Java Chicken

Java Chicken is a breed developed in the United States from chickens of unclear Asian ancestry, despite its name referencing the Indonesian island of Java, and it is considered the second oldest American chicken breed after the Dominique, first documented in print in 1835 though likely existing earlier. It reached peak popularity as a meat bird in the late 1800s and served as important foundation stock for several major American breeds, contributing significantly to the development of the Jersey Giant, the Rhode Island Red and the Plymouth Rock, and it likely also influenced the yellow skin trait seen in the modern Dominique. Three color varieties are recognized: black, with black shanks and beak and an iridescent dark green sheen; mottled, a black base with white-tipped feathers; and white, with mostly yellow skin and a horn-colored beak. The breed is critically endangered today, with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy reporting fewer than 500 breeding birds surviving across five or fewer primary breeding flocks.