Seabright breed of chickens belongs to bentamiki - a dwarf breed of chickens native to such Asian countries as Japan and China. After working on the bentamok breed in England at the beginning of the 19th century, an interesting decorative miniature breed was bred, which immediately captured its fans. It is common in different countries of the world, but their number is not very large. These chickens are kept only by lovers of this breed and some collectors. Consider what are the seabright hens, their description and productive indicators, conditions of detention, feeding of adult birds and young animals.

History reference

The work to create this breed was carried out by the English Lord Sir John Seabright, as a result of which the breed was bred and got its name. The founders of the breed are Bentamki roosters and Polish hens. Then Hamburg chickens joined them. As a result of such a cross, a dwarf variety with a beautiful skirted plumage was obtained. The Lord introduced his decorative chickens to the public in 1815, and keeping such interesting birds became fashionable. Amateurs created a club dedicated to this breed, where the price for a couple of birds could reach 30 pounds.Nowadays, they cost much less and have spread throughout the world.

Breed description

Seabright primarily refers to the decorative breed, and it is useless to expect high productivity from them. Their eggs and meat have excellent taste, but keeping a bird just for their sake is not cost-effective.

Appearance

External characteristics can be found in the following table.

Important! The requirements for the Sebright decorative breed are unacceptable shortcomings: large body sizes, long lengths, or too coarse build, wings raised to the body. On the plumage, the absence of a border is unacceptable, a double or open border of a feather, spots and dots on feathers. Roosters should not have lanceolate feathers in plumage and pigtails in the tail.

Productive qualities

From this decorative breed of small sizes do not expect much productivity.

Character

Representatives of this breed are quickly and easily tamed, obedient. The males are somewhat pugnacious, but they themselves do not go to conflict. Sebrites, when trying to offend them, show considerable courage and fighting qualities. The cockerels fearlessly rush at a larger adversary, defending themselves and their family. And sebrites are noisy and somewhat noisy.

Advantages and disadvantages

• The advantages of Seabright chickens are as follows:
• • excellent decorative qualities;
  • miniature size;
  • unpretentiousness and profitability in the feed;
  • well-developed instinct of incubation - you can even lay eggs of other birds under them;
  • excellent taste of meat and eggs;
  • obedient character.

• This elite bird has a number of disadvantages:
• • demanding on the conditions of detention - they react poorly to sudden temperature fluctuations, are thermophilic
  • low productivity;
  • weak immune system;
  • complex nestling - chickens are even more demanding of conditions than an already formed bird.

Maintenance and care

These are heat-loving and freedom-loving birds that love walking and have weak immunity, which affects the conditions of their successful maintenance.

Bird house

To organize the place of residence of representatives of this breed, sizes should be provided for at the rate of no more than 5 individuals per 1 sq. Km. m. It is better, of course, to take a large area, as these birds are active and prefer open spaces. Perches can be made smaller than usual and tall - these birds fly well. To position them is an inclined ladder. So sebrites can settle down without interference. Nests and a regular flooring (from peat, hay, straw and sawdust) should also be equipped. Nests should be located in a quiet place so that nothing distracts the chicken from hatching eggs. Usually there are no more than 5 layers per nest.

Important! Seabright chickens, unlike other bentamoks, have poor health. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the litter, change it in time and periodically carry out disinfection in the chicken coop. You should also monitor the cleanliness of feed and drink, take various measures for the prevention of diseases.

These chickens are thermophilic and the temperature in their premises should be at the level of 15–16 ° С. For better egg production, it is necessary to provide daylight hours at 16–17 hours and solve the issue of dosing. As in any chicken coop, you need to make a window for daylighting the room and be sure to insulate it - drafts should be absent. It is optimal to make ventilation compulsory, but you can also use vents if they do not create a draft. The house for sebrights should be not only warm, but also dry - they do not like excess humidity.

Patio for walks

These birds love activity and free range. They are sometimes kept in cages, but they are uncomfortable there, it is much better to equip a courtyard for walks in the warm period. It is optimal to make a mesh enclosed enclosure, as these birds can easily fly away from an open structure. The enclosure should be equipped with feeders and drinking bowls, a canopy from the sun and precipitation.

Feeding troughs and drinking bowls

For Seabright chickens, you should buy shallow feeders and drinkers, as their beak is small. They should equip a house and a walking patio. In order for the chickens to not litter in them and not step on their paws, it will be rational to choose structures that can be hung or installed at a convenient distance from the surface for small chickens. It is optimal to choose a nipple or closed drinker. It is better to buy a feeder bunker.

Seasonal molt

Seabright chickens should be given special attention during molting. When the plumage changes, their already weak immune system is even more loaded, so during this period it is important:

• monitor the cleanliness around them;
• Protect from drafts and moisture;
• provide a balanced diet;
• strengthen it with vitamin and mineral supplements;
• fight parasites;
• protect against stress.

Herd replacement planned

If sebrites are kept for decorative purposes, then a planned replacement of the herd is not required. Although on average, the term of one generation is about 3-4 years, but all this is identified individually. You can use your own chickens to change. It should be borne in mind that about one female needs to breed about 7 females. Chickens of this breed are not the best laying hens, but excellent hens and you can not use an incubator with them. One chicken can hatch up to 5 eggs, and not only its own. However, caring for chickens will not be easy - the requirements for their maintenance and feeding are even higher.

Did you know? Silvery sebrites have a much higher percentage of rejected young animals than gold ones.

What to feed

These birds are undemanding to the quality of the feed.

Adult chickens

Seabright chickens are very picky in terms of nutrition - any food is suitable for large chickens. The main meals should be carried out 3 times a day. In the summer, as an additive to the main feed, herbs that birds will receive during the walk in the fresh air are perfect. In the cold season, you need to provide food with the inclusion of vegetables and herbs.

The main part of the diet (approximately 60%) are cereals. As an addition to it are green plants, vegetables, minerals. The grain should not be cleaned, since the husk contains many necessary elements for the birds.

The following products are recommended to be included in the sebrite diet:

• dairy products (yogurt, milk, cottage cheese);
• beets, carrots, cabbage;
• bone (or fish) flour;
• fodder yeast;
• potatoes and their peeling.

There should always be water in the drinkers, and in the heat it needs to be changed more often and carefully monitor the cleanliness so as not to provoke gastric diseases.

Chickens

Caring for hatched chickens is harder than for adults.

Did you know? Subject to all the rules of care, the survival rate of chickens is 83–95%. Seabright breed nestling hatches from an egg one day earlier than large chickens.

Eggs are chopped finely as feed, and special feed for chickens is also given. In the first few days, babies are fed with an interval of 2 hours. Then they switch to 5 meals a day and include wheat porridge with milk and green plants in the diet. You can still give earthworms.

Seabright chickens belong to a beautiful decorative breed of miniature size. They have low productivity, but high quality taste in meat and eggs. They have poor health and are demanding of the conditions of detention, but they are not particularly demanding of food, and consume it a little.