The Smithies, the $5 "Ayam Cemani" black meat bird

[Anna6]

Has anyone caponized the roosters? How do these birds taste?

 

[DCchicken]

Has anyone caponized the roosters? How do these birds taste?

I haven't caponized any as the only Cemani I have processed were culls. But they taste very good, especially if you make black chicken ginseng soup.

 

[Anna6]

Sounds good. I was looking where you are located. It is a pity we are on opposite ends of the states. We have tried ordering eggs before but over all have had bad luck while we do fine with local bought eggs or our own. The shipping is just too hard on them.

 

[DurhamDuck]

This new project is interesting. I like the name "smithies" as well. It's distinctive and easy to remember.

Do they lay black eggs?

 

[DCchicken]

This new project is interesting. I like the name "smithies" as well. It's distinctive and easy to remember.

Do they lay black eggs?

I get asked this question about the eggs a lot. Not sure where this rumor began. Chickens lay eggs with shells that are either white or blue. Then on top of the egg there can be a coating that can appear pinkish but is usually brown. The darker the coating, the browner the egg will look. But with breeds that have the blue egg shells, the brown coating will make the eggs turn green to olive.

No chicken lays a black egg. The FM genes cause hyper-pigmentation in the tissues and organs of birds with it. But it does not affect the egg shell.

Most FM breeds lay a cream (lightly tinted) to medium brown egg. For example:


This is a Cemani egg.

 

[maranfarmer563]

The only black egg I ever saw was a duck egg,

 

[DurhamDuck]

Quote:
Thank you. I asked because my black ducks lay black-shelled eggs. I thought that maybe these birds would be the same.

 

[DCchicken]

Thank you. I asked because my black ducks lay black-shelled eggs. I thought that maybe these birds would be the same.

Yeah it seems only ducks lay a black egg and there is probably some evolutionary necessity for it. The blue eggs are caused by a retrovirus being inserted into the chicken genome.

 

[Double Kindness]

My friend swears that she read about a chicken that lays black eggs and they are the cemani and argues with me about it lol but has never seen one in person.

I still want to add these smithies to my flock, as I have other ayam cemani from the same person the smithies come from, as well as ac from gff probably in the springtime. Along with svart honas DC? Unless you have some ready to ship now (chicks not eggs)?

So whenever they're ready... tomorrow I gotta get serious about building more chicken areas, especially brooder boxes.

 

[chooks4life]

It's not too far fetched an idea that some Ayam Cemani would possibly lay black eggs, because if you can get chickens which produce very dark brown eggs, why not brown so thick it's basically black, too? I reckon it's not an impossibility but I haven't seen any sure cases of it either.... At this stage I guess it's just rumors but some hearsay turns out to be true, time will tell.