Black Beauties
A breed that is revered by poultry enthusiasts and breeders, the Ayam Cemani is held in high regard for its black feathers, skin and meat.
A breed that is revered by poultry enthusiasts and breeders, the Ayam Cemani is held in high regard for its black feathers, skin and meat.
Hailing from Java, Indonesia, it’s believed that the Ayam Cemani is a cousin of the Kadaknath chicken. In its home country, the all-black Ayam Cemani is thought to bring healing and magic properties. The breed is rare in that it is one of a few breeds that have dermal hyperpigmentation, also referred to as fibromelanosis. Owning my own flock of this magical breed,
I have found that they retain many undomesticated features while also allowing people to take part in their lives.
GENETIC MUTANTS
The Ayam Cemani is caused by a genetic mutation that comes from an Ayam Kedu, a black chicken with red comb and wattles. The Kedu was established in 1924 in Indonesia, and the Cemani is a subspecies. In Indonesian, Ayam is the word for “chicken” and Cemani is the word for “black.” Only recently have they been considered a separate breed, and this has been introduced by more modern civilizations. Without proper and strict culling practices, the Ayam Cemani can very easily genetically revert back to the Kedu coloring and type. No matter what line you purchase, this breed will always need work and heavy culling and are difficult to keep pure black.
To keep them this way, they have to always have two of the fibro genes present from the parents to remain all black.
To replicate this, the blackest birds are always used. Many grandparent genes do make an appearance in chicks, every now and again. Any white upon hatch is a bad sign in the eyes of many breeders, and these chicks aren’t kept for future breeding. White is referred to in the breeder world as “leakage.” Some breeders cull upon hatch, while some retain them for meat sales later on in life. Other breeders keep the chicks with leakage to introduce the fibromelanistic gene into another breed.
In order to preserve this rare occurrence and not lose the genetic print to extinction, breeders must remain resilient, because this fibromelanistic gene also has flaws. Not all pure Ayam Cemanis have black tongues. The exceptionally rare of this rare breed carries these genetics. Most Ayam Cemanis have white to gray tongues with some black on them, and others have a smoke-gray tongues. Any type of red or pink present usually means that the birds have been bred to something besides an Ayam Cemani somewhere in the bloodline or can mean that the breeder hasn’t practiced strict culling techniques and the bird is reverting back to an ancestor.
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 means that it’s the darkest that the bird will get also. This can happen with any color and any breed of chicken and happens with waterfowl. This is a normal process of aging but is more noticeable on the Cemani because of how dark they are. A discolored toe or feather easily stands out. This can happen anywhere from 1 to 3 years.
With my rooster, I got four good years out of him but only three seasons. He peaked last year; after this last molt, his fibro is dwindling and will get worse as he ages further. I like to use the example of when human hair starts turning gray. That is exactly what is happening to older birds that carry this gene.
ALL ABOUT THESE ALL BLACKS
Ayam Cemanis are poor layers and don’t grow into very large birds. Contrary to popular belief, this breed doesn’t lay black eggs but, instead, lays a white to cream colored egg. They are a medium-sized fowl that lays medium-size eggs. The hens seem to lay well for about a month and then go on a break for about a month. Hens go broody about once to twice a year and make excellent mothers.
My hens are a mix of Greenfire Farms (the original importer farm) and Raven (a straight Indonesian import) bloodlines. Last year, I let two hens sit, and they each hatched chicks. The rooster also seemed a little more involved than with some of the other breeds that I have.
Each hen that hatched chicks was a great mother — very attentive to the chicks while also wary of their surroundings. They did become distant and shy while they had their chicks but took excellent care of them. I did separate one hen because she hatched Sebright chicks, a conservative bantam breed, and the other Ayam Cemanis in the pen tried to kill the Sebrights. Any chick that was black, they raised.
My top hen was one who had chicks, and every other hen seemed to take a role in caring for the chicks. They herded them around as a group when they were free-ranging, and the rooster was very wary of predators. He paid more attention than if it were just the hens out free-ranging.
The Ayam Cemanis in my flock have kept much of their ancestors’ wild habits and can be really flighty when it comes to trusting humans and predators. Ayam Cemani chicks certainly need more handling than more domesticated breeds in order to trust people.
Ayam Cemani also tend to get bored easily if they are penned up for an extended period of time. Their first pen was about 3 foot tall, and this wasn’t sufficient for them. They love to fly and perch. To combat this, their new pen is 6 foot tall. Lots of perches also helps.
Making “boredom busters” activities helps with bullying. In their new pen, I plan on installing a chicken swing and a mirror to help combat boredom on the days that they can’t free-range. In our area, we have hawks and aerial predators. With the Ayam Cemanis, the hawks fly over them and don’t attempt to make an attack; it could be their dark coloring. With our other breeds, we have to let our livestock guardian dog out with them.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
On our farm, we sell grow-out birds and full-grown birds. This helps us ensure that our fibromelanosis is guaranteed. Our chicks are separated and banded at hatch with different colored leg bands that tell us who is who. We use these to identify who their parents are and what bloodlines they are. Every chick hatched is given a number, and if they have any amount of white at hatch, they’re put into a cull group, which is grown out for meat use.
Many breeders breed for certain characteristics that they like. Because there is no SOP at the time of this article, breeders typically breed for as black as possible. Some breeders also breed for a wild-type feather, which is drastically different from a smooth-feather look.
We separate our birds into groups for sales, breeding purposes and for chicks that we’ll keep for future breeding. We use the following groups for our chicks.
• all black with oyster tongue
• all black with smoky tongue
• all black with foot, pad or nail leakage
• culls
The “all black” with oyster and smoky tongues are kept as breeders for following season unless there is a genetic need to breed them back to a mother or father. While this isn’t ideal, some situations call for an offspring to be bred back to the mother or father. Many
breeders use this technique for certain genetic expressions that can include comb type, feather type and egg laying.
The ones that are standard but have something that I don’t personally breed for — such as a wild feather type or a comb sprig — or if I just have to many of them, are sold to clients. A wild feather type is a feather type in which the vane of the feather doesn’t lay together. It’s rather spread out and resembles a bristle brush texture. A comb sprig is a protruding piece of comb that isn’t in line with their comb.
The birds that we don’t plan on keeping or selling (culls) are kept onsite until they’re ready to be processed. Our culls will be sold as farm-fresh chicken to restaurants or clients looking for something a little different. We never sell live culls, nor should any breeder of this rare gem, because some people could continue breeding them with their faults that we do not want in the gene pool.
The Ayam Cemani is a rare breed that needs to be conserved. They’re great foragers and are exceptionally disease-resistant. The genetic mutation that they carry, along with their adaptability to heat and cold, are great characteristics to keep alive.
Marissa King is the owner of King’s Cocks and the Mother Cluckers. She operates a small farm out of Sweetwater, Tennessee, with her two daughters where she works with poultry, waterfowl, goats and honeybees.