An Introduction to the Serama Bantam
by Carrie Wright
This book is the essential guide for all new and experienced owners looking for information and help in all aspects of Serama bantams. With up-to-date advice on choosing your birds, housing, feeding and diagnosing illnesses. Breeding, exhibiting and the recently agreed Standard for the UK Serama bantam are also covered.
- Details on purchasing
- Care and management
- Dietary needs
- Tips and advice on showing your birds
- Valuable information on selective breeding
- Well illustrated with colour photographs
- A ideal gift
- Priced at only £8.50 (plus delivery charge)
- International shipping available
This book is amazing firstly because I could not find anything else so comprehensive on the subject and secondly the author managed to cover such a wide range of topics in such clear detail and with amazing pictures. Mrs Claire Perry
It is beautifully written and is illustrated throughout by a plethora of high quality photographs. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is new to the Serama or would like to know more about the breed. N.C.Leahy
About the author
Carrie Wright has owned and cared for a vast range of poultry for many years, and has been involved with Serama bantams since 2005 when she bought her first trio. Since then Carrie has been passionate about promoting this rare breed.
In 2006 she launched the first UK internet forum for Serama enthusiasts, and she is actively involved in breeding Serama bantams and is always happy to offer help and advice to others.
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Below is some information about the breed from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serama)
The Serama, also called the Malaysian Serama is a bantam breed of chicken originating in Malaysia within the last 15 years.
History
In 2001, the Ayam Serama was imported to the United States by Jerry Schexnayder of Vacherie, LA and Kim Theodore. The Schexnayder importation was made at a cost of over $20,000, and consisted of 35 males and 100 females totaling to be 135 Seramas. The Theodore importation was on a much smaller scale, and totaled 12 birds, most of which died during quarantine. All other Seramas in the United States are direct descendants of these original imports. The Serama was then promoted by an organization founded by Jerry Schexnayder, known as The Serama Council of North America (SCNA). This council first introduced the Serama to North America in various National Poultry shows. In the spring of 2004 the Serama had reached a milestone in which it had its own Serama only-show known as the Cajun Classic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At this point the Serama is still in a critical point of establishment. Now with the Serama population slowly rising, it is just starting to make a reputation for itself.
General characteristics
They are the lightest chicken in the world. The Serama are characterized by their vertical tail feathers, near-vertical wings, full breast, and short legs. Seramas are in the process of acceptation by the American Poultry Association and the American Bantam Association, with the first qualifying meets being held this year. Seramas in the U.S. have been the subject of controversy with regard to what ideal type or standard should be pursued. Two schools of thought have been pursued in breeding of the Serama in whether it should remain completely Malaysian in style or whether it should be adapted to American taste. The second ideology has become the leader in Serama breeding in America, eclipsing the "race for acceptation" in the year 2010 with the first qualifying meets.
Breeding
Overall Serama's aren't an easy bird to breed. Their eggs have a low chance of hatching and then when they have hatched have an equally low chance of surviving their first night. This information adds on to the reason why they are so rare. After laying an egg it takes approximately 19–20 days for the chicks to develop and hatch. After hatching it takes about 16–18 weeks for the chicks to mature and reach the point at which they themselves can begin laying eggs. These eggs do not come in any set color which adds on to the fact of why they can't be accepted as an actual breed until the gene pool is narowed down. They can range from white to the darkest of brown. The general size of the egg is not very large, in fact it takes about 5 Serama eggs to equal the size and density of 1 standard size chicken egg.
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