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Ayam Cemani: Breed Information, Care Guide, Egg Color and More

Ayam Cemani

The Ayam Cemani has certainly had people talking excitedly about it over the last few years.

It is a total blackbird – inside and out, so as you can imagine, it has been associated with the Dark Arts, especially in its’ own country of Indonesia.

At the current time, they remain a pretty rare bird and are very hard to obtain (reputable US breeders are sold out until 2019!).

In this article, we will take a close look at these interesting and unusual birds and help you figure out if you need them in your flock!

Ayam Cemani

Background and History of the Ayam Cemani

The beginnings of the Ayam Cemani are vague, to say the least.  It possibly originated in Sumatra, where the original breed is now extinct.

The Ayam Cemani is often associated with a group of breeds known as Kedu from the central plains of Java.

It is believed to be an offshoot of the Ayam Bekisar chicken, which lives on a small island in Indonesia.

The Ayam Bekisar originated from matching the green jungle fowl with some domesticated red jungle fowl.

This was a tricky process as certain crosses will be infertile.

Interestingly, this fowl has a very distinct crow and was used by seafarers as foghorns on the boats – a practice still used today.

Even the name has confused meanings: Ayam means chicken in the Indonesian language, but Cemani can either mean the ‘village of Cemani’ in local dialect or ‘solid black’ in Sanskrit. You can take your pick.

It is said by some folks to be a landrace bird, but there is evidence that it was a developed breed at some point. It is not a chicken of the ‘common people.

People of wealth and community standing have these birds as status symbols and take great care of them.

They are thought of as good luck charms, with the blood and other parts of the bird being used in traditional medicine preparations.

The Ayam Cemani has magical powers and facilitates communication between the living and the spirit world.

As such, it is used as a sacrificial bird to please the gods. Its’ flesh is rarely eaten in Indonesia.

They were first imported to Europe in 1998 by a Dutchman named Jan Steverink.

Ayam Cemani Appearance and Breed Standard

Ayam Cemani

Appearance

Ayam Cemanis is a striking sight. Their all-black feathers have a beetle-green iridescence in sunlight that is stunning.

They are not an overly large fowl; the boys weigh in around 4.5-6.5lb, with the girls coming in at 3.5-4.5lb, respectively, so more of a medium-sized bird.

In appearance, they are strong and muscular with close-fitting feathers, not unlike a game bird. They strike a confident pose and are always alert.

Breed Standard

As of now, the Ayam Cemani is not recognized by the American Poultry Association. The US Ayam Cemani club is currently working on a standard of perfection for this breed.

The standard description below is from the Dutch standard of perfection.

  • The bird should stand upright, alert – almost ‘game-like.
  • The body is of medium size, slim, firm, and muscular.
  • It will have a fairly broad breast and a medium back, which slopes from the neck. The wings are long and strong, arising from wide shoulders.
  • The tail is held moderately high. Thighs are powerful and muscular. The bird should have 4 toes to each foot.
  • Feathers are all black and are close-fitting to the body. Skin, eyes, wattles, and comb should all be black. You should see no other color.
  • The feathers may show a beetle-green to purple iridescence in sunlight.

Ayam Cemani

Temperament and Disposition of the Ayam Cemani Breed

Cemani’s in general seems to be a friendly and likable bird. They are intelligent, gentle, and docile – including the roosters.

Ayam Cemani breed has been described as flighty, but most people who have them or raise them say this is not so. They are easy to handle and low maintenance fowl.

They are quite a winter hardy shaking off the Vermont winters easily when given the appropriate housing and shelter.

Since they originated in Indonesia, it will go without saying that they can tolerate heat pretty well also.

Ayam Cemani Egg Laying

The Ayam Cemani is a fairly poor egg layer. On average, they will lay around 80 eggs per year, which is around 1 egg per week.

They do seem to go ‘off lay’ for an extended period of time. Apparently, they will lay 20-30 eggs and then stop laying.

This can be up to 6 months, and then they will start all over again!

Compared to the size of the hen, the eggs are quite large, and they are cream-colored with a very slight pink tint (not black).

I have seen several photos that show black eggs – rest assured, these are fake eggs.

Some folks state they aren’t broody, and yet others say they can be broody. This may be due to differences in the bloodlines obtained.

They tend to make good mothers and care well for their chicks.

Common Health Issues of the Ayam Cemani Chicken

There aren’t any health issues that I could discover, but this is a good place to describe the fibromatosis of the Ayam Cemani.

