Java Chickens
Last Updated: 8/1/11
My first Java chicks born on the farm! The chick pictured with the hen directly above must have fallen out of the loft so the hen followed, abandoning the nest. The two chicks in the top photo hatched a couple of days later but had to be brought into the house as the hen wouldn't accept them. I moved the remaining 10 eggs down and she is now setting on 2 of them. Keeping my fingers crossed they will hatch.
One of my beautiful, friendly Java roosters checking out the garden for a treat.
Update: Many, many thanks to Laura Whitlock at Dawn Land Farm in New Hampshire for parting with a breeding pair of the very rare White Java's for myself and for Heidi Guetschoff of Heidi's Mini Acres!
4/2/11: Java's are here! Much thanks to my good friend Lance Krog at Avian Acres! I have four 3-month-old chicks (born on New Year's Eve) as well as 8 chicks that were born 3/21/11. The older chickens are fed a certified organic feed along with being able to free range our property. The younger chicks get a certified organic starter feed. I just love this docile breed!
BREED INFORMATION:
The Java is a breed of chicken developed in the U.S. from chickens of unknown Asian extraction. It is one of the oldest American chickens, forming the basis for many other breeds, but is endangered today. According to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, its status is currently listed as Threatened. They are hardy, and are well-suited for both meat and egg production, especially by small-scale farms, homesteads, and backyard keepers.
Javas are heavy chickens, with roosters weighing around 9.5 pounds and hens 6.5 to 7.5 pounds and appear in three color variations today: Black, Mottled, and White (very rare). Javas are slow-growing compared to the meat chickens used by the commercial chicken industry today. Hens lay a respectable amount of large, brown eggs and will go broody. My friends who raise Javas tell me they produce well even in the darker winter months without artificial light. They also are particularly known as good foragers, needing less supplementary feed than many breeds when allowed to free range. They are docile in temperament and hardy in inclement weather which is a very handy trait to have here in Embarrass, Minnesota!