melamb13
In the Brooder
Great response, and I agree that if the culling is harsh and consistent in time it will be as improved as it can be from the starting stock. Does anyone know if the original breeds from their homeland may have the traits of the original poster's bird? This bird is very uncommon and rare, yet there seem to be some "officials" ready to "educate." Improving the breed would be pointless if all were perfect to start with... Just my 2¢.True, true, true, BUT.... the way you phrased the initial question didn't give most of us (ok, I shouldn't say that, despite many of the previous posts)... didn't give me the impression that your mindset was in the right place to become a successful Ayam Cemani breeder. It gave me the impression that you acquired a rare bird with an obvious fault, a bird that a good breeder had the judgement to cull, and you are wondering if you lucked into a fortune. That mindset, unfortunately, is the path to the avian equivalent of a puppy mill, foisting poor quality "purebreds" off on an unsuspecting public, thinking only of the money you can make, not of the need to develop a bird to the breed standard.
Now, if you had asked if an Ayam Cemani hen with a white tongue had the potential to be the foundation bird of your flock, knowing that it will take years of selection, culling, hard lessons learned, reaching out to mentors, endless record keeping, and lots of financial investment without immediate return before you can even develop the judgement to become a good breeder of excellent stock, worthy of being "worth a lot of $$$," then I'd be the most encouraging person you ever met, right up there with GitaBooks. But that's not the question you asked, so that's not the response you got from me. If I misinterpreted your intent, then my apologies, as I can only respond to what you have written, not what you may have intended to communicate.
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