The Ayam Cemani chicken is an incredibly rare ‘all black’ chicken breed. In fact, this particular breed of chicken is so rare that you may actually have a great deal of difficulty trying to find Ayam Cemani for sale nowadays, certainly if you live in the United States. Have you ever seen the Ayam Cemani meat and eggs?
Let’s take a look at this breed in a bit more depth, shall we?
Facts at a Glance
| Eggs` | 80 per year |
| Egg Color | Cream/Tinted |
| Use | Dual Purpose (Meat + Eggs) |
| Comb Type | Single comb type |
| Skin Color | Black |
| Weight | Male: 2.0–2.5 kg (4.4–5.5 lb) Female: 1.5–2.0 kg (3.3–4.4 lb) |
| Temperament | Friendly |
| Country of origin | Indonesia |
The Origins of the Ayam Cemani Chicken
Unlike other chicken breeds, the Ayam Cemani wasn’t developed in either Europe or the United States. Instead, it was created in Indonesia. Most researchers believe in the 12th Century.
Although, back then, the Ayam Cemani wasn’t really used so much for meat and eggs. Instead, it was a chicken that was used for various religious reasons.
Of course, once the bird started to be moved on over to Europe, that is when the breed really started to be used for productive purposes.
For the most part, this breed is now pretty rare throughout the world. However, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is trying to change that. There are huge breeding programs that are taking place there, which will certainly help to keep the numbers of the bird up.
So, while it is rare chicken breed, we do not feel that this is a bird that is going to be disappearing any time soon. After all, it has managed to be on this planet for almost 900 years!
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The Look of This All Black Chicken Breed
This is where things really start to get interesting. This bird is 100% black. When we say 100% black, we really mean it. Literally everything about the chicken is black. This includes their organs and bones.
There is no other chicken quite like it in the world. This is all thanks to a dominant gene that increases the amount of pigmentation that the bird has.
The rooster, on average, weighs about 4.4–5.5 lb, while the Ayam Cemani hens weigh 3.3–4.4 lb.
Recently we have written another article that you might want to go and check it out You might want to check the other ‘all black’ chicken breed, the Kadaknath chicken.
The Ayam Cemani as a Boat Chicken
This is not a section that we have ever had to write about on this website. However, one of the main reasons as to why the Ayan Cemani chicken has yet to die out is because it is a great boat chicken.
Due to the unique way in which it sounds, a lot of boat owners have actually added the Ayam Cemani chicken to their boats as a sort of horn. This happens a surprising amount in coastal Africa.
As a Show Chicken
Since this is such a rare breed, you are going to find it exceedingly difficult to track down shows where the chicken is allowed to enter. Well, that is if you do not live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at least.
So, if you are looking for show chickens, as stunning and as unique as the Ayam Cemani chicken looks, this is probably not going to be the right breed for you.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t show it off in your backyard. It does have a rather stunning look, and it will certainly be a talking point!
The Ayam Cemani Meat
While this chicken is medium in size, it is not really used for those that want a meat chicken breeds. This is because a lot of people are not fans of the whole black look of the Ayam Cemani’s meat. It doesn’t look like a ‘traditional’ chicken, although it is certainly going to taste like one.
This is part of the reason why the breed is so rare. Since one of the main reasons as to why breeds stay alive is because there is some sort of commercial purpose to them, the Ayama Cemani chicken cannot fill that role.
Nobody is going to buy the Ayam Cemani’s black meat commercially, sadly.
Of course, this does not mean that you cannot eat Ayam Cemani chicken meat. By all accounts, it does taste rather nice. However, you are going to need to be wrapping your head around the black meat look, or you may struggle to stomach it.
While it is popular around Indonesia, since it originated from there, it is never used as a meat chicken. It is regularly slaughtered, however.
This is because the blood can be used in certain medicines, and some religious ceremonies (although, these are dying out) use the blood in their practices. Although, we cannot possibly tell you what happens to the carcass of the chicken.
Since a single chick will often cost $100, you probably wouldn’t want to be eating the bird either. This is pretty much a breed of chicken that you raise for the entire life. It is more of a pet than anything.
The Ayam Cemani Eggs and Egg Color
The Ayam Cemani chicken is not going to be good if you want an egg-laying breed. At most, you are probably going to get 80 eggs per year from one hen.
The hen can often not lay an egg for months and months at a time too. The Ayam Cemani egg color is not black, as many people think. The chicken will not lay black eggs. It just lays simple cream-colored ones.
Due to the low number of eggs this breed lays, as well as the less-broody nature of the bird, this is something that is going to be notoriously difficult to breed.
In many cases, people that own the Ayan Cemani chicken have had to use broodier breeds to raise their birds, simply because the Ayan Cemani hens does not seem to be trying to hatch eggs on their own.
Raising This Breed
There isn’t really any special advice for this all black chicken breed to know. Despite looking a bit different, they are not going to take that much in the way of extra care in comparison to other chickens.
For the most part, this bird is going to be quite friendly. However, due to a slightly smaller size than other chickens, you may want to take care in how you approach it.
A few people have reported that this breed of chicken can be a little bit on the skittish side at times.
Check the video bellow, this man has found Ayam Cemani eggs for sale on Ebay and he used Silkie hen for hatching instead of using an incubator for chicken eggs.
Ayam Cemani Chicken For Sale
If you are lucky enough to live near a local hatchery where you can find Ayam Cemani chicken for sale, that is great. If, however, you are among the unfortunates that are unable to do so, consider the following hatcheries as good options, where you can find Ayam Cemani chickens for sale:
