japs vs. seramas

[pbjmaker]

I have what I *thought* was a black mottled serama. The person I got it from got it from another BYC person that I'm 80% sure only has seramas.

My son put her in an FFA show this weekend becuase he just loves her. The judge told him that she is actually a black mottled jap. and my son tells me he explained it was something to do with the way she stands and that is how he could tell.

What is the difference between the two breeds?

I still think mine is a class C serama with a poor stance.

Bella - the hen in question with her chick Trooper this spring:

 

[SportTees]

Someoe answer please- I'm curious too

 

[tadkerson]

I have not worked with either and can only explain from the research. The chabo or japanese bantam carries a gene called the creeper gene which is a lethal incompletely dominant gene. Chabos only have one creeper gene if they have two they die in the egg. This gene makes the legs of the bantam very short. The serema does not carry this gene so the legs of the serema should be proportional to the body size. The leg bones of the chabo should be shorter and thicker than the bones in a serema.
A chabo should walk and the body be close to the ground while the body of the serema should be higher and off the ground.

Tim

 

[Goose and Fig]

I have a little jap hen- the only obvious visual difference is that her wings don't hang down as much as a serema. I thought she was a serema when I first got her too.

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

Mottled Japs have yellow legs.

 

[pbjmaker]

Thanks to everyone who answered

Her legs are definately not yellow. She is pretty short legged though. I have hatched two pullets this year from her and have 2 more of her eggs in the bator as we speak. Both of those pullets were short legged also. One is a cross with a d'uccle and one was a cross with a red laced cochin. These should both be showgirl X's. My only other roo that tries to mate with her is a BC marans and he is too big to line up with her correctly.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

Quote:
Serama do carry the creeper gene..
LEGS

Legs should be long enough to keep the wing just above the ground. Very short legs are often the result of the creeper gene, and this is very undesirable in Serama, as this is a Chabo (Japanese bantam) trait, and is also a lethal gene. Very short legs make for ragged, tattered wings that drag the ground. Short legs are to be disqualified. Legs should be of medium length, but not long either. Very short legs, which are so short as to have little or no actual shank, are also a disqualification. Further, more than four toes is also a disqualification.

From http://www.scnaonline.org/standards_and_judging.php

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

I would think that the judge would say Japanese maybe because he thought the hen looks more like this
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/japclub/Breed Standard.htm
http://japanesebantam.org/Mottled.htm

than this..
http://www.scnaonline.org/standards_and_judging.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Seramahen.jpg
http://www.jerrysseramasllc.com/malaysian.htm