Hailing from Java , Indonesia , it ’s believe that the Ayam Cemani is a cousin of the Kadaknath poulet . In its home nation , the all - sinister Ayam Cemani is thought to land healing and wizard properties .
The breed is rare in that it is one of a few breeds that have cuticular hyperpigmentation , also referred to as fibromelanosis . possess my own passel of this magical strain , I have found that they retain many undomesticated feature while also allow for people to take part in their lives .
Genetic Mutants
The Ayam Cemani results from a genetical genetic mutation that comes from an Ayam Kedu , a bleak Gallus gallus with red coxcomb and wattle . The Kedu was established in 1924 in Indonesia , and the Cemani is a race .
In Indonesian , Ayam means “ chicken ” and Cemani intend “ black . ” Only recently have they been considered a freestanding breed . ( The note was introduce by more New civilisation . )
Without proper and exacting culling practices , the Ayam Cemani can very easily genetically revert back to the Kedu coloring and case . No matter what line you buy , this strain will always require employment and heavy culling and are difficult to keep pure black .
To keep them this agency , they have to always have two of the fibro cistron present from the parents to remain all smuggled .
To replicate this , breeder always use the blackest chick . Many grandparent cistron do make an coming into court in chicks , every now and again .
Many breeders see any white upon hatching as a bad sign . These chicks are n’t kept for succeeding rearing . White is referred to in the breeder world as “ leakage . ” Some stock breeder cull upon hatch , while some retain them for heart sales later on in life-time .
Showtime.photo/Shutterstock
Other stock breeder keep the chicks with leakage to put in the fibromelanistic factor into another breed.Showtime.photo/Shutterstock
to maintain this uncommon occurrence and not turn a loss the genetical print to extermination , breeder must remain live . This fibromelanistic gene also has flaws .
Not all pure Ayam Cemanis have calamitous glossa . The exceptionally uncommon of this rare strain take these genetics . Most Ayam Cemanis have snowy to gray tongues with some black on them . Others possess a weed - gray tongue .
Showtime.photo/Shutterstock
Any type of red or pink present usually means that the birds have been bred to something beside an Ayam Cemani somewhere in the line of descent . Or it can intend that the breeder has n’t practice strict culling proficiency and the fowl is reverting back to an ascendant .
Ayam Cemanis also grow into their fibromelanosis . This means that when they hatch , the darker they are , the darker their “ peak ” will be . This peak essentially intend that it ’s the darkest that the bird will get also . It can pass off with any color and any breed of chicken and come about with waterbird .
It ’s a normal process of aging but more noticeable on the Cemani because of how drab they are . A discolored toe or feathering easily stands out . This can go on anywhere from 1 to 3 years .
Daniel Beckemeier/Shutterstock
With my rooster , I get four in effect years out of him but only three season . He peaked last year . After this last molt , his fibro is dwindling and will get worse as he ages further .
I care to use the example of when human fuzz starts turn grey-headed . That is precisely what happens to aged birds that carry this gene .
Read more : Here are 4 cosmetic chicken breeds that attend great in the backyard .
All About These All-Blacks
Ayam Cemanis are wretched layers and do n’t grow into very large birds . perverse to popular feeling , this breed does n’t lay black egg . alternatively , it lay a blanched to lick colored ball . And the medium - sized bird lays average - size of it egg .
The hens seem to lie well for about a month , then go on a break for about a month . hen go broody about once to twice a year and make excellent mothers .
For hens , I keep a mix of Greenfire Farms ( the original importer farm ) and Raven ( a unbent Indonesian import ) stock . Last class , I let two hen ride , and they each incubate chick . The rooster also seemed a little more involved than with some of the other breeds that I have .
Each hen that cover wench was a great female parent — very heedful to the skirt while also wary of their surroundings . They did become distant and shy while they had their chicks but took excellent charge of them .
I did severalize one biddy because she hatched Sebright chicks , a conservative bantam stock . The other Ayam Cemanis in the pen prove to kill the Sebrights . Any doll that was black , they raised .
My top hen was one who had bird , and every other hen seemed to take a purpose in caring for the chicks . They herded them around as a group when they were loose - ranging . The rooster was very leery of marauder . He paid more care than if it were just the hens out free - ranging .
The Ayam Cemanis in my flock have kept much of their ascendant ’ wild substance abuse and can be really head-in-the-clouds when it comes to trusting humanity and predators . Ayam Cemani chicks certainly need more manipulation than more domesticated breed for trust people .
Ayam Cemani also tend to get bored easily if they remain penned up for an extended period of sentence . Their first pen was about 3 invertebrate foot marvelous , and this was n’t sufficient for them . They love to fly and perch .
