Ayam Cemani is a breed of chicken that is entirely black. Even the internal organs are black! ‘Ayam’ means ‘chicken’ in Indonesian and ‘Cemani’ translates to ‘completely black’ in Javanese. Ayam Cemani gets its black colouring from a generic trait known as ‘fibromelanosis’, that promotes the proliferation of black pigment cells. The breed that originated from Java in Indonesia is so exotic that it is referred to as the “Lamborghini of poultry”. They are one of the most expensive chickens in the world with a single bird costing up to $2,500. The hens lay cream-coloured eggs – the only part of the chicken that is not black.
In Asia, Ayam Cemani are renowned as much for the mystical powers of their black meat as they are for their extraordinary ink-black feathers that shimmer with a metallic sheen of beetle green and purple. Greenfire Farms was able to locate and legally import into the United States the first pure specimens of this breed despite the current USDA export ban on importing live chickens from Indonesia. We have unrelated bloodlines of Ayam cemani that should produce healthy and beautiful chicks for many generations. Ayam Cemani are friendly birds, and the hens lay about 60 to 100 cream-colored eggs their first year. A typical laying cycle lasts for about 20 to 30 eggs, and then the hen will stop laying for three to six months. The eggs are unusually large in proportion to the size of the hen’s body. The birds pictured here are our breeding stock, and they were selected from many birds for their exceptionally black features. However, we cannot guarantee the distribution of black pigment in their offspring.
Picture Credit : Google
