The Ayam Cemani from Java is the most completely black chicken there is — a fibromelanistic gene turns feathers, skin, comb, tongue, muscle and bone a uniform inky black. In Indonesia the birds carry longstanding ritual and status significance, and in the West their scarcity and striking looks make them among the most expensive chickens sold. They're friendly, calm and reasonably easy to keep, but they lay only a small number of cream eggs and go broody rarely. A tropical breed: they need real protection from cold, and are kept for spectacle rather than production.
Good with kids
Heat tolerant
Egg colorCream
Egg production60–100 / year
TemperamentDocile
BroodinessRare
ClimateHeat tolerant
PurposeShow
Weight
Hen3.5–4.5 lb
Rooster4.5–6.5 lb
How to spot it
CombSingle
Black single comb, medium
Earlobes
Black
Legs & feet
Black legs, toes and nails; black skin, meat and bone
Plumage
Solid black with a green-purple metallic sheen in sunlight
Look for
Total black including the tongue and the inside of the mouth — larger and leggier than a Svart Höna, and the tongue check is the field test
Ancestry
How this breed was developed. Historical records, not crosses to make today.
Single
Zombie
