Chicken Breed Focus - Java

[Egghead_Jr]

@Jenjens
Java have yellow skin. Australs have white skin. Java are so rare a person wouldn't mistakenly get them. A great foundation breed in need of stewards.

Used to create Jersey Giants, Barred Plymouth Rock and Rhode Island Reds to name a few. Extremely important bird.

 

[icy_flames]

Here's my Mottled Java Haja. 5 months old. Ignore the red eyes my camera flash was on She's friendly, won't let you pick her up but will sit on my lap or sun bathe next to me sometimes. Not quiet at all; she is one of my most vocal chickens! I think they are pretty neat.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

I raised Javas and their personalities were just lovely! They were however not very hardy. I had a coccidiosis break out in the chicks for the first time, then after recovered, I suddenly lost another few, despite them gaining weight and overcoming the coccidiosis months before and were evening laying! They were taken to the vet before too! Just very unfortunate. I think the breeder I bought from may have inbred them too much, making their immune systems finicky They definitely need some more love and care to preserve the breed because they really were lovely birds!!

 

[ColtHandorf]

Inbreeding does seem to be a problem with Javas based on the rarity of the breed. I know I've mentioned before the issued I had with my White Javas. I should have bred them back to unrelated Black stock to get the health issues corrected.

 

[Saablo]

I have 2 mottled javas in my flock of 30 birds. They are my favorites of all the chickens I've have/had. They are the friendliest around my young children and jump up to get treats by hand when I first open up my coop each morning. They both go broody each spring and have been great mamas the last 2 seasons.

 

[Heritage Hen]

I've got 3 Black Javas, two males and one female. The second male is the son of the original pair (only surviving chick of about 11, no thanks to a black bear attack when they were about 12 weeks old)

We built a stronger enclosure and I'm going to breed them again this year and hopefully get a good batch, but I would love to trade hatching eggs with other black java raisers to get non related genes going since these are my last two and I'm having a hard time finding more...

These are my original pair, Alice and Sir Robin.

 

[henaynei]

I am starting with Javas, specifically focusing on a color variation that was thought to be extinct -- Auburn.
I got 40 eggs mailed from the premier Auburn breeder, Lyle Behl of Illinois. He packed the eggs amazingly well but they Were Mailed and it was my first time incubating. Of the 40 eggs, 10 hatched -- 6 were roosters, 4 hens. Of that group, I kept 2 roos and all 4 hens.
The first winter I lost one hen to egg bound, that summer I lost one to an unknown with no signs or symptoms, probably heart. The following year I lost one to a predator. Leaving me with only 1 hen.
Of the 2 roos, I kept one became aggressive and nearly blinded me. Thus leaving me with one roo.
I have not been able to start breeding in earnest but plan to get it up and running in the next 6-12 months.
I recently was given 4 Auburn hens. They are much too dark for the standard but 1-2 are a bit lighter.
My next move is to get some separate breeding pens built and to make a trip to Mr. Behl and get some eggs and maybe some adults.

· What made you decide to get this breed?
Initially, my interest was in heritage breeds on the Livestock Conservancy site. In reviewing conservancy status and traits the Java stuck out to me. Then researching the Java online I discovered the Auburn. Definitely the underdog but a strikingly beautiful bird.
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
My impetus is their dual purpose and foraging abilities. I own them for the sake of the breed and for my own eventual sustainability.
· What are your favorite characteristics of this breed?
Calm, beautiful, good egg production, beautiful, foraging, beautiful, hardy, beautiful, cold tolerance, beautiful. Did I mention that they are beautiful?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

I'm not the best photographer - and they were coming out of molt. Java - rooster and hen in front (tails of brown leghorn hens in the back)

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

I am starting with Javas, specifically focusing on a color variation that was thought to be extinct -- Auburn.
I got 40 eggs mailed from the premier Auburn breeder, Lyle Behl of Illinois. He packed the eggs amazingly well but they Were Mailed and it was my first time incubating. Of the 40 eggs, 10 hatched -- 6 were roosters, 4 hens. Of that group, I kept 2 roos and all 4 hens.
The first winter I lost one hen to egg bound, that summer I lost one to an unknown with no signs or symptoms, probably heart. The following year I lost one to a predator. Leaving me with only 1 hen.
Of the 2 roos, I kept one became aggressive and nearly blinded me. Thus leaving me with one roo.
I have not been able to start breeding in earnest but plan to get it up and running in the next 6-12 months.
I recently was given 4 Auburn hens. They are much too dark for the standard but 1-2 are a bit lighter.
My next move is to get some separate breeding pens built and to make a trip to Mr. Behl and get some eggs and maybe some adults.

· What made you decide to get this breed?
Initially, my interest was in heritage breeds on the Livestock Conservancy site. In reviewing conservancy status and traits the Java stuck out to me. Then researching the Java online I discovered the Auburn. Definitely the underdog but a strikingly beautiful bird.
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
My impetus is their dual purpose and foraging abilities. I own them for the sake of the breed and for my own eventual sustainability.
· What are your favorite characteristics of this breed?
Calm, beautiful, good egg production, beautiful, foraging, beautiful, hardy, beautiful, cold tolerance, beautiful. Did I mention that they are beautiful?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

View attachment 2619505

I'm not the best photographer - and they were coming out of molt. Java - rooster and hen in front (tails of brown leghorn hens in the back)

Wow!! Such interesting looking birds!!