The bird has a mutant fibromelanistic gene – a gene that deposits excessive black pigment.
This abnormal accumulation of melanin makes the skin and tissues appear black.

Three other birds only carry this genetic trait – the Silkie, the Svart Hona from Sweden, and the Kadaknath – a chicken of the Madhya Pradesh region of India.

The blood is red but said to be darker than normal, although the bone marrow is black.
In all other aspects, the Ayam Cemani is a healthy and robust bird.

It does not seem to be prone to any particular chicken ailment.

Is the Ayam Cemani Right for You?

If you would like to add a couple of these black beauties to your flock, you had better save your pennies.

An unsexed chick from them will set you back $199.00, or a sexed juvenile is a cool $400.00 – not for the faint of heart or anyone short of funds!

Of course, you can get cheaper birds, but they will usually be of inferior quality – as always, buyer-beware.

Described as friendly but not particularly ‘cuddly,’ so it is not really a lap chicken. They will take feed from your hand, so they certainly are not stand-offish with people.

Many people buy them as pets or eye candy – they certainly are unusual and noteworthy.

Summary

The Ayam Cemani has probably been around for a hundred years or so, at best guess, but has only come to the attention of chicken lovers fairly recently in the 1990s.

Since that time, they have captured the imagination and hearts of many folks.
Contributing to the rareness of the bird is the ongoing threat of Avian Influenza.

As much of the breeding stock comes from Indonesia, the US importation restrictions are severe to prevent further disease outbreaks.

Do you have any of these black jewels? Let us know what you love about them in the comments section below…

READ NEXT: 4 Most Popular Bali Chicken Breeds and What You Should Know

Ayam Cemani

79 thoughts on “Ayam Cemani: Breed Information, Care Guide, Egg Color and More

  1. Why doesn’t my rooster crow in the mornings? But he acts happy. Do roosters always crow because my rooster never crows. He did when I first got him then he got sick. We got him better. But he never crowed since.

    1. I believe they are all different some crow others not so much. You are welcome to mine who seems to think he is a dog and crows every time he hears me or sees me no matter what time of day it is or night.

        1. How to form this breed give so information to me I am intrested .how to form how to sell ,what is the price in India, where is the sutabl market, pls I want all these information pls

        2. Does the inside of their egg look like regular eggs of a yellow yolk? I asked my chicken lady friend and she doesn’t know.

          1. The eggs look like every other chicken egg. No differences, aside from the outer shell.

          2. yes they look the same as all eggs inside the only difference is the outside shell is a pearl pink not black never black shell.
            Most of the Cemani in the US is sold are culls if under 250.00 each. You see cheap you got ripped off. Buyer Beware. There is only so many that are true Breeders.

    2. Might be a breed thing! My rooster crows for a short period in the morning and then no more unless he sees something he doesn’t like. Hmm…

      1. Im new to the cemani chickens , just hatched 25 ,2 have some white on them and one has one pink toe,the rest are solid black.they are mixed in with some 5 day old quail that i hatched ,they think the black chicks are there moma its so cute they sleep together.

    3. I got 8 roosters and they all crow multiple different times a day sometimes at the same time to see who is loudest and whenever they see someone they crow non stop crowing over here

    4. We have a Barnevelder rooster and he crows continually throughout the day. He is tending only three hens and seven chicks hatched by one of the hens. When one of the hens goes to coop to lay an egg he escorts her and then returns to the other hens. He crows many times so the hen in the coop can locate the rest of the flock once she has laid her egg. He starts crowing well before first hint of daylight and all day long. He only goes silent when dusk approaches and they go to roost. I believe he shuts up at dusk as a defense mechanism so predators do not know where they are roosted. I am not sure if he is different from other roosters that don’t crow much. Perhaps it is relate to the species of chicken whether they are prone to crow or not. All I know is that our Barnevelder rooster crows all day long.

    5. I have 2 Ayam Cemani roosters. I keep them separate. They both crow when we get home, in the mornings, and On and off all day. My favorite I have had since he was little runs to the side of the run and talks to me when I go out there. The 2 girls are friendly too. He likes to be held but not the girls.

    6. Be glad! Mine starts anywhere between 0100 & 0400. Our neighbours are across a field but I’m sure they must hear him, he’s so loud!

