What are the housing requirements for Seramas?
Chickens need space to be happy. Smaller chickens need a lot less space. An absoloute minimum of one square foot per adult chicken, preferably at least twice that as feeders and drinkers take up a bit of space. The more the better. A rabbit or guinea pig enclosure is fine. Better yet something with an outside run. However, they will need somewhere to shelter from rain and cold winds.

What do I feed them?
There are a number of proprietry chicken pellets you can buy. I highly recommend Garvo poultry feeds, however they will be happy with any good food designed for chickens. Chickens also like to forrage around. Vegetable scraps are always appreciated. Some mixed corn is a nice treat, particularly in winter, but not too much as Seramas might end up putting on too much weight.

Do I need to keep a cockerel to have eggs?
No. Chickens will lay eggs with or without the company of a cockerel. Commercial produced eggs are laid by hens without cockerels. If you want to go on to breed some of your own chickens then a cockerel will be needed to produce fertile eggs. Even if you don't intend to breed Seramas, the cockerels can be exceptionally beautiful and make wonderful pets.

How big are their eggs?
Their eggs are roughly half the size of a standard egg. However, the size of egg laid will vary from hen to hen. Smaller hens tend to lay smaller eggs. Younger hens start off laying small eggs and lay larger eggs as they mature.

How often do they lay eggs?
Again this varies between birds and at different times of the year. Some birds lay about up to 5 eggs a week in the peak laying periods, while others can barely manage to lay one or two eggs in a whole season. Larger hens tend to be more prolific layers. Egg production tends to taper off periodically. They lay a maximum of one egg a day. It is imporant to make sure that hens laying eggs have a good diet and access to supplementary calcium. You can provide additional calcium via oyster grit or crushed boiled egg shells.

Are Serama cockerels noisey?
Seramas are much much smaller than other breeds of chickens and their crow is proportionally smaller. Some cockerels barely make a noise, but each bird is different and noise is subjective. Cockerels can and often crow at the first light, which can be around 4:30am in summer. You can control this by restricting light, however this will not always stop them from crowing at inconvenient times. I successfully keep quite a few cockerels in a built up area of London by using some sound insulation and they can barely be heard at close proximity. Serama cockerels are worth a little bit of extra effort to keep. They like to display to their mates and they are fun to watch.

How do I care for my Seramas over winter?
Mature healthy Seramas are fairly hardy. As long as they have been hardened off to living outside (i.e. gradually aclimatised to British weather and not just moved from warm indoors to cold outdoors). Despite their small size, they don't seem to mind the cold at all. However, they do need some protection from the worst of the weather, particularly cold winds and extremes in temperature. Check water regularly for freezing.

Can I free range my Serama chickens in my garden?
You could, but you need to take consideration of their size. Seramas are much smaller than other types of chickens and may be treated by domestic cats as potential prey. Also they can be very good fliers (except for the silkie feathered birds). So while they spend most of their time on the ground, they can fly off when freightened or decide to roost on a tree.

Further Information

The web is also a useful source for information and help. There are numerous poultry related web sites. There is also a dedicated Serama Forum specifically for Serama keepers and breeders.