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

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!

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.