the Blackest Ones: on exploring the significance of Cemani mutations - Page 2

Please compare and contrast morphological characteristics unique to each species.

1. Green Junglefowl male has a single gular lappet.
2. Green Junglefowl male has a non serrated comb.
3. Bare facial skin of the Green Junglefowl male is extensive.
4. Flight feathers of the Green Junglefowl male are black
5. Upper tail coverts of Green Junglefowl male are elongated and numerous.
6. Green Junglefowl tail includes four additional feathers; it's longer tails coverts are nearly as long or longer than the true retrices.
7 The Green Junglefowl keeps its tail low to the ground.
8. The Green Junglefowl exhibits prominent windows of contrasting colour in the facial skin that change hues in milliseconds.
9. The Green Junglefowl exhibits metatarsal kicking thorns situated more in line with its inner toe than those of the Red Junglefowl. It is used in digging in sand and climbing vertical surfaces.
10. The Green Junglefowl neck hackle is rounded and does not go through an eclipse moult, indeed its moult is gradual with some plumes in the upper tail coverts and tail probably never moulted or infrequently moulted by the birds.

1. Red Junglefowl male has two well-defined wattles
2. Red Junglefowl male has a strongly serrated comb.
3. Bare Facial skin of Red Junglefowl male is extensive but not as great as that of the Green Junglefowl's.
4. Flight feathres of the Red Jungle fowl male are red.
5. Upper tail coverts of the Red Junglefowl are extensive but not as numerous or elongated as those of the Green Junglefowl.
6. Red Junglefowl tail has four fewer tail coverts than the Green; its longest tail coverts are not as substantial as those of the Green Junglefowl.
7. The Red Junglefowl keeps its tail fairly horizontal but it is more strongly arched than that of the green and it's tail feathers are wider- consequently, the Red Junglefowl tail appears to be head higher and more fanned that that of the Green JF.
8. Red Junglefowl ssp exhibit prominent white earlobes- these cannot change pigment or hue.
9. Red Junglefowl exhibits prominent cotton puff at the base of the tail. This is absent in Green Junglefowl.
10. The Red Junglefowl neck hackle is disintegrated and more less sharp ended. Once a year, the neck hackles are moulted and replaced with black rounded hackles like those of the Green Junglefowl.


Both species exhibit black breasts. Upper tail coverts of the Green Junglefowl cover a greater proportion of the hind wing in the Green Junglefowl male.
This may be a waterproofing trait protecting against the wings becoming so waterlogged as to prevent effective flight. Green Junglefowl are coastal estuarian birds.
Red Junglefowl prefer bamboo jungle habitats.

Dark Iridescent Breast  plumage is not present in either the Red Junglefowl or Green Junglefowl whose ventral surfaces are dull, light absorbing black.
This is notable because hybrids between them tend to produce males with dark iridescent breasts.




Similarly, the black or plum hued facial skin is unknown in either the Red or Green Junglefowl but a frequent occurrence in hybrids between the species.
The underlying skin beneath the dermis of the Grey junglefowl is dark grey.

Hybrid Green X Red Junglefowl


The Green Junglefowl exhibits a highly iridescent collar that frames its singular gular lappet.


Wild Pacific Junglefowl, introduced in ancient times to remote archipelagos (collected on islands like Guam and the Solomon Isles  )that appear otherwise nearly identical with Red Junglefowl will often exhibit iridescent breasts and extremely elongated tails with extra pairs of tail feathers and extensive upper tail coverts.

Pacific Junglefowl It is probable that Pacific Junglefowl have both Red and Green Junglefowl progenitors in their gene pools.
Each island has different percentages of Green Junglefowl genetics within it due to founder effect- how many hybrid males were introduced to the island versus Red Junglefowl or domestic Red Junglefowl roosters and which roosters were most successful in the environment provided by the specific island.

Triple D- that grey bird is precisely what one looks for as a maternal ancestor to cemani morph. Let me know if you'd like to arrange a breeding loan. I'll send you a rooster that you can keep and you send me some small percentage of your offspring. What are the genetics of this bird?

I find that I can't hatch very many eggs of birds of this stock with any soy or even peas in the diet. Look for a feed that has no legumes in it whatsoever.

