Breeding

Relevance:

After consulting different sources, I have concluded that ayam Cemani first came into being in Sumatra, Indonesia. Since in that same area a wild population of melanotic (black) jungle fowl exists, a good guess is that the Cemanis descend directly from this population. Because of its rather "normal" landrace type and build (unlike Sumatra or Silkie), I believe that Cemani is a quite direct descendent from these black Bankiva's, without much crossing.

It is said that the "real" Cemani is extinct, and that through crossing with ayam Kedu the so called ayam Kedu Cemani was developed. I have reason to doubt this, because Cemanis that are bred in the Kedu area are still a different type of bird altogether than the ayam Kedu. The ayam Kedu is a typical utility breed with good productivity.

Certainly, crosses will have been made, but I strongly believe that a population of more or less pure Cemanis still exists in Central Java. This is, because pure melanotic chickens have always had a distinctive use in ceremonies and traditional medicine, in Indonesian cultural history.

Another guess is that the Sumatra breed was developed in the same area (Sumatra Island) by crossing with melanotic birds, possibly Cemanis. This would make the Cemani a very old breed, older in fact than the Sumatra.

I do not know of any other population of jungle fowl that shows the melanotic mutation. Also, I do not know wether such a mutation also occurred in domesticated (non-melanotic) populations. If not, this would mean that all forms of melanism in chickens find their origin in Sumatra, and in a way in the Cemanis. And that would mean that Cemanis have played an important role in the development of melanotic breeds. It could even be considered a "missing link" and the breed could act as a source of blackness in poultry breeding.

Breeding goal

For reasons of conservation, I think we should try to keep the Cemanis as natural as possible. This means they should have the build and type of (asiatic) landrace. Compared to Western landrace they will have longer legs, and they will be more muscular, and could therefor be classified as game-fowl.

Since the main feature of Cemani is the blackness, the main criteria should be perfect blackness in all aspects.

Breeds that could possibly be used to improve vitality are Sumatra, and Belgian Game.