AYAM SERAMA
The Malaysian Serama origins and history are unclear. There are legends of it being descent from a chance cross between a pigeon and chicken. Other stories of the birds derived from a gift of some small chickens by the King of Thailand to a local sultan in ancient times. It was almost certainly developed in Kelantan Province in Malaysia (near Thai border). Small chickens have always been popular pets in this area and are often referred to as "ayam katik" (pygmy chickens) and "ayam cantik" (pretty chickens).
The modern breed is attributed to the efforts of Wee Yean Een from Kelantan, who named the breed "Serama" after Raja Sri Rama, a character in the Wayang Kulit (or shadow puppet plays). The breed was first exhibited in 1990 The breed was hit hard by the Asian bird flu epidemic in 2004 when many birds were culled amid government concerns.
There are no written standards for the breed in Malaysia. Many breeders have a style or type that they breed to, but often breeders keep several "styles". These styles are often names given by breeders to describe a blood line of a champion (e.g. Husin, Mat Awang), but may also be more general shape, characteristics or behaviour (e.g. slim, ball, apple, and dragon). Hence there is quite a lot of diversity in Malaysia. All the different styles compete against each other in open table top competitions (often described as "beauty contests") and scored by several judges.
In America
In 2001, the Serama was first imported to the United States by KJ Theodore of Illinois. Jerry Schexnayder of Louisiana imported the second group. The Theodore import was of better quality, containing a gene for extreme smallness. The Schexnayder import was larger, but lacked such a gene. All Seramas in the United States are direct descendants of these original imports. The Serama was then promoted by an organization founded by Jerry Schexnayder, the main profiteer in serama, 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.
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.
Unfortunately, the greed of the larger importer has lead many great breeders to leave the serama breed behind. As he attacked anybody who he believed would take away his self-proclaimed leadeship status and profits, he was constantly attacking them. One of note was Brian Sparks of Wisconsin who bred the very best serama available. In fact, his birds graced the cover of the SCNA sponsered American Serama books and won almost every early SCNA serama show, yet he bred to better principles and produced better birds. This is not unique to serama; those profitting from animal breeding are often vicious and self-serving.
Seramas are still relatively rare and expensive in much of mainland Europe. The Netherlands probably has the largest number of Seramas outside the UK. Most of the stock in the Netherlands are descendent from birds/eggs imported from America and from the UK.
The modern breed is attributed to the efforts of Wee Yean Een from Kelantan, who named the breed "Serama" after Raja Sri Rama, a character in the Wayang Kulit (or shadow puppet plays). The breed was first exhibited in 1990 The breed was hit hard by the Asian bird flu epidemic in 2004 when many birds were culled amid government concerns.
There are no written standards for the breed in Malaysia. Many breeders have a style or type that they breed to, but often breeders keep several "styles". These styles are often names given by breeders to describe a blood line of a champion (e.g. Husin, Mat Awang), but may also be more general shape, characteristics or behaviour (e.g. slim, ball, apple, and dragon). Hence there is quite a lot of diversity in Malaysia. All the different styles compete against each other in open table top competitions (often described as "beauty contests") and scored by several judges.
In America
In 2001, the Serama was first imported to the United States by KJ Theodore of Illinois. Jerry Schexnayder of Louisiana imported the second group. The Theodore import was of better quality, containing a gene for extreme smallness. The Schexnayder import was larger, but lacked such a gene. All Seramas in the United States are direct descendants of these original imports. The Serama was then promoted by an organization founded by Jerry Schexnayder, the main profiteer in serama, 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.
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.
Unfortunately, the greed of the larger importer has lead many great breeders to leave the serama breed behind. As he attacked anybody who he believed would take away his self-proclaimed leadeship status and profits, he was constantly attacking them. One of note was Brian Sparks of Wisconsin who bred the very best serama available. In fact, his birds graced the cover of the SCNA sponsered American Serama books and won almost every early SCNA serama show, yet he bred to better principles and produced better birds. This is not unique to serama; those profitting from animal breeding are often vicious and self-serving.
In Europe
Seramas were initially imported into the UK around 2003-2004. Birds were imported from both America and directly from Malaysia. The foundation Serama flock in the UK consisted of only a few dozen birds. In 2005, a small group of Serama owners and enthusiast decided to form the Serama Club of Great Britain, the first Serama club in the UK. They established the standard for the Serama breed for the UK. Eventually in 2008, the club was officially recognised as the affiliated breed club of the Poultry Club of Great Britain.Seramas are still relatively rare and expensive in much of mainland Europe. The Netherlands probably has the largest number of Seramas outside the UK. Most of the stock in the Netherlands are descendent from birds/eggs imported from America and from the UK.
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