----Featured Breed of the Day---- The Ayam Cemani: Little is known about this breed. Ayam is the Indonesian word for chicken; Cemani is a village near the central Javanese town of Solo. The breed is found in Central and East Java, Madura Island and in Sumatra. Many crosses and variants are found. Ayam Cemani, especially the perfect black ones, can have a very high value in Indonesia, because it is believed that they possess mystical powers. The breed was first described in the 1920s, by dutch colonists. The major founder of the breed is believed to be Mr. Tjokromihardjo from Grabag, Magelang, a town in Central Java, whose son is nowadays owner of a big commercial layer farm. But even earlier, similar birds have long been used in ceremonies by Javanese courts. The most important characteristic of Ayam Cemani is that it is completely black: black plumage with a greenish shine, black legs and toe nails, black beak and tongue, black comb and wattles, black meat and bones and even (?) black blood and organs. Body weight for males is 1.8 kg, for females 1-1.2 kg. They have a narrow, compact body, a single comb with 7 tips, a straight, flat tail, just touching the ground. The long legs have long sharp spurs. Since there have not been any exhibition birds yet, it is difficult to give an exact description of the breed. A joint effort should be made to come to an international standard, and to breed a population of Cemanis and preserve some of their very unique characteristics.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 14:16:57 +0000
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