Ayam Cemani

[Chambertin]

Hi everyone!

This thread just popped up on my list.
I don't have an Ayam Cemani (yet!), but I am in love with them.
I've been looking for one for awhile, but the price right now is insane.
The only live chickens I've seen are $5,000 for a pair that's about 5 weeks old and I believe they are currently on a waitlist.
Hatching eggs pop up on ebay every now and then for around $1500 when the bidding is over.  But that's a risk too because how do you even know they are quality pure bred?

We are military and a family we knew was in Germany and they were only $40 a chicken!
I'm waiting for the US market to get inundated and the price to drop to something reasonable.  I'm not a breeder, I just want a pet, so I can't sell my husband on $5k for a chicken haha.

Anyway, love seeing the pics from those that have them.  Anyone aware of any other routes I haven't tried to find one at a more reasonable price?

I would get in touch with the German family!

Heck can I get in touch with them? I'd be willing to investigate the shipping requirements to get them here. I'd love to start my flock up again. You are exactly right about the price being way over the top.
(Double so when the birds 5k aren't even a good example of the breed)
I might have enough high school German left in my brain that with a dictionary I can work out something

 

[dutchbunny83]

They're back now, they're stationed at Ft Bragg with us. They did a 3 year tour there and came here about 6 months ago.
But when they were over there they had chickens and said they were fairly common at their farmer's market flock swap type things.
But I would check into importing them through Europe because I'm pretty sure that is legal and from the way they talked while they weren't super common they were much less rare than they are here.

 

[dutchbunny83]

By the way, your avatar is fabulous!!!

 

[sunsetvalley]

I also have some pure Ayam Cemani chicks I'm the one that won right before you did on ebay. Say did you get any with WHITE on them? I have a few with about 30% + of White I heard of white coming through the genetics like in toes before. I was shocked when they hatched out with so much white. How many males and females did you get?

 

[Randy2010]

I also have some pure Ayam Cemani chicks I'm the one that won right before you did on ebay. Say did you get any with WHITE on them? I have a few with about 30% + of White I heard of white coming through the genetics like in toes before. I was shocked when they hatched out with so much white. How many males and females did you get?

I had 8 to hatch out of 12 and I had two with a little white on their down, but the skin is still black and she mentions on her website that this will happen with less than 5 percent. I talked to her and she said their feathers should turn all black once they molt, which the two I have are growing in black feathers already where there is white.

they aren't old enough for me to tell yet what sex they are, how many roos and pullets did you get?

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

I can't wait to see the pics. I'm fascinated with black-skin birds!

 

[sunsetvalley]

I had 8 to hatch out of 12 and I had two with a little white on their down, but the skin is still black and she mentions on her website that this will happen with less than 5 percent. I talked to her and she said their feathers should turn all black once they molt, which the two I have are growing in black feathers already where there is white.

they aren't old enough for me to tell yet what sex they are, how many roos and pullets did you get?

Out of 12 eggs there was only 4 fertile. I got 3 females and 1 male. Two have 30% plus white feathers the other two are all black. To be honest the two with the white look like Black Australorp mix chicks? They have so much white on them! I'm worried.




edited by staff

 

[boykin2010]

I don't think that much white is normal... Do you have updated pictures of the chicks with white? Are they feathering in black?

Also, these all black birds are tricky to sex. You may not be 100% sure of genders until 12-14 weeks of age.
My adults that I have kept me guessing for quite some time

 

[dutchbunny83]

Dipsy Doodle-- what type of chicken is your avatar, I've never seen one quite like it!

 

[Chambertin]

White is completely abnormal, unless its throughout the feathers. There is a genetic trait for white feathers while retaining the all black skin and meat. Its about 1/100 or more.
To have that many in one batch...
ANY skin that is white, yellow, anything but black and they are absolutely mixed.

Here is an example (not proper Ayam Cemani but a very close relitive in China) take it for what it's worth.

The one on the front left is black on black, the other is white on black genetic anomaly. Very rare and all white plumage that gets grey speckled or stays all white into adulthood, it never gets all black.

You can see what happens when a normal chicken breed gets mixed in, there are spots which show different levels of white and black. Most telling is the skin abnormalities. If you see this then it was bred with a non cemani (all black) at some point.

90% or more of chicks should look like this.

Again this is of an impure cousin of the Ayam Camani, so the true genetics should be even stronger than my results. Supposedly with 99.999999% chance of getting black and only .000001 chance of the white feathered black body & skin.
Good luck but this sounds extremely suspicious to me to have ANY blotching.