I had ordered Serama Eggs (dozen) from ebay and they should be arriving today. I have to run get them at the post office. I am hoping at least for a few to hatch. I have a broody hen ready for some of them and the incubator. Can't wait just to see what the eggs look like. :)
Serama Eggs
Congrats on the eggs Karbear: I do hope you have great success. If you hatch out successfully I'll have to come down and see your birds
Karbear I just wanted to let you know that things have changed drastically for me since we have last talked. I have so many chickens now that I no longer have room for your roo. Nothing personal, I got a Silkie roo and hen along with six other bantams from a customer that could no longer keep them as she was out of town to much. I have also forty five baby chicks and another hundred on the way first of may. Thanks anyway and please keep us posted on the Seramas. Haystack.
Oh boy!! I cant wait for the hatch!! I put some in the incubator and some under my broody last hatch. 100% with the broody, about 50% with the bator. :/ I know you will have babies soon!!! Exciting!! Keep us posted!
Darlene Thompson, who sells Serama eggs on eBay and eggbid sent me very nice instructions on hatching Serama (hers are really tiny). Two things she suggeseted were: 1) Lay them on their side if you possibly can and 2) Let a broody hatch them if you possibly can.
My Nankin sisters just hatched two Serama and two Nankin eggs from her.
I agree.. Give em to the experts! (as Catscan said)
I had 2 dozen and got 1 baby out of the bator. They just don't ship well. I wish I had a broody now!
Be sure you candle them for "TACs" clear with multiple bubbles or trans air sack... (moving air sack) They tend to leak if you incubate them.
Good Luck!!!!! I'm jazzed for you!
I wish mine were not all going broody! I got another today. :/ ugh! Another one who will not lay!
That is what is so nice about bantam broodies--you don't really miss the eggs. It drove me crazy when my layers went broody.
Here is a copy of what Darlene (etruhla on eBay/lingling on eggbid) sends when you purchase her eggs. Her comments on TACs is interesting :
"I drove your eggs to my post office this afternoon. You should receive them on Wed or Thurs.
I put on the box – “fragile, perishable” and “Hatching eggs”. Your local post office should call you when the eggs arrive – if you pick them up instead of having them delivered, it will save you a chick or two.
Please let me know if the eggs arrive intact - externally and internally.
-----Examining eggs internally (to determine if you got a good ship and what you might expect to hatch) –------
If you candle the eggs when they arrive, you can see if the air sacs are damaged. A damaged air sac will be non-symmetrical - loose on one side - or completely loose (the air sac will move to the bottom of the egg when the egg is turned upside down).
Minor air sac damage may not prevent the egg from hatching. If the air sac is completely loose, the membrane is torn away from the shell and most likely will not hatch. A badly damaged egg may show bubbles in the egg when candled. I don't think these will hatch.
I've heard some people have had success with damaged air sacs by NOT turning them for the 1st 10 days. Then they start turning them
Let your eggs settle for at least 8 to 12 hrs and reach room temperature before putting them under a hen or in an already heated incubator. Don't delay further as these eggs will loose fertility.
If you have time, please share with me the results of your 1st candling after incubation. You should be able to see if the eggs are developing by day 5 - maybe a little sooner - with a bright candle. You can use a small flashlight (such as a Mag flashlight) with a lamp that is about 1” in diameter.
I've always had trouble hatching serama eggs. Now all my seramas are gone.
For shipped Serama eggs a broody bantam is definitely the way to go if you have one available, a standard hen is too large and may crush the tiny Serama eggs. One Serama hen can comfortably set on 12 Serama eggs, I would surmise that a Cochin or Silkie could accommodate a significant number more eggs. I have had mixed results with shipped Serama eggs - as some have stated here, they are very susceptible to damaged air cells (TAC). I have had only one TAC egg hatch from roughly 100 shipped Serama eggs. I now throw them out as soon as I candle and discover TAC. As for the incubator and Serama eggs, I hatch usually about 30-35% of shipped Serama eggs - and almost 100% of homegrown Serama eggs. It has been my experience that viability isn't dictated by method i.e. the incubator vs. broody, I believe it is the shipped eggs as compared to non-shipped. That being said I still prefer to use a broody whenever possible, as that removes (most) all the guesswork, and I hate guesswork...Scott
haystack: thats great!! we sold him at auction because he waz mean and had scaly leg mites. glad u got another roo!
I agree 100% Scott.. I've read that on other sites about Seramas.. Home 100% Shipped = your lucky if you get any to hatch!
I don't keep TACs anymore either.. I've had them leak and get stuck in the bator.. just to break upon removal.. EEEW!
Then after they hatch keeping the the chicks alive past 10 days without a hen is really hard. My silkies did a great job with my Seramas.
Ginger
I have two Nankin bantam sisters raising two Serama and two Nankin chicks they hatched. None of them are actually theirs. They shared the nest and are sharing the raising. The Serama are doing great with such devoted mothers. I have also read that it is unusual for broody raised chicks to get Marek's.
Well the banty we put eggs under broke four of the six eggs we put under her. We put the other two in the incubator with the other six we had put in there. Hoping maybe we get one or two to hatch. We will be candling them on Monday and see how they are developing. :)
KarBear!!! EYES, FINGERS, LEGS, all crossed for your success. Keep us posted!! You can do it, I know you can. Haystack
Out of the countless eggs I have tried to incubate with a damaged airsac not one has developed. Thus, when I get shipped eggs I candle them prior to putting them in the incubator and the ones with damaged a damaged airsac get tossed.
I think some boxes go through more drama than others when shipping but I also know there are a few "bad eggs" out there who like to give the hatching eggs a shake before packing them.
I have to say my buyers have very good-excellent success hatching eggs I ship out.
David w/ www.showmesilkies.com
Hey there Showmesilkies, I have no reason to doubt your success. I don't know what kind of eggs you ship, but I do know I shipped six doz serama eggs. All were shipped free to friends. Not one egg was ever broken, yet in the six doz I shipped only one egg ever hatched. That one only lived three days. I have hatched eggs from the same serama layers at a rate of about 90 - 100 percent, so I know the eggs are fertile, no eggs broken, so that leads me to believe shipping or buying of shipped serama eggs is a lousy proposition no matter how you slice it. Other chickens seem to do much better thats for sure...Thanks for your post and hope to hear more from you...Haystack
I shipped my first batch of a dozen serama eggs out about amonth and a half ago.They went all the way to PO. She got a 75% hatch. Thats what she wrote on my feedback anyway.She was thrilled to death.Mabie because it was so early in their laying season. I don't know but some how they took 7 days and still hatched.
Remarkable!
That is a great hatch rate for Serama eggs! I had good results from a girl on BYC that let her's free range.. I thought that made a difference.. but you also have to factor in the trip. Even 7 days could be a nice constant temp without major jarring, wouldn't hurt the eggs at all... Shipping doesn't HAVE to be a hard ride.. :) Then if she has a good bator, that would sure help!
Congrats.. That is awesome and great advertising if you are gonna sell eggs!!
What is PO?
Post Office...LOL...Couldn't help myself...Hay
OMG You sooo got me back Haystack! I'm laughing sooo loud!!!
Puertico rico she left a nice feed back LOL I just looked up her post to copy it on here and its even better than i thought.
■Follow-up by joylin505 (Feb-22-11 05:07):
Buy with confidence almost a 90% hatch and for seramas this is more than perfect