anyhow.

How wonderful! What do the eggs look like? Are they white or tinted?

I have 5 Nankins now and am planning (if I can somehow muffle the roosters) to breed them. I think the Nankins are second only to Serama in size (they are very small). How are you housing them? Do you have a Silkie yet for brooding?

How is your job going?

OMG!!! that means mine should in the next 2-3 weeks!!! YIPPY!!! doing the happy dace, congrat's that is so awesome!!!

incredible! in fact, if those are borwn eggs, that means seramas are thea earliest LOL

they lay white to tinted eggs not brown. as far as i know they r the earliest layers. when i first got my eggs to hatch i asked that question i was told 9mths. well they lay 4 mths i guess,lol but the 9mths was the reccomended maturity for breeding the earliest i found out later. most don't sell hatching eggs for them till they r about a year old to garontee the birds r actually fetilizeing the eggs.

Yeah like SC said, they are tinted white, not brown. I have them in a tractor, only because there was a stray cat after them a couple of mornings ago. They have been running loose up until that point, so maybe they have been laying for a while? I don't believe these eggs are fertile yet, so I am going to wait on the silkie for a while.

Cat - the job is going great, we are out straight with haying season, so I haven't had much of a chance to get on the computer to check in with everybody - hope everyone is doing well..