Do you want to add some of the best black chickens to your backyard flocks? If yes, don’t worry about the unusual look of black chicken breeds.
Black chicken breeds are the same as other chickens, but they have black genes. Their black color does not affect their broodiness and nature but yes, maybe in a few nutritional values.
In this article, we have added a list of top black chicken breeds with their specialties.
What are Black chickens?
Black chickens have black color feathers, skin, beaks, legs. Few of them are entirely black in color from the outside and inside.
These black chickens are a unique breed, but you won’t mistake them for anything else. It is black and features feathers with a metallic shine.
They look unusual, but they have the same egg-laying abilities and better meat quality. The bones and inner organs are also black in a few black chickens like Kadaknath and Ayam Cemani.
People also call them dark-meat chickens. There are a few beautiful black chickens, although, for your easy selection we have added a few best of them.
We can see most of those black chicken breeds in private sales. Many rare black chicken breeds are hard to identify. So, their chicks are a little costly.
Also read: List of Largest Chicken Breeds (With Pictures)
10 Popular Types of Black Chickens with Pictures and Breed information
We hope you all enjoy the list of these black chickens. After reading this maybe you select one or two of the such black chicken breeds to your backyard flocks:
1. Black Shumen Chicken
A Black Shumen is an old chicken breed that has been available throughout the Bulgarian Shumen region. These are crossed to Minorca chickens in the middle of the twentieth century, or afterward, briefly, to Redbirds from Rhode Island.
This black chicken is regarded as a rare breed. In 2013, the population of this breed was only 350.
The Black Shumen does have the qualities of a Mediterranean chicken, having big combs or wattles or being chickens that mature early.
Black hens of this breed often have drooping combs and are great, significantly larger white egg layers. They mature early and lay eggs weighing about 53–55gm.
Black Shumen hens mature early and lay around 160 tinted to white color eggs per year. The eggs weigh about 53-55 gms on average.
The bird comes only in the colored variety of black, and it has a single comb or slate-blue legs. In reality, a Black Shumen in everything resembles a black Minorca but varies in having red earlobes conversely, as well as a smaller body.
2. Valdarno chicken
A Valdarno is a dual intent black chicken breed from the bottom section of a Valdarno, the valley of an Arno River, and in Tuscany, central Italy.
Throughout the 20th century, it has gone virtually extinct. However, the population is now recovering. It is an entirely distinct breed from the Valdarnese, originating and in upper Valdarno, or white.
A Valdarno is found in black, also with lights dark green color. The legs are of the dark color of slate, with beak also being black.
The skin is white, and the comb is red in average size, having 5–6 points. The wattles are medium-longer or red, white with oval ear-lobes or white ceramics.
The mean weight for roosters is around 2.8 kilograms and for hens 2.2 kilograms. Eggs are white & weigh 55 gm or more. For roosters, the ring length is 18 mm, for hens, it is 16 mm.
They lay about 180-200 eggs a year. Valdarnos feather up and expand fast, and once they are only five months old, hens lay eggs.
3. Orpington chicken
An Black Orpington is a large chicken breed from Britain. William Cook bred this with Orpington throughout the end of the nineteenth century, and in Kent in southeast England.
This large black chicken bred for dual-purpose; to be still raised by people for both meat and eggs, but shortly became the show bird only.
For Orpingtons, there will be two similar yet distinct standards. The first is published by Great Britain’s Poultry Club or demands a weight of 3.60 to 4.55 kilograms for roosters or 2.70 to 3.60 kilograms for hens.
Orpingtons lay approximately 175 to 200 light-brown eggs per year, small to large.
4. Ancona chicken
The Ancona is a large black chicken breed that began through Italy’s Marche region and was bred throughout the nineteenth century, primarily in the United Kingdom, towards its current type. It is titled after Marche capital, a city of Ancona.
It is widely known in Britain and the United States but unusual in Italy; an initiative was initiated in 2000 to restore that to its native area or maintain its biodiversity. Also, there are bantams in Ancona.
A typical Mediterranean breed, an Ancona, is rustic, lively, or hardy. Birds are wide-ranging and fly effortlessly.
A plumage is black with white mottling. About one in three feathers have white labeling in v-shape form also at the tip. It must have white tips for all primaries, sickles, or tail feathers. The black feather is dyed beetle-green.
The standard weight is: Roosters weigh 2.5 kg and Hens weigh 2 kg.
5. Ayam Cemani Chicken
The Black Ayam Cemani is a rare and modern Indonesian chicken breed-related to Kadaknath Indian cousins. They get a dominant gene causing hyperpigmentation (fibromelanosis), making a chicken predominantly black, such as combs, feathers, beaks, or internal organs.
They appear black with their beaks or tongues, black combs or wattles, and even their meat, bones, and organs. The Ayam Cemani’s blood is very dark and looks black.
These bird black color comes from excess tissue skin tone, induced by a genetic situation recognized as fibromelanosis. This gene is also found in few other black chicken breeds.
