Ayam Cemani
Feature by Toni Marie Graham
Uses: Exhibiton, Eggs & Meat
Classification: Large fowl - Rare
Eggs: 60-100 within 1st year, white or tinted
Origin: Indonesia
Appearance
This beautiful bird is noted for being black, completely black. Black feathers, black comb, black eyes, black skin, black meat and even black bones, but please do not be fooled into believing they lay black eggs! They genuinely are one of the most extraordinary of all the black chicken breeds and in Thailand they are thought to hold mystical powers.
Why are Ayam Cemani all black? The blackness is caused by Fibro melanosis, a genetic condition that affects the colourisation within the cells. Interestingly the fibro can also be left on the inside of the eggs – here is one of my own after hatching.
The Ayam Cemani are classed as a Large Fowl, but are of medium size. Both the hens and the cock birds should be alert and quite gamey in type, they should be slim, firm and muscular. They should have powerful legs and four wide set toes.
The head should be of medium size, single comb should be black and smooth. Eyes should be dark and full of expresion.
Origin of the Ayam Cemani
Photo courtesy of Grahams Pure Breed Poultry
Photo courtesy of Grahams Pure Breed Poultry
The breed most likely originated from the Village of Kedu in the Java Islands of Indonesia and is sometimes referred to as the “Kedu Cemani” or “Ayam Kedu.” The word Ayam means “chicken” in Indonesian but there is still question as to where the Cemani word originated from. Some do say that is is from the village where the breed originated and some say it means “all black.”
Although the breed itself is orginally from Indonesia, they themselves have varying types of Ayam Cemani. The indonesians are conflicted as to whether to standardise the breed within their home country, there are varying reasons for this, some mainly being that a standard would essentially mean that some breeders do not have the correct type of bird making their birds redundant to the Ayam Cemani name.
Only Europe, the UK and the US are working to a standard for this breed.
The breed was first imported into Europe in 1998 by a Dutch breeder named Jan Steverink, today many of the lines here in the UK carry his bloodlines which originally entered the country back in 2007. The Poultry Club of Great Britain accepted the proposed standard in January 2017, for showing purposes they are now under the Rare Poultry Society.
Keeping Ayam Cemani
Like most new breeds of Chicken, be certain that you obtain stock from a reputable breeder who has been dedicated and honest regarding their progression. Upon entering the country in 2007, the breed was damaged due to impatiently cross breeding for better numbers and appearance. This was a detriment to the breed, many lines now carry 'throwback' genes which essentially means that they can throw characteristics that are not true to the original standard of the breed. Common faults are gold leakage, white toes/pink toes and pink skinned. Some lines hatch chicks with white wing tips, this is uncommon in the UK, but the wing tips do darken with age. Faults like pink skinned and toes unfortunately do not in most cases.
Nowadays, the Ayam Cemani is no longer the ferrari of chickens and you can pick up birds at a reasonable price with the added satisfaction of better quality than there once was.
As for keeping Ayam Cemani, they are not all too different from your more common Large Fowl breeds. They can be cold hardy if given enough space and are on ground that wont become a wallowing pit, I say this because they rather like the mud but it doesn't agree with their overall condition.
The males I have found to be gentlemen, never rowdy, kind to their female counterparts, graceful in everything they do. We have had no issues with this breed around young children, this is mainly due to raising our birds from hatch.
The hens however are to me, an entirely different species! My hens tend to be the trouble makers of all our breeds. They are extremely vocal, glutinous rebels that make such a fuss when you go any where near them, but manage to catch one and they are happy to be held.
Photo courtesy of Grahams Pure Breed Poultry
Hens can lay a large egg for their size, and in their first year of laying you can have anywhere between 60-100 eggs. They do like to go broody, and I have found that they are a determined sort, and I have even had two hens share out the eggs for better odds! If incubating, be aware that most breeders believe that the AC are a hard breed to hatch. I myself have had trouble in the past, but have since found that a higher humidity throughout the entire period does raise hatch ability.
The chicks are strikingly different once fresh out of the incubator, if you are lucky all that you can see is a competely black chick with the only other colour being the egg tooth. Very difficult to photo due to their darkness.
As they mature, around week 5 you will be able to sex the chicks. The females bypass the ugly dinosaur stage as they feather up more quickly and they will produce their tail feathers before the males. The males will stay bald upon their backs and under their wings for around 1-2 weeks longer than the females.
Photo courtesy of Grahams Pure Breed Poultry
Photo courtesy of Grahams Pure Breed Poultry
Mixed flock an option? Only if you hatch and raise from young together – in my opinion. We have had instances where even the same breed of bird has been rejected within the flock when added at a later date. This is a common trait for most established flocks and in no way a negative aimed at the breed itself, but please note that the hens (are you surprised?!) are almost always the instigators.
Housing is nothing special, I would recommend the same set up as any other large fowl breed. They do thrive better free-ranging, this I have found is purely dietary, filling up on pastures green rather than stuffing themselves silly on protein. I feed mine a layers mash, lower in protein than pellets. Back to the housing, they do like to roost quite high so be wary of trees and fences. In order to keep the tail on your cock birds magnificent, make your run (if not free-ranging) wide.
Overall Opinion
As some of you will know the Ayam Cemani was the only breed of chicken I was interested in back in 2015 when we first started on this world wind of a journey.
Despite being the most strikingly beautiful and statuesque breed that we keep, they are by far one of the most challenging and at times frustrating of all our breeds to get right.
Be prepared for hardship, patience is needed as well as strong back bone. Know your birds, and above all know your own worth as a breeder. They will steal your breath away and take your heart in the process.
Photo courtesy of Grahams Pure Breed Poultry
