sarkymite Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Hi all, me again with more serama questions- they just seem so fragile compared to the big girls!! They are 14 weeks old according to the seller. The girls don't look anywhere near ready to lay and the roo hasn't crowed once. But we were told they were already on layers pellets. Shouldn't they still be on growers at this stage? Also the roo doesn't look as if he's in full health - a teensy bit dull and his comb isn't very vibrant. I want to supplement with vitamins as I would for the big girls but I can't find dosing info anywhere for such tiny birds. Is it literally the same as for the big girls but they just drink much less water? Lastly in terms of grit and oystershell, can they have regular sized grit mix? It seems rather large when considering their teensy tiny size. I did so much research before getting them but nowhere seems to cover this stuff and to be honest for some reason I was unprepared for exactly how tiny they really are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 I get bird grit for parakeets and canaries from a pet shop. Seems fine for my bantams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 (edited) If you google Carolschickens there’s a lady who has a blog who might be able to help you. There’s also a lady on here who has Seramas I think she’s called Seramasilly Edited May 29, 2019 by mullethunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Pictures would help us to help you, but it sounds as if they are still a bit young. I would keep them on growers feed until they actually start to lay. Pop some Vit Boost tonic in their water - that will really help with their condition. have you checked them over for lice and mites? Once they are in better health, I would worm them with Flubenvet too. If you are unsure whether they've been wormed before (I would suspect not) then worm once for 7 days, leave 3 weeks and repeat before reverting to a regular quarterly worming regime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeramaSilly Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 My breeder advised me to keep my seramas on chick crumb until they laid. As for grit and oyster-shell I do the same as Cat tails and buy bird grit from ordinary pet shops but I'm sure they could actually manage ordinary size. I've had a few health issues with mine as I bought three who brought in mycoplasma and I've lost two recently but my remaining three seem to be very healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted May 29, 2019 Author Share Posted May 29, 2019 Thank you very much, all of you! Dogmother, I did put some Nettex Vit Boost in their water this evening and will continue to do so, but I was worried about dosing. What I've given them this evening is slightly more dilute than the package instructions just in case. I also actually gave the roo some Nutridrops as I am a bit worried about him. He weighed in at 280g so by the instructions thats very slightly over 0.25ml. That still looked a lot for his body size and I couldn't get it in his beak anyway so I mixed it with a small quantity of oats and let him eat what he fancied of it. He perked up a little bit after that and ate quite a lot of feed, so fingers crossed with some tlc he will be ok. Handling him, he is quite skinny - can really feel his keel bone, but not sure what a roo should feel like having never kept one before. The girls are all plumper than him and I would assess their body condition as good. I've ordered growers crumb which will arrive tomorrow and will keep them on that until the girls come in to lay. I did think it odd that they were already on layers pellets given how immature they look. What else can i offer the roo to help him plump out and improve his health? I've also ordered some fine complete grit mix. The stuff I have for my big girls really does seem too chunky! I'm.going to try to post photos but I'm really bad at that... 2nd reply coming up... Ok attempting pics... 2 of the roo and one of each of the little girls. The girls are the 3 "headshots" - couldn't get any full body shots today as they just wouldn't stay still, whereas the roo doesn't flit so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeramaSilly Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Aw they're adorable!! 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Very sweet As you say, dose supplements the same as other birds and they drink less to take less proportionally. I wouldn't rush to worm them as they're still growing, I don't see any merit in worming birds twice before they're 18 weeks old! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 14 minutes ago, Lewis said: I wouldn't rush to worm them as they're still growing, I don't see any merit in worming birds twice before they're 18 weeks old! I will probably not worm them until they are 18 weeks anyway, unless I become very concerned they may have a heavy load. I'm due to worm all my hens in a few weeks so was planning to add them to that cycle. I'll focus on building them up with supplements and good nutrition in the next few weeks. The little roo seems a lot brighter this afternoon, but this morning his feathers were ruffled and he was snoozing. This afternoon by contrast he looks normal. Hopefully supplements already working their magic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Are you sure the roo is 14 weeks too? He looks very well feathered and with a mature comb for a 14 week old cheeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 1 hour ago, Cat tails said: Are you sure the roo is 14 weeks too? He looks very well feathered and with a mature comb for a 14 week old cheeper. Well they said he is the same age. And he is still making cheeping noises. Have never heard him crow. He just goes "peep, peep, peep" like the girls?