The roosters weigh 2 to 2.5 kilograms and hens as 1.5 to 2 kg. Despite being inefficient setters, hens lay cream-colored eggs and rarely hatch their brood. Eggs weigh about 45 g on average.
6. Silkie chicken
Black silkie chickens are one of the most unique and lovely chicken breeds raised in western countries. They look very big, very sweet, and have a fluffy plumage that looks like silk and satin.
The species has several unique qualities from each foot, such as black skin or bones, blue ear lobes, and five toes, although most chickens only have four.
Most of the chicken raisers call Silkies as Fluff-balls, aliens, teddy bears, etc. They are popular for their smooth light feather breed.
They are strange-looking chickens! Their mysterious presence, friendliness, and mothering abilities are certain that endear them to people all around.
And for large portion fowl silkie weights are 2 kg for rooster, & 1.3 kg for the hen. For bantam size weights are lower throughout the United States being 1 kg Male, and 900 gm for females.
7. White Crested Black Polish
A White Crested Black Polish chicken represents a striking colored contrast to their lustrous black body plumage and several black feathers with white crests. Some little chicks to their black bodies or white “top hats” will be cunning.
You will happy raising these small black chickens, which are both useful and attractive. They are not an average egg layers which lay around 150 white color eggs per year.
This little black chicken love to fly and go to hight space in backyard which represent the free-ranging nature of this black chicken.
Speaking or whistling about your approach to a bird will warn them you’re coming, and they’ll be less likely to startle.
8. Minorca chicken
The Black Minorca, Spanish: Menorquina, Catalan: Gallina de Menorca is medium size breed of domestic black chicken from Menorca’s Mediterranean island, throughout the Balearic Islands to the south-east of Spain.
Black Minorcas are popular show chickens in several countries, but its is rare chicken mostly raised in island with Menorca, and listed in extinction list.
Minorca is a middle-scale breed throughout Spain, with uniformly shiny greenish-black plumage. Roosters weigh 2.8 kg and hens around 2.2 kg.
Their back is almost horizontal, and their tail is sloping. A comb, face, and wattles are brighter red color. The comb is smooth or single, to six excellently defined points; it’s upright in roosters and yet falls to one edge in hens.
Black Minorca is an ornamental chicken breed. This is not a egg-laying breed or farm chicken. Hens lay early at around 26 weeks, and offer about 120 white color eggs per year. Eggs weigh upwards of 65 g from the hen’s 57th week.
9. Kadaknath chicken
The Black Kadaknath, also known as Kali Masi (“black flesh chicken”), is an Indian chicken breed looks like the popular Ayam Cemani, its Indonesian cousin.
The Kadaknath is typical for its adaptability, including its grey-black meat that is assumed to instill strength. It is melanin that causes its color.
Kadaknath birds have over grey-black and greenish iridescence plumage of gold. Throughout the legs or toenails, comb, beak, tongue, and wattles, the grayish-black color is available where only the meat, bones, and organs have a gray color.
Kadaknath has several uses like it boosts resistance in the elderly. Further, it has a rich profile that can assist curb asthma or tuberculosis. Therefore, it outshines the iron content that improves hemoglobin or RBC.
10. Sumatra chicken
Picture source: Wikimedia
A Sumatra is a large black chicken breed native to Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. Such chickens were initially shipped to The United States and Europe from Sumatra through 1847 as fighting roosters.
In back people use this black chicken for entertainment fighting purposes but nowadays its one of the most popular exhibition bird. 1883 will be the year of admission of a Sumatra to an American standard of excellence.
Sumatras are mainly ornamental breeds kept for their appealing shiny black plumage. They are mostly lustrous black with a green shine all over the body or tail.
A breed comes in variants of white and blue, and the unstandardized splash, a natural result of blue chicken breeding.
Poultry fancy embraced a Black Sumatra, including its long, flowing, low tail, beetle green shine, gypsy-colored face (black to purple), black shanks to yellow soles, or many spurs with often three spurs from each leg.
Roosters weigh 2.25–2.7 kg and the hens weigh approximately 1.80 kg. Hens lay with an annual total of roughly 100 white eggs per year and are highly susceptible to bruising.
Also Read: Black Chicken Eggs: Real or Fake
Conclusion
Raising few types of black chickens in backyard is a amazing experience. Most of the black chicken breeds are known to be having more protein in meat.
Not only this few of the black hens lay average quantity and quality of eggs which will fulfill your farming needs. Also these black fancy chickens are a great experience to raise.
Most of the black chicken types are medium in size and easy to raise by most of the newbie chicken raisers. I hope after reading this article you may choose one from the list to raise in your backyard.
If you raise any type of black chickens we will happy to read your experience in the comment section.
I recent purchased 4 black chicks to satisfy one of my hens that was setting on an empty nest. When I bought the black hens the sign in the store simply labeled them as black hens, good egg lays of large to extra large eggs. They are almost 3 months old now and some of their feathers are tufted with gold. Very pretty hens, I am anxious to see what color eggs they lay
Please tell us, black chicks of which chicken breed