The American Cemani Breeders Club...open forum

[maranfarmer563]

I can't wait for mine to start laying

 

[maranfarmer563]

Are you going to set eggs every week or two,,I have a greenhouse for raising winter babies that works pretty good

 

[DCchicken]

Are you going to set eggs every week or two,,I have a greenhouse for raising winter babies that works pretty good

I don't know about you but I am ready for a break. I have been hatching out Cemani since February this year.

 

[DCchicken]

So here is an updated photo of a rooster from Mike's "Smithsonian" line. Clearly the line lacks the proper genes to be identified as a FM breed. Poor little guy is doomed to live in the rooster pen for the rest of his life.

 

[maranfarmer563]

Does rooster have black skin under his wing

 

[gloryblue]

Perhaps breeding to the blackest hen...culling very hard? This roo might pass on the fm as well as whatever laying improvements Mike was working on...

Just saying breeding out from fm to improve production then breeding back in fm to deepen again I believe was Mikes plan. At least how he explained it to me....but hey...

Will this be a Smithies roo then? This rooster is a different one than the one earlier posted in the Smithies forum..am I right?
Or is this what that boy looks like now? He sure disolved his grey coloring

This looks like my claimed high % Ayam Cemani hybrid chick will look like...but this chick hasn't even any tiny spot of fibro...at least this roo has a bit showing in his big sail comb.
Pretty bird...I know its very disappointing, not seeing the deeply black hyperpigmentation you got him for....at least his conformation looks like the gamey morph type he should look...and not at all looking like an Australorp which my chick appears purebred

...not what you were expecting.....I sure know that feeling!!! Sorry for anyone to feel this shock of disappointment.
Perhaps the fm is more internal than visable externally?

 

[DCchicken]

Does rooster have black skin under his wing

I wouldn't call it black. It looks identical the skin you find on a lavender leghorn.

 

[DCchicken]

Perhaps breeding to the blackest hen...culling very hard? This roo might pass on the fm as well as whatever laying improvements Mike was working on...

Just saying breeding out from fm to improve production then breeding back in fm to deepen again I believe was Mikes plan. At least how he explained it to me....but hey...

Will this be a Smithies roo then? This rooster is a different one than the one earlier posted in the Smithies forum..am I right?
Or is this what that boy looks like now? He sure disolved his grey coloring

This looks like my claimed high % Ayam Cemani hybrid chick will look like...but this chick hasn't even any tiny spot of fibro...at least this roo has a bit showing in his big sail comb.
Pretty bird...I know its very disappointing, not seeing the deeply black hyperpigmentation you got him for....at least his conformation looks like the gamey morph type he should look...and not at all looking like an Australorp which my chick appears purebred

...not what you were expecting.....I sure know that feeling!!! Sorry for anyone to feel this shock of disappointment.
Perhaps the fm is more internal than visable externally?

This is the same rooster that I posted earlier when he was younger. Clearly this roo is lacking the FM gene and is more Leghorn than Cemani. I could spend countless years correcting Mike's poor attempt to create a Cemani look-alike. But the roo is not even close. The body type is not even correct. It is clearly showing signs of the Lavender Leghorn that are the foundations of the line.

I have decided that this poor roo will not be the foundations of the Smithies line. If the genes are not there, then they are not there. Culling can only get you so far. So I will most likely grab one of my Birchen Cemani roos and use it as the basis. I can breed out the silver feathers later if needed, but at least the right genes will be present.

The hen, on the other hand, looks somewhat usable:



She is very big in size, almost twice the size of my TM Astin line hens which would make her a great start for a black meat bird line. She is bigger than most of my Cemani roosters which clearly indicates the presence of genes from another breed. But the hyper-pigmentation is not complete on her. If we were to cut her open, I am willing to bet that only a small portion of her internal organs are pigmented. On a pure FM bird with hyper-pigmentation, all of the organs should be gray to black. Hopefully crossing her to a real Cemani will result in a true black meat bird. The only problem with her is that I have never seen mulberry in the wattles of a Cemani hen.

For example, here is what a true Cemani pullet would look like. They are roughly a week apart in age:

 

[maranfarmer563]

What watt bulbs do you use. Are they just house hold bulbs

 

[maranfarmer563]

Even culls could be used in meat production crosses.