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I've added new images here to illustrate the fact that
saddle hackle length and tail feather length are independant genetic factors
and must be breed for specifically.
It is important to understand that the genetics of the
saddle region is independent of that of the main tail: sickles and coverts.
Note in these first illustrations of the "genetic hackle" breed
developed by Dr Tom Whiting of Colorado, USA that only the saddle has been
developed. In some cases, his birds have practically or not tails!
Many breeders have bred so extensively for tail length
that the saddle fullness and length have been lost. The nameless "genetic
fly tying line" of poultry illustrated below shows clearly that a saddle
region can be developed independantly, even to the exclusion of the main
tail.
This particular line of poultry is a very protected commodity
for the fly-tying industry, not for sale, so please do not bombard them
with requests to purchase some. Examples of the feathers that I have here
show also a completely different feather structure than the longtails I
have handled. The feathers are thread slender and of a very firm substance.
The longtails of Onagadoru descent (Ohiki, some Phoenix lines and the Onagadori
itself) have very soft and structurally supple substance. The Yokohama,
Minohiki and many others display a harder feather structure, but in comparison
to these fly-tying lines, they are also soft.
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Theses two images of Minohiki show the highly refined
level of the Black Breasted Silver (Silver Duckwing) "Saddle Dragger".
Note the extremely thin saddles on these birds, compared to the MODERN PHOENIX
below and the super long-saddled older Phoenix at the bottom of this page.
These two Minohiki are of a medium size and leg-length, adding to the effect
of a luxuriously long saddle.
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Again here, we may be seeing the nm gene effecting
a two-year moulting pattern for such lengths, or it could be also the effect
of the shorter leg length than the Pheonix I have studied and owned. In
any case, this breed's main characteristic is its dragging saddle.
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This image is of my main breeder rooster in 2002
and illustrates a full curtain of sickles and coverts. It has good fullness
in saddle but this line has so far been a notch or two below perfection
when compared to the other excellent examples on this page.
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This next image shows an extraordinary blue "Minohiki
type" developed by Julia Keeling of the Isle of Man, British Isles.
She has been working with a line of Yokohama X Sumatra for some years and
has been able to refine both form and feathering. This illustration shows
the luxurient feather hackle of this line.
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The illustration below is of a Phoenix line with more
Onagadori blood in which the saddle hackle has not moulted for at least
two years. This extreme length is the result of the nm gene (non-moulting)
effecting the saddle growth. Phoenix with the rapid growth gene modifying
the saddle growth genes can grow lengths that touch the ground in the 2nd
year of their lives, but this luxuriently long curtain of saddles is not
a yearly growth pattern and is a part of the inheritance of the Onagadori.
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These images were sent to me c/o Danne Honour, a
dedicated breeder of both Leghorns (