Not Ayam Cemani

[jdatlee]

I bought these on Ebay as eggs from Watson ridge ranch about 9 months ago.
The seller listed them as Ayam Cemani. Right away I could see that there was a problem.
Some of the combs started turning pinkish and then red. Others had white legs and feathers.
We culled all but 3. These 3 were black as juveniles. We were hoping that we didn't get taken completely.
Well, as they matured the are not entirely black they have White earlobes and GIANT floppy Mulberry Combs.
I need to figure out what breed they are.

Here's the description: Great layers, 5 large eggs a week. Black legs and feathers, Black Eyes,
Huge falling over Mulberry combs, and big white earlobes. They are a small bird compared to Ameraucana.
Bigger than a polish. About the same weight as a Cream Legbar.
Their back is a little elongated but nowhere near enough to be Sumatra.
They don't laugh. So laughing chicken is out. I would appreciate any input you can give me. Thanks

 

[Pyxis]

For some reason your text is cutting off at the end of the lines. I think what you may have here is the Mike Bean line of "ayam cemani" - actually leghorn crosses. He sold them as purebred birds to many people (I had one pullet from his lines at one point) but people were very suspicious that they were crossed with leghorns somewhere down the line. He was also selling "90% pure ayam cemani hatching eggs" on eBay at one time - and he admitted right in his ad that they had been crossed to leghorns some generations ago. This would explain why yours have white earlobes, are the size of a cream legbar (one of the founding breeds of which was the leghorn), the white earlobes, and the huge combs.

For comparison, here is what my Mike Bean looked like compared to my real ayam cemanis before I culled her.

Note the large flopped over comb and the very leghorn-like body type.

So it's very possible the seller thought they really had purebred ACs because that's what they were told by those who sold them their birds. Or maybe they got their foundation stock from one of many other people out there who misrepresent their eggs as being from pure ACs when they are not so they can make a quick buck. The most famous offender of this type of behavior is bobfarm on eBay.

So my thoughts would be they likely aren't purebred, but are mixes.

 

[jdatlee]

I appreciate all the information you gave me. That certainly clears up a lot of loose ends and probably also explains why their eggs are so big and prolific. Thank you, for your time.

 

[altair]

Did you ever contact the seller to see what their scoop was?

 

[jdatlee]

Yes, I immediately contacted her via email when the eggs first hatched and I could see something was very wrong. Some had pink combs, waddles and a lot of white on them. She raises other birds so I seriously thought that she had given me the wrong eggs at first, or that one of her other roosters had gotten into the Ayam Cemani cage.

She did not reply to any of my 3 emails. I finally left negative feedback that these were not Pure Ayam Cemani. She then replied to my emails very rudely and mean spirited. I drove 14 hours round trip to get the eggs from her in person. Along with paying a kings ransom for them so you would think that the least she could have done was to be cordial.

So we culled all but the best 3 and hoped that we had 3 Ayam Cemani. It didn't turn out that way. However, finding out that they are half Leghorn explains so much. I guess it's a case of buyer beware.

 

[drumstick diva]

unfortunately Ayam Cemani are "THE" breed to get now. Because of their rarity and hefty prices, everyone with a black chicken is trying to cash in on them. Just like the popular dog breeds. Every one seems to have them and generally just think about how much they can charge unsuspecting buyers.

 

[drumstick diva]

submit button malfunctioning AGAIN!! SORRY