To combat this , their new penitentiary is 6 foot tall . deal of perches also helps .
clear “ ennui fellow ” activity help with bullying . In their new penitentiary , I plan on installing a chicken baseball swing and a mirror to help combat boredom on the days that they ca n’t costless - stove .
In our country , we have mortarboard and aerial predator . With the Ayam Cemanis , the war hawk fly over them and do n’t attempt to make an attack . It could be their dour food coloring . With our other breeds , we have to let our farm animal shielder frank out with them . Daniel Beckemeier / Shutterstock
Personal Experience
On our farm , we trade grow - out bird and full - grown hiss . This helps us guarantee our fibromelanosis . Our chicks get separated and banded at hatch with unlike colored leg bands that identify each . We use these to distinguish their parent and bloodlines .
Every wench hatched receive a number . If they have any amount of white at hatch , they ’re put into a cull group , which is grow out for meat use .
Many stock breeder breed for sure characteristics that they wish . Because there is noSOPat the time of this clause , breeders typically multiply for as blackened as potential . Some breeders also engender for a gaga - type feather , which is drastically different from a fluent - feather face .
Read more : Learn more about the all - black Ayam Cemani breed of chicken !
We separate our birds into groups for sales , breeding role and for chicks we ’ll keep for next breeding . We habituate the keep an eye on groups for our doll .
The “ all black ” with oyster and smoky tongue I keep as breeder for follow time of year unless there is a transmissible need to breed them back to a mother or father . This is n’t ideal . But some situations call for an offspring to be bred back to the female parent or father .
Many breeder habituate this proficiency for sure genetic expression that can admit comb type , feather eccentric and eggs lay .
Standard ones that have something that I do n’t personally multiply for — such as a waste feather case or a coxcomb sprig — we trade to customer . ( Same if I just have too many of them . )
In the wild feather character , the vane of the feather does n’t position together . It ’s rather spread out and resembles a bristle brush grain .
A comb sprig is a jut out piece of comb that is n’t in dividing line with their coxcomb .
The wench that we do n’t plan on hold back or selling ( culls ) stay onsite until they ’re ready for processing . We trade our culls as farm - fresh chicken to restaurants or clients looking for something a little unlike . We never sell live reject , nor should any breeder of this rare precious stone . Some people could carry on spawn them with fault that we do not desire in the gene pool .
The uncommon breed Ayam Cemani needs conservation efforts . They ’re neat foragers and are exceptionally disease - resistant . The inherited mutation that they bear , along with their adaptability to heat and cold , are corking characteristic to keep live .
More Information
The Leontyne Price ticket on a true Ayam Cemani is a steep one . It can range from $ 250 up to $ 2,500 ! Many breeders rarely sell because the breed is very difficult to get perfect .
If you ’re bet at buy one , do so from a stock breeder established with theAyam Cemani Breeders Association . This group is dedicated to proceed the line genetically preserve and is n’t in this strain for a quick buck .
It ’s work out toward incur this breed accepted by the American Poultry Association and has grow a strongStandard of Perfection , a written description of the ideal skirt . TheSOPfor the Ayam Cemani has n’t been release yet but has been bow to the APA for approval .
The Ayam Cemani has proven to be exceptional against weather condition . Where I live in Tennessee , we have mild winters . This preceding class , we did dip down into negative numbers for a piece , and the Ayam Cemani pen did the best out of all of our hen playpen . They even lay when no other pens were position , and we had a successful hatch on Christmas Day .
Our summer are hot and humid . Because these birds are all black , we give them redundant subtlety to keep them cooler . Black is ill-famed for absorbing heat from the sunshine . Even in temperatures higher than 100 degree Fahrenheit , they were praiseworthy at how well they care it . We did n’t even catch one panting .
They do like their rubble baths . We occupy an empty tyre with Sir Henry Joseph Wood ash , sand and diatomaceous earth to help . But they preferred to make their own holes in the ground .
The alien face of this fowl makes it stand out amongst any other breed that you ’ll receive . When their feathers shoot the sun , they have an iridescent unripened shade to them . They can look quite consuming with their pitch-dark toe , black legs , black tegument , bleak comb and wattles , and their black feathering . Even on a gorgeous gay day , it look as though you have a chicken shadow keep up you around .
They also stand very marvellous and have a game - character stance about them . No other coloring material except mordant is an Ayam Cemani . Do n’t get embroil into claims that this strain is any color but black .
With the price tag that Ayam Cemanis have , many the great unwashed want to cash in in on the hype of this poultry . inquiry and bang the strain and breeder before you buy .
This clause originally appeared in the November / December 2021 take ofChickensmagazine .
