American farmer John has a sizable property that includes his comfortable house, a thriving vegetable garden, and an orchard. John breeds hens in a coop close to his home, some for sale and some for personal use. With this configuration, he has been able to run a productive and self-sufficient farm for many years.

Every now and then John finds eggs strewn all over his yard, particularly close to the greenhouse where his birds prefer to graze. Since his free-range hens behaved in this way rather regularly, there was never any reason to be concerned. But one morning John happened into something strange that caught his attention.

John found a clump of totally black eggs close to the chicken coop. Nothing he had ever seen had looked like this. Though first startled by the eggs’ striking black hue, John’s curiosity won out. Curiosity piqued, he chose to incubate these unusual eggs in the same way he would any other chicken egg: in a warm, dark corner of his barn.

The eggs started to hatch a few days after patient waiting, exposing their even more amazing contents. The chicks that sprang out were totally black, even down to their beaks, which shocked John. John was keen to know more about these strange birds because this was a sight he had never seen before.

The chicks were determined to be of the uncommon breed recognized for their eye-catching all-black appearance, Ayam Cemani. This distinctive quality permeates their interior bones and organs as well as their outward features. John found out that his affluent neighbor, who was an expert breeder, was the breeder of these unusual birds. It looked as though one of his neighbor’s hens had strayed into John’s land by mistake and lay her eggs.

For John, the finding of the Ayam Cemani chicks was a thrilling occurrence that gave his farming life a little more mystery and excitement. This event not only exposed him to a new breed but also deepened his relationship with his neighbor and created the possibility of future joint ventures. Although John was used to surprises on his farm, the advent of these black hens was a wonderful exception that made him appreciate the ongoing wonders of nature.