  2. I love my Ayam Cemanis! My rooster is hilarious and makes Kookaburra noises to tell his hens where the good stuff is.

  3. My Cemani’s always act like they are starving when I feed them in the morning and afternoon. I have tried everything I can think of to get them to not gobble it all up at once and changed their feed and dish but nothing works.. any suggestions??

    1. It’s just what animals do and you shouldn’t worry about it. When you say you feed them in the morning and afternoon, it makes me wonder why you don’t just put their feed in a fairly large feeder so they can eat whenever they’re hungry. They won’t overeat.

    1. The one thing listed here that I find isn’t on par with how my cemanis behave is the egg laying. Mine are both laying several eggs a week at 7 months old. Every day or every other day, each will lay an egg. Although, they do like to hide their eggs in secret nests, haha.

      1. Mine too. I have 2 hens and I get an egg,if not 2,a day most of the time. Maybe because mine just started laying about a month ago. I love my Ayam Cemani chickens.

        1. I love my Ayam chick . She is 8 weeks old and has 3 other chicks with her a Rhode Island Blue, moran and a buff orpington. My question is I know she’s a female. However she occasionally trys to Crow. Is this normal???

  4. Has anyone ever heard of cemani’s being aggressive? I have 5 juveniles that I put into the coop with my cemanis to incorporate them in and I came out to find three of them with their heads pecked and bloody. I am totally disturbed I’ve never had this happen with my other feverole chickens.

    1. We integrate ours slowly. They’re separated with fencing for a while so they can get close but also get away from each other if needed. Once they have interacted this way for a few daysbwe remove the fence. We sprinkle mealworms (or some other favorite treat) on the ground so they eat together. If there is any agression we put the fence back up and try again the next day. We do this until they are good with each other, then we just let it be. After a couple days of eating and roosting together they seem to bond and establish the pecking order. However, we don’t try any of this until the chickens are similar/close in size.

  5. I so love these chickens and would be a great addition to my funny hobby farm. I am from Canada are there any up here.

      1. I bought a dozen eggs from Northwoods poultry and hatched 8 of the 11 today! I ordered 12 and was only sent 11. When I brought this to their attention, i was promptly refunded. So far so good, no white on anyone!

    1. Check Craigslist and there are a few farms that specializes in them if you google ayam cemani these farms will show up. I bought mine from a lady who hatched eggs that were imported. They were cheap.

    1. Roldan can I ask what can theroosre have any color off gold on him to be ayam cemani and how do you take take of baby chick separate them from flock and mom

  6. I am in Brewton AL and have a couple 4 month old “pet quality” for sale. They both have a very slight mulberry color on their wattles. Will ship.

  7. I have 2 roosters and 2 hens paired up in seperate pens. Have had goodluck hatching out of them but cant seem to keep weight on any of them. We also raise Rhode island reds and game bantams, everyone else seems to be fat and happy. We’ve wormed them and pour the feed to them 20% egg pellet and occasional scratch grain, yet their breast bones always seem to be protruding and they feel skinny. Anyone else having this problem or have any suggestions?

      1. Go to local feed Mill not Store where they grind their own feed and bag it.Get the laying mash and they’ll eat it non stop and will fill out good.I feed this to all of my different Birds even the Babies and they do really Well.Much better than pellets or crumbles.Try it you’ll love it and they’ll really love it

  8. My Cyam, LaVeda is 7 months old. She almost died (couldn’t even pick up her head) but recovered on 2 weeks of antibiotics. She is super fast and also friendly. She comes to be picked up and snuggled. She lays eggs. She is smaller than our other hens but will peck at them if they get too close. Mostly our hens are all pretty friendly as I held them every day when they were chicks…I wanted pets.
    Urban Chicken Whisperer

  9. I had a pair of them in Germany when I still lived there, lovely chicken and now I got got a pair again here in Thailand. They are very intelligent and easy to handle. A bit lazy on egg production but that’s not the point of keeping them!

    1. i bought 8 fertile chicken eggs off of amazon as an expirement and it ended up hatching two ayam cemanis! (one pullet one cockerel) so i got pretty lucky that i got two for the price of 15 bucks

  10. I’ve been facing issues of trying to identify the gender while purchasing chics. Often being sold more roosters than chics.
    Any tips to help identify Ayam Cemani chics at the earliest?
    Location: Kerala, India

  11. My hen lives in doors at our store and she lays an egg every 36 hours. She is only a year old and we have had her since she was 6 months old. Everyone loves Betty. She is very vocal and begs for treats. She gets along with the store cat and rabbit. A great addition to our family.

