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alex_doom
Once you go black you ... pay $1500 for a pre-fab coop?
fnordfnordfnord
Oh man, the time and money I've spent to have fresh eggs. I built a chicken-fortress in my back yard, and still I was defeated by opossums.
eatporktoo
As a person who just built a chicken fortress in my back yard, how did they get in?
fnordfnordfnord
I apparently had a whole family of opossums to feed, and they were a lot more resourceful than I had previously given the species credit for being. Where the roof met is one place that was hard to seal. Any other little crack they can find. I used 2" welded wire for the outer part around a 2x3 frame, plywood nest box, and 1/2" hardware cloth for sealing up nooks and around the doors. At the bottom, the chickens would scratch and pluck the grass away eventually digging away enough for a small one to slip under. -Good luck.
DiabloD3
Is it wrong the only thing I want to know is what it tastes like?
StavrosK
It tastes like black.
synthmeat
Orange chick I ate the other day tasted nothing like orange.
splitbrain
That was exactly my thought through the whole article. Also do the eggs look black, too?
ars
According to what I read there is no difference in the taste.
krylon
Not at all. I was wondering the same thing.
rokhayakebe
Is it wrong that I feel it would be wrong eating it? It's feel like more than a mere animal to me. (I am black, btw, I have no idea if this played into my feeling)
kken
This breed does not seem to be as rare as the article makes them out to be. I can find them for $10 in the local classifieds...
chm
Buy one and find out if the seller is legitimate :)
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
logicallee
why? Best-case scenario, he ends up with a chicken.
richmarr
Getting a chicken isn't an end... it's a beginning.

Walks on the beach, holidays together, frisbee, trying to cross a river with a fox and a boat that only holds two...

Jtsummers
> trying to cross a river with a fox and a boat that only holds two...

This is much easier if, as you apparently have, you've lost your sack of grains.

fnordfnordfnord
GP could just turn it loose. One of ours escaped as a chick and survived more than a year running around our neighborhood. It was kind of amusing when people would mention seeing it. I think someone/something finally caught it.
Terr_
TFA:

> Cemanis are not the only black birds, but most of the others have pink tongues and deep brown eyes, along with innards of the normal hues.

mc32
Are these the same as the special occasion black chicken soup they serve in East Asia?[1]

If so, they're not unusual and people think they are gamier and tastier than regular chickens. In any event, they carry a price premium.

[1]http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/dining/17blac.html?_r=0

teamhappy
It says it right there in the first sentence. It's a Silkie chicken: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkie
jonah
We had silkies growing up. I don't remember their meat being black, maybe we didn't eat those for some reason? (They're smaller than a standard chicken.)
teamhappy
I wish we had them when I was a kid; they look pretty funky.

The Wikipedia article makes it sound as if they all have black meat (not just the black ones.) I guess that would be a good reason to not eat them (convincing children they taste good might not be worth the effort if you have regular chicken anyway).

drone
The skin, meat, bones, and major organs are generally "black." Silkies are common at Asian markets here -- heck, I bought one this past weekend (for soup!) for $7.99, and there were literally hundreds available.
fnordfnordfnord
We tried to keep some because they have a good disposition and because they're different, but we also had some Reds and the Reds just tortured them. It was ridiculous. The meat is blue/black.
giaour
A lot of farmers keep silkies because they make excellent surrogate mothers. You probably wouldn't eat them very often if you were using them as such.
Jipha
No, these are closer to regular chickens, but all black. The ones used in those soups are called Silkies and are a more distinct breed of chickens. (Fluffy plumage, smaller, and apparently smarter.)
[dead] olorundaglory
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gadders
I went to a chicken breeder a while back to get some new pedigree hens and they had a couple of these. They are indeed very striking. Beautiful birds.
tempodox
Can only paraphrase Henry Ford here: You can have any colour as long as it's black.
stinos
just one day-old chick of unknown sex goes for $199, plus shipping and handling

How is this done practically? Can a company like UPS move living animals or are there special regulations?

dbarlett
Mailing chicks via USPS [1] is legal and common:

    Some animals are mailable under proper conditions. See the specific         
    instructions as noted for the following kinds of animals:

    * Live bees
    * Live, day-old poultry
    * Live adult fowl
    * Live scorpions (only under limited circumstances)
    * Other small, harmless, cold–blooded animals
[1] http://pe.usps.gov/text/pub52/pub52c5_008.htm
anentropic
that's great, where would we be without the ability to mail live scorpions...?! :)
furyg3
Apparently we'd be without scorpion antivenin!

The mailing of scorpions is limited by the restrictions in 18 U.S.C. 1716. Under this limitation, scorpions are mailable only when sent for the purposes of medical research use or the manufacture of antivenin.

iamthepieman
I haven't raised poulets in a while but when I was I would often get them delivered. They come in a big brown box with air holes cut along the top. Sometimes they are fancy like [0] and sometimes pretty plain [1].

They are usually a little stressed from the trip but a few hours in a refrigerator box (or the bathtub) under a heat lamp with access to fresh water and feed will put them at ease quickly.

Usually there's a minimum order because the body heat of two dozen chicks helps keep them warm.

[0] http://www.hm-e.net/ [1] http://cutlersupply.com/zen_new51/index.php?main_page=produc...

fredfoobar42
It's like "How much more black could this chicken be?" And the answer is "None. None more black."