dark chickens are democratic breed for backyard mint and they are downright perfect for spooky time of year , but they can make out with a significant hit to your pocketbook .
What Makes Black Chickens Black?
Fibromelanosis is the technological term for what stimulate a black-market volaille to be black . It is a genetic mutation that have hyperpigmentation , an abnormal accrual of melanin . This produces a snort with fibromelanistic trait — all black tissue , from feather to osseous tissue .
Rare Black Chickens
This trait is induce big interest among chicken keepers — or a big - money interest , anyway . Those foggy - looking Black Silkie bantams are plebeian to the U.S. , but two other breeds show fibromelanosis are quite rare . The Ayam Cemani , hailing from Indonesia , and the Swedish Black Hen , from Scandinavia .
Both breed have been imported by rare - crybaby stock breeder Greenfire Farms in Midway , Florida . Owner Paul Bradshaw , who has been working with rarefied breeds since 2007 , is attracted to these chickens because of their “ un - Gallus gallus - like , exotically beautiful and vaguely sinister show . ” He remain : “ In a world of beige Ford Fiestas , the Cemani are black Lamborghinis . ”
They ’re price like Lamborghinis , too . Prices started out in the thousands when they were first bring out . Today , more breeders are carrying them , so the price have come down , but are still much higher than purchase a less voguish breed .
While an testis is an eggs , what about the kernel from these birds ? Ewe Crazy Farms owner Bryce Everett says , “ I do have several friends who have tasted the pith and depict it as having a slightly gamier look compared to regular chicken . Most compare the taste to game birds , such as dove , quail or pheasant . ”
Ayam Cemani
The Ayam Cemani — which means “ all calamitous chicken ” in Javanese and Indonesian — is from Indonesia . The USDA has ban the import of chicken from Indonesia , but Bradshaw was able to get his Ayam Cemani from a stock breeder in the Netherlands . harmonise toCemani Farms , a breeder in Indonesia , Ayam Cemani are famous as having orphic powers in their aboriginal country .
Like many Asian chicken breed , such as the Aseel and the Malay , the Ayam Cemani has a game - fowl - like appearance . Its feathers are black with a metal - green and -purple sheen , and the dim coloration continues to the skin , musculus , bones and organs . The mediocre exercising weight is only 2¼ to 4 British pound .
Hens lay about 60 eggs per twelvemonth . They go through a laying cycle of 20 to 30 large , cream - discolor eggs , and then they stop repose for three to six months .
Swedish Black Hen
Called Svart Höna in Swedish , Swedish Black Hens are super rarefied . consort to theGreenfire Farms web site , a interior domestic fowl census confirm fewer than 500 Swedish Black Hens in Sweden . Developed in a Nordic climate , Swedish Black Hens are moth-eaten - sturdy and do well loose - ranging .
“ The Swedish Blacks ( or Svart Höna ) in reality were not primitively in my line of great deal during the first [ rare - Gallus gallus ] import , ” says Everett , who has been working with rarified poultry since 2012 . “ My main concern was import various colour of English Orpingtons , and my contact furnish the Orpingtons pass off to also raise Svart Höna . One stone’s throw led to another , and I eventually imported both eggs and adult Svart Höna from England after view photos of the stock . I was really favourable to find a breeder who was willing to export farm animal despite these birds being passing rare , even in Europe . ”
Swedish Black Hens have the same fibromelanosis trait that makes their feathers , cutis , muscles and bone black , though some individuals have mulberry - carmine hide . The chick weigh only 5 to 7½ pound , and hens lay 140 cream - colored nut per year .
Making the Investment in Black Chickens
The monetary value tag on popular black-market chicken stock can affright farmers aside as most are face at a cost - effective fashion to render egg and meat for their family and customers .
“ Like most pursuits , the more sophisticated and knowledgeable you become about your pursuit , the corking lengths you must go to in order of magnitude to live up to it , ” Bradshaw say . His typical customer is a sophisticated chicken fancier who is drawn to the bleak chicken ’ exotic look .
Everett only sells Swedish Black Hens that are high - calibre representation of the breed to others who are concerned in breed the chickens .
“ I ’ve been amazed at the identification number of masses who have stepped ahead and offered assistance in preserving rarefied breeds by breeding and showing , ” he enjoin . “ As more people get involve , the rare breeds have a probability to become established in the U.S. , which helps move these birds off the ‘ endangered ’ stock list . ”
Even if black chickens are n’t the next animal you ’ll be adding to your farm menagerie , learning about rarified breeds , like the Ayam Cemani and the Swedish Black , can open to your eyes to a whole newfangled ( and colourful ) world of livestock .