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Ahhh, I hadn't read their age in your post - no, don't worm them just yet. Wait until they are mature. For some reason I read that they were older birds - that'll teach me to speed read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 An update on my seramas... The Roo had a 5 day course of nutridrops and now seems very well and healthy. On Sunday morning he found his voice and crowed for the first time! It was very, very cute! His crow is still less than half the volume of my big girl's chattering so just hoping he stays that quiet lol. He's quite friendly and has become used to being handled. I still have no clue how old he actually is but does a first crow at 15 weeks seem right, or is he older? The ladies, I am now sure, are not all the same age. The speckldey one is definitely the oldest. She has an adult voice, raises alarm calls, etc. She has started crouching when I put my hand over her so I'd guess she'll come into lay within a couple of weeks. The black one seems somewhere in between the other two and the white one seems to me to be much younger. She still only does "peep peep" noises, she's smaller, skinnier and her face/comb isn't colouring up at all yet. So I think I was told a bit of a porky pie about their ages! But they are all healthy now, happy and extremely entertaining in every way. Thoroughly enjoying them! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeramaSilly Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 On 6/6/2019 at 8:58 AM, sarkymite said: An update on my seramas... The Roo had a 5 day course of nutridrops and now seems very well and healthy. On Sunday morning he found his voice and crowed for the first time! It was very, very cute! His crow is still less than half the volume of my big girl's chattering so just hoping he stays that quiet lol. He's quite friendly and has become used to being handled. I still have no clue how old he actually is but does a first crow at 15 weeks seem right, or is he older? The ladies, I am now sure, are not all the same age. The speckldey one is definitely the oldest. She has an adult voice, raises alarm calls, etc. She has started crouching when I put my hand over her so I'd guess she'll come into lay within a couple of weeks. The black one seems somewhere in between the other two and the white one seems to me to be much younger. She still only does "peep peep" noises, she's smaller, skinnier and her face/comb isn't colouring up at all yet. So I think I was told a bit of a porky pie about their ages! But they are all healthy now, happy and extremely entertaining in every way. Thoroughly enjoying them! Aw glad you're enjoying them - I do think seramas are very special! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted June 15, 2019 Author Share Posted June 15, 2019 1 hour ago, SeramaSilly said: Aw glad you're enjoying them - I do think seramas are very special! I'm totally in love with them! They are so cute and so funny. The Roo is definitely growing into adulthood. He woke me up crowing at 5.45 this morning (was shut inside his coop). I'm a very light/sensitive sleeper and I'm kind of attuned to responding to any noise from the chickens, and he wasnt really that loud, so I am still hopeful he won't get loud enough to upset the neighbours, but in any event I've decided on the perfect set up for them and a new coop is arriving tomorrow. It's much larger than they need so they have lots of indoor space and it has a small run underneath it. I'm going to be sound-proofing the unit insofar as that is possible using special material that i have already used on the big girls house, and making some other little amendments, and then it will sit inside a 6x6 heavy duty weldmesh run with a rainproof roof. The coop door will be on a timer and they'll be let out into the run around 8am, thereby, I hope, avoiding his crow becoming an issue for the neighbours. He's still nowhere near as loud as the big girls get, but he definitely now sounds like a rooster and not a funny little frog. No teeny tiny eggs yet. Hopefully soon!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeramaSilly Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 13 hours ago, sarkymite said: I'm totally in love with them! They are so cute and so funny. The Roo is definitely growing into adulthood. He woke me up crowing at 5.45 this morning (was shut inside his coop). I'm a very light/sensitive sleeper and I'm kind of attuned to responding to any noise from the chickens, and he wasnt really that loud, so I am still hopeful he won't get loud enough to upset the neighbours, but in any event I've decided on the perfect set up for them and a new coop is arriving tomorrow. It's much larger than they need so they have lots of indoor space and it has a small run underneath it. I'm going to be sound-proofing the unit insofar as that is possible using special material that i have already used on the big girls house, and making some other little amendments, and then it will sit inside a 6x6 heavy duty weldmesh run with a rainproof roof. The coop door will be on a timer and they'll be let out into the run around 8am, thereby, I hope, avoiding his crow becoming an issue for the neighbours. He's still nowhere near as loud as the big girls get, but he definitely now sounds like a rooster and not a funny little frog. No teeny tiny eggs yet. Hopefully soon!! Well I think we will all definitely want to see some more pics of them in their new palace! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted June 16, 2019 Author Share Posted June 16, 2019 Definitely will share pics in due course! Coop may not be arriving today after all, as I have a text from DPD saying they accidentally took it to Cardiff overnight and therefore it is delayed 🤨 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Lovely little birdies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 So the new luxury pad is almost finished and I moved the birds in at the weekend. There's a little aesthetic stuff still to do but basically they have this. And they love it. They can fly and flit and perch at all levels. The coop itself is dark and soundproofed so the rooster doesnt crow until the door opens, and we also modified the side and the roof to accommodate a self locking door on a timer. AND one of the girls came into lay and the eggs are so, so cute!!!! Teensy tiny slightly rose-tinged perfect white eggs! Still in serama heaven here... 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeramaSilly Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 That looks perfect for them! :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Very smart 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 Hopefully, yes! They are certainly really enjoying and making use of the height! 29 minutes ago, SeramaSilly said: That looks perfect for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Love all of your chickens and their new run. I think they will be very happy in there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
