BREEDING FOR THE LONGTAILS
I would like to offer information that I have
collected on the breeding of the regularly molting longtails (non Onagadori)
on this page and illustrate how one could work with one's birds.
(The illustrations below are rather exaggerated
but will serve this explanation. They are derived from the artwork commissioned
by the German Phoenix and Onagadori Society from the famous poultry illustrator
Jan van der Haan. The unretouched illustrations can be viewed under the
link below -Phoenix -GERMAN-
. Under the links below I will show, however, the two different tastes in
form - the UK, East German and the West German, Swiss German)
It is important to understand that the tail feathers
of the longtails need a long season of growth and that many birds hatched
out in the winter are usually not finished until the spring. To be able
to evaluate one's birds' genetic makeup, one must wait until the feathers
are dry, i.e. no longer in blood feathers. Depending on the ancestry of
your particular breed (Phoenix of resent Onagadori descent, Phoenix of distant
Onagadori descent, and from which lines your Minohiki, Shokoku, Totenko
or Ohiki) one may have birds that moult once a year, every two years or
even every three years. This type of non-moulting phenomenon is no longer
desirable in non-Onagadori birds in mainland Europe. Please see ONAGADORI-PHOENIX Debate
for further information. I usually make selections for the roosters around
January-February. The hens can be evaluated much sooner, as their feather
growth is usually terminated at 6 months of age. It is also important to
know that in most Longtails breeds two to four year old roosters will have
much more luxuriant feather growth than year-olds. In this case, I have
often used only 2 - 5 year old roosters because I could be more certain
of their type of feathering.
Types of feathering: all references that I have
read in English, Dutch and German refer to the longtailedness gene "gt"
as being dominant. I have made many crosses and out-crosses with different
longtails and must make many amendments to this postulate. The dominance
of longtailedness is most evident in the main sickles . Coverts and saddles
are much more difficult to breed into and maintain in a line and have not
shown this simple dominance. I have also not heard any research results
as to the mutant feathers. I know that the Minohiki, Onagadori, Ohiki, Shokoku
and some East German and British Yokohama lines have varying degrees of
mutant sickles. There is also a fast-feathering gene that is important for
the luxurient look of the best longtails. I will try to illustrate each
of these three factors involving the "tail". Please click on the
particular body parts of the birds illustrated below for my notes.
THIS FORM BELOW IS OF THE MODERN GERMAN PHOENIX:
elongated & pheasant-like, with a 5 - 6 point comb that lifts off the
back of the head, blue (slate) legged, long-necked and with firm feathers
that reach a maxium of 90 - 100 cm in length.
- Please click on the illustration below to
view to
- further illustrations of the aspects of Breeding
Longtails.
(Pass your cursor over the body of the birds below.)
- Please click on the illustration below to
view to
- further illustrations of the aspects of Breeding
Longtails.
visitor number
since Jan 8, 2003