It's too loaded in phytostrogens and the egg yolk nutrients are critical for keeping one of these mutants alive in the shell- as that carnosine is inherited from a Green Junglefowl- not a Red- feed it like a Green Junglefowl- as little grain as possible- and high fat, high animal protein diet, nuts are fine- even peanuts, which are legumes I believe- but peas and soybeans are no good for longevity -too rough on the digestive cycle over the long term- and wreak havoc on the reproductive fitness and moult cycles of hens.

Look around for soy free feeds - I know my company produces a soy free supplement- the UltraKibble that you can mix with a grain mixture that has no soy or peas in it- it can be oats and wheat- millet is super too- but you won't need corn or soy or peas- sometimes you can only get a corn mixture so go for it- it's not going to hurt anything but for the Indonesian type fowls- the originators- the ancestral genetics you're trying to nurture- to coax out- and refine- eliminate the foods that insectivorous chicks cannot utilise entirely. Cooked rice is great- unhulled the best and you can cook up a ton of that just keep in the fridge- mix that into your soybean mixture- great stuff- think like an Indonesian...

You could switch to a kitten chow- fish based- but really you need the right mineral vitamin mix so a food designed for birds is better-

Yeah you can get them to hatch - on whatever feed you want- but will you be producing jet black birds?
Every once in a while yes. But if you want the whole lot of them to be jet black you need to alter the diet pretty dramatically.

Here is wild green junglefowl confined with a small, white domestic hen with yellow legs, indicating grey and or Sri Lanka JF in her recent ancestry. Very unfortunately, this male may only live a few months at most and may very likely only fertilise a very few eggs. If he escapes back into the forest he may well be carrying the chicken herpes virus- also known as mareks to which Green Junglefowl are extremely vulnerable.
More likely, he will die of nutritional deficiency and exposure to unsanitary conditions and die.

Indonesian poultiers creating bekisar hybrids will attempt to produce the Mutiara type as it brings in a high price tag. A single bird may sell for hundreds even thousands of dollars. They are selected for colouration, voice and disposition.

While I am going to great lengths to provide examples of hybrids photographed primarily in Indonesia, I do not condone the practice. It endangers both wild and captive populations via the transmission of highly communicable diseases.








Flat China White birds hatch from Hsian and Cemani fairly frequently called Ayam Pelung Kedu Putih.
In order to produce a pure white bird, f1 male hybrids ( between a Green JF rooster and a white domestic hen), normal in colour ( intermediate between Green and Red JF but not white) will be bred back to the matriarch and in the second or third generation pure white birds will begin to hatch. These Putih are valued for their voices and are used in ritual sacrifices.


Putih or Mutiara bred to New Batavia utility stock similar to Black Java will often produce these volcanic mud coloured sports.

Abu Vulkanik


Pearl

There is an exceedingly rarer, highly iridescent white gold sport of the Bekisar called Mutiara (pearl). It's valued more than even the Cemani and is never used for sacrifice. It is generally and f1 hybrid between Green JF and white domestic fowl.


Mutiara

The most coveted of these uniquely Indonesian hybrids is the Hitam Bekisar this is a Cemani morph hybrids- that is probably one of the most shockingly coloured birds one will ever see, incredibly iridescent, blue violet, blue turquoise and purple black- just an amazing creature.

As this bird is the more valuable Indonesian Fowl trailed distantly even by the Mutiara, we can be assured that it is this most rare of cemani morphs ends up being sire to the highest quality cemani, within Indonesia.


Within Indonesia there is clear distinction between Cemani and Hitam Bekisar. They both exhibit black bones but the Hitam is a more or less spontaneous mutation whilst the cemani morph is something that is selected for over the course of many generations.


Ulu Cemani hen
When the Hitam Bekisar male is bred to a proper Cemani hen, we arrive here:

He's black boned, violaceous and red winged. He's inherited the maruban rounded hackles of the green junglefowl along with other traits of that species.

This is the wild type that many chickens on the island of Ponape take, which gives a good indication of their genetic background.

Yes Triple D,

That would be you. I'd like to send you a rooster if you'll share a few of his chicks in the future. I'll send you a cockerel this fall that you can keep.
In order to get them to thrive though you'll need to abandon hay as bedding as they are no good with mold- straw is fine- and get them on a diet that will encourage good consistent embryonic  development- ( no soy + animal protein)