The American Cemani Breeders Club...open forum

[Tiegrsi]

Thank you, Ms. Biddy. I will check the feathers really well tonight on all the birds and see if the signs are pointing to feather mites.

On a side note, do any of you sell your chicks, cull or otherwise? How much do you charge, or how much did you pay per chick? I've seen some people in my area (2 different people) selling Cemani chicks recently for $8 and $4 each, and I'm wondering why they seem suddenly so cheap. They do not all look to be culls; they are straight run. When I asked the sellers about it, they didn't really answer me, just said that's all they wanted to charge.

 

[Ms Biddy]

The breeder I purchase from sells straight run chicks from $5-$15 each depending on color faults. I got my 'all black, one clear toenail' chicks for $8 ea. I know this will seem shockingly low to some people, but if they're priced higher they don't sell quickly enough and their goal is to keep things moving along and not to always be feeding a bunch of teenagers. They sell hundreds of chicks a year this way and I don't plan on trying to compete with them.

People who see our Ayam Cemanis think they're cool but just aren't obsessed like I am. In reality, lots of people like chickens and some people love them, but not many LOOOOVE them to the point that they want to pay a lot for rare or expensive ones. I'm sure other breeders disagree with this, but it's been my experience in my area that people don't see chickens as something you should spend much money on. Country folk...(I am country folk too so that's not a knock.)

My plan for unwanted birds is the freezer. I have gotten to where I almost can't eat store bought chicken anymore. We already raise our own beef and trade for other meats and game.

On a side note, my rooster actually took a swipe at the back of my calf yesterday. Oh, I grabbed him so fast and held him upside down and then pinned him on the ground and told him how the pecking order goes. I hope he understood because I really like him.

 

[Blue Eager]

I have a total of 8 Cemanis; 6 going on 6 weeks, & 2 going on 2 weeks. I would have purchased more but my suppliers breeding pair were killed by a raccoon. He will have more to sell me in about a month. These will be from his year & a half old stock which are from the same parents as mine. So you can see my plans are for next year & if all goes well I will be selling a few in 2019.

I don’t think I would consider purchasing Cemani chicks for $8 & certainly not $4. Not all but most folks selling at these prices aren't putting in the time to insure quality stock. I also think it would be safe to say most of these are filled with less than desirable traits & by the time you breed out the defects you would have come out ahead paying more for quality Cemanis. I paid much more for mine but not at the high end of the scale by any stretch...$23 each. Fortunately my seller wants some of the breeds I have so in that respect I have saved quite a bit of money.

Ms Biddy, your Rooster is gorgeous! Too bad about the peck. As a side note I’ve had my older Cemanis in their outdoor pen for about a week now. I added 11, 8 week old Blue Ameraucanas (3 days ago). Some are 2x larger than the Cemanis. My two favorite roo Cemanis are like cutting horses, moving all the Blue’s out of the way so all 6 can drink & eat first. I love it! They are going to be great watch dogs.

 

[Ms Biddy]

I don’t think I would consider purchasing Cemani chicks for $8 & certainly not $4. Not all but most folks selling at these prices aren't putting in the time to insure quality stock. I also think it would be safe to say most of these are filled with less than desirable traits & by the time you breed out the defects you would have come out ahead paying more for quality Cemanis. I paid much more for mine but not at the high end of the scale by any stretch...$23 each.

That's a great price too. The $5 chicks are sold strictly for eating, but buyers can do as they please. I doubt anyone would try to breed them. The question was what to do with culls and how much do they sell for. The $5 chicks have yellow toes or stray white feathers. The $15 chicks are solid black, but probably have a white tongue. You might get lucky and get a black tongue chick but I wouldn't expect it. From what I gather, the $15 chicks are about 25% of the hatch. This seems in line with earlier discussions among breeders working from TMA and GFF lines, which is what these birds are too. Plus, having a range in quality allows this breeder to sell lots of $5 black meat chicks.

 

[Tiegrsi]

Thanks for your replies. I paid about $140 all together for my 10 (9 surviving) Cemanis, including shipping...so, around $14 each. They weren't supposed to be top quality birds (they were listed as "ok-good" quality), but their pictures showed them as being almost completely black as day-olds, so I thought I was paying a fair price on the bottom end for birds that were lacking full blackness.

There is one person near me that I think has had Cemani for a while, and I believe most (if not all) the local birds are likely coming originally from his...I don't know how much HE charges, but it seems the people who are selling chicks from birds that originated with him are the ones I am finding so cheap.

 

[Blue Eager]

I heard from someone there are a few breeders selling Indonesia line Cemanis in the US. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Pyxis]

I heard from someone there are a few breeders selling Indonesia line Cemanis in the US. Can anyone confirm this?

Probably, yes. The Raven line is said to be from Indonesia, and someone who bought birds from Banko told me he had imported them a couple years earlier from Indonesia.

Both lines are therefore in the country illegally.

 

[Blue Eager]

Probably, yes. The Raven line is said to be from Indonesia, and someone who bought birds from Banko told me he had imported them a couple years earlier from Indonesia.

Both lines are therefore in the country illegally.

The person selling the Raven line openly advertises he's had them for 4 years. He doesn't appear to be too concerned? Is it possible these were imported legally or is the ban still in place?

 

[Pyxis]

The person selling the Raven line openly advertises he's had them for 4 years. He doesn't appear to be too concerned? Is it possible these were imported legally or is the ban still in place?

The ban in still in place and has been for years and years, so anything that came in in the last five years, which would be both of those lines if they were imported, is illegal.

Will anyone do anything about it? At this point probably not, but I'd rather not have them myself just in case.

 

[Blue Eager]

Thank you Pyxis. Points well taken.