  12. Ayam Cemani is also known as a docile, relatively friendly chicken breed. According to Greenfire Farms, these chickens tend to be carefree and are unruffled even in stressful situations. They are also considered to be quite smart. In addition, these birds are considered to need only low maintenance and do not have any special care requirements.

  13. I have 3 Cemanis chicks as well! They are about 4 weeks! I wasn’t planning on selling them, but if you’re interested, let me know! I think I have two hens and one rooster but I’m not for sure!

  14. Hello. I’m interested in buying eggs ayam cemani! does anyone have the opportunity to send to Greece? and how much does each egg cost! exclusively for reproduction !!

  15. My ayam cemani are very docile and do tend to be a little broody when they set, I’ve been raising Cemani for around 4 yrs now, I enjoy watching them, I don’t sale mine or butcher I just enjoy watching them thrive and be happy.

  16. I ask for your kindness, which will help me. I saw you sell a Ayam Masani rooster. Can you send me some organ meat pictures of this wonderful rooster: 1) There are several types of black roosters whose whole flesh is black, and can you send me a photo of any kind and name of any kind. 2) How the eggs appear to be egged into the body without spoiling the many eggs inside. 3) I once saw a picture of yolk eggs inside the body are black, are there black types that the yolk inside the body is black and it is yellow. 4) Can I get pictures if the victim has an inner skin that is peeled like with every rooster. 5) Beautiful pictures of the black lungs not a little red. 6) Beautiful pictures of the black brain and no mixed color.
    Thank you Thank you Thank you….

  17. Though it’s a trivial thing, there are many more than three fowl that commonly express fibromelenism. The Hmong, and other landraces from Polynesian, Micronesian, and Easter Island have the fibro gene too. Also many South American fowl like the Quechua also tend to be fibro.
    Another thing the black eggs aren’t ‘fake’ so to speak, but are eggs laid by the Cayuga duck, which does indeed lay black to grey colored eggs!

  18. My Ayam is loosing feathers and has not laid an egg for a month. She dosent have worms. I am new to chickens… She wandered into my yard beat up about 9 months ago…She became my pet…I dont know what is wrong with her… Help

  19. We have one that come in a group of chicks we had bought just now finding out what it is I thought it was a crow mixed breed of some sort that we named it Blackie I told my husband this is not a normal chicken are a common chicken I should say the inside of the mouth with a black is coming with black I thought he was a crow but I’ve been trying to read up on them thank God bless

  20. I have just bought a rooster and chicken. Chicken is fully black but the rooster wattles are reddish like but the comb is all black. Does this mean it is not pure breed?

  21. I need pictures of Iam Samani – all black and not a little reddish, just completely black, 1. Completely black internal organs. 2. Especially whole lungs after being taken out on the table when they are completely black. 3. The brain after they have removed the bone above the brain, and they will see clearly how much of its brain is gray and black. 4. The cluster of eggs and ovaries (ovaries), all the steps how to take it all out step by step
    Rabbi Hezekiah Yosef Cohen

  22. I need pictures of Iam Samani – all black and not a little reddish, just completely black, 1. Completely black internal organs. 2. Especially whole lungs after being taken out on the table when they are completely black. 3. The brain after they have removed the bone above the brain, and they will see clearly how much of its brain is gray and black. 4. The cluster of eggs and ovaries (ovaries), all the steps how to take it all out step by step
    Rabbi Hezekiah Yosef Cohen

  23. We have started raising The Ayami Camanti black chickens..We love them..But do not find that many folks want them…We have a great line of birds and our prices are low…So we eat the eggs,,,A little sweeter than reg, chicken eggs,,,But very good…Would love to sell some since we are getting more birds than we caan handle…..

  24. Ayam Cemani is such an interesting breed! I had no idea they had such unique characteristics like the black meat and bones. I’m definitely interested in learning more about their care and egg production. Thanks for sharing this informative post! 🐔🔍

  25. I’ve been fascinated by the Ayam Cemani breed for a while now, and this post has provided me with so much valuable information! I didn’t know they were considered a rare breed and had such unique characteristics. Their egg-laying abilities are truly impressive, and I’m eager to learn more about their care and handling. Thank you for sharing this informative post!

  26. Interesting to learn about the Ayam Cemani breed! I had no idea they were considered a rare breed and had such unique characteristics. Can’t wait to learn more about their egg-laying abilities and how they differ from other breeds. Thanks for sharing this informative post!

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