Serama

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 Seramas 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 narrowed down. They can range from white to the darkest of brown. The general size of the egg is not very large; it takes about five Serama eggs to equal the size and density of one standard-size chicken egg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serama