I get a lot of people linking to things on The Art of Doing Stuff Facebook page. Stuff they want me to see.
Most often it's either about potato chips, chickens, or pizza.
On rare occasions it's about something that doesn't have to do with food. I don't like those rare occasions. They make me itch.
Pizza can make you itch too but only if you eat it while sitting in a patch of poison ivy. Which would be worth it for even the worst piece of pizza.
So when Julie put up a chicken link on my Facebook page the other day I thought … Huh … a chicken link! Actually I said …. Huh! A chicken link! outloud and sprayed potato chips all over my computer.
What I opened up when I clicked on that link was a whole new world.
Allow me to introduce to you via Julie, via Geekologie ...
This photo is not Photoshopped. This is what the actual chicken looks like. Every single bit of it is black.
Everything.
This chicken's skin, bones and organs … are black.
You might think it's ugly. Horrifying even. A freak of nature. I love it.
The Ayam Cemani is a breed of chicken from Indonesia. And I want one.
Which is a shame because you can only buy them in pairs. And they're $5,000 per pair. Unless you do some REAL digging on the Internet in which case you can pick up a pair from Green Fire Farms for the low, low price of $1,999.
On the other hand a black Sharpie only costs a couple of bucks.
So. What do you think? The Ayam Cemani.
Breathtakingly Beautiful or Shockingly Scary?
SeaDee
Yes! Do it!
Holly
OMG - they are stunningly beautiful! But, I do know for a fact I couldn't eat them. Gross. Can't get past it. They almost look like wrought iron! Amazing.
Gab
Hi Karen, when we were kids in Indonesia we have nursery rhymes that goes something like "black chicken, white eggs" so although I never saw the eggs myself I imagine the eggs are white. Ah and also "ayam" means "chicken" in Indonesian. And the high price tag is because Ayam cemani is also a crucial part of many black magic practice... Goes back to the Majapahit Kingdom in Java many centuries ago. Or so I have been told...
Karen
You're right! They lay cream coloured eggs. Or so I've been told … ;) ~ karen!
Lora
Takes me breath away Beautiful...
Grammy
A stunningly beautiful bird. My first thought was 'what do the eggs look like?' Do you know? What a breathtaking sight that is. Speaking of which, when will we get to know how your own little dark ones are doing?
Grammy
Never mind. I should have googled first. They are a pale green. Go figure!
Karen
They're supposed to be cream Grammy! Maybe your computer screen has some pesto smeared on it. ~ karen!
Grammy
I've got to start doing better with my housekeeping.
WENDY
They are a creamy beige. I have four of them, but I didn't pay for them, they were from a rescue I helped with. They are gorgeous birds. They are flighty and spook easy as well. I almost cried when I caught the first one during the rescue. They yell out and it sounds like HELLPPPP! Poor babies were getting picked off at night by predators. The owner left them when they moved and took the chicken coop door off and they were fending for themselves. I rescued a total of 29 birds. Turkeys, chickens, guineas, they were very scared when we got them. Took them almost a month to start laying eggs again. Most have all gone to other homes, but I still have 14 of different chickens that have become pets to me. Now, they are here until they died from old age. Great post, thanks for sharing.
Lin
Absolutely beautiful!..a sharpie would make a dull black, go for the pearlized black paint. lol
kate-v
He is beautiful! All I know is the local market wants quite a bit for those black chicken carcasses - but I thought they were silkie chickens. I never bought them because of the price - they are more expensive - but are supposed to be very healthy.
Chris
Very cool!
Cred
Beautiful! What an amazing breed.
Patrick
Beautiful! I want one! If only I could have chickens in Toronto.. And had 2 grand laying around..
Sandra Mattina
Wow! He's so gorgeous! In the second pic...I see beautiful iridescent colours ....greens and purples.....I'd just want a few (or 1000)of those gorgeous feathers for my collection....does it lay black eggs Karen??!!....that would be damn cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Auntiepatch
NO! That's just wrong!
Ella
Breathtakingly Beautiful!!!
Lauren from Winnipeg
Super cool! Goth chicken!
stefani
A Goth chicken! I love it.
becky
I have seen these before. I am firmly in the shockingly scary camp.
Besides, most people throw out meat when it looks like that!!
Kailee H.
What color eggs do they lay?
Misty
They lay black eggs.
Karen
They actually don't Misty. Someone put a picture up of eggs painted black and said they do but the actual Ayam Cemani eggs are beige. ~ karen!
Karen P
It looks like fine art!
Cathy
Very iridescent.
Nancy
Breathtakingly beautiful and shockingly scary that someone would pay 2,000 bucks for a black chicken and then cook it for dinner.
Sue
Yes!
Samuel Mcwortha Hardy
I have a pair that I hatched in my house they are beautiful. The hen is laying five days a week and the rooster is doing his thing. I have half dozen eggs in the incubator right now if I'm lucky in six days I will have some chicks .
Teresa J
Yikes! A can of black spray paint would be easier!!