I thought I would do an update of the girls current portraits.
Emerald
Speckles
Freckles
Dandelion
Cinnamon
Apricot
Dandelion and Cinnamon
Apricot has pin feathers on her head
Seramas are supposed to moult a few feathers all year round and lay eggs all year round. I think they have spurts of moulting though because they all seem to be moulting at the moment and I am picking up lots of little feathers. Only Freckles is laying so our egg production is right down and I am having to buy eggs at the moment.
Apricot hasn’t laid since her brief broody spell a month ago and she has the palest of the little girl’s combs. She does have a mass of pins on her head though so I think this is the reason.
I don’t mind the girls taking a well earned break from laying. I just want them to stay healthy. I worry about them more since losing Rusty. Apricot is such a sweet little girl. She is so pretty and so friendly.
It is two weeks since Cinnamon laid and a week since Dandelion laid so they seem to be dropping off one by one. Freckles is still laying but only about three times a week. Freckles has always been the best layer of the little girls.
Last winter the only little girls we had were Freckles and Rusty as the three amigos joined the flock in February. This was before Freckles and Rusty started laying. Freckles started laying at the beginning of March and Rusty started laying at the beginning of April.
Dandelion started laying at the end of April followed by Cinnamon at the beginning of May. Apricot started laying at the beginning of June. Silky feathered seramas mature slower and therefore start laying later.
It will be interesting to see if seramas do continue to lay through winter although it won’t be a true test until next year as hens do usually lay through their first winter anyway. The difference is that most hens usually have their first full moult approaching their second winter whereas seramas moult a few feathers all year round.
I am still learning about seramas as we have only had them for just over a year. We got Caramel and Pebbles last August but sadly didn’t have them for long. Although We have only had them a year I am firmly converted to seramas and can’t imagine not having them in our flock now.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
My seramas are moulting like crazy too and only one egg once in a while but I have no idea who. Mine did lay all winter but we’ll see if they do again this year! xx
Oh, it’s good to know that’s normal then. I expect that they will resume laying when the moulting slows down. xx
Apricot does look a long distance from egg laying. It is good, though, that they do take a break – and sometimes a long one – that’s how we enjoy our older girls for as long. Silkies, too, lay through the winter (as well as going broody!) and are spasmodic in their moulting. I am getting few eggs at the moment, and the only ones laying are … silkies!
I am happy for them to lay less and live longer without doubt. I didn’t realise silkies also laid through winter. It’s funny how it’s the broody breeds that lay through winter. I wonder if it’s to do with them taking more egg laying breaks.
Great pictures as always.
I love Dandelion’s feathers!
She is amazing. I can remember not being sure whether to take a frizzle as they are so unusual and considered less robust but in the end I decided I would like all seramas varieties. I hope it was the right decision and I can keep them all in good health. They are so lovely and I just want to do my best by them. They are such pretty girls. Dandelion was the only frizzle my breeder had when I took her and he said he had one other that he had lost over winter. I know I will worry through winter but I am hoping that with the shelters they will be okay. They have been going in the shelters a bit lately so I hope that in bad weather they will now go in the shelters as they are now used to them. Seramas and especially frizzles do need a bit more winter protection than other chickens
All lovely girls.
They are all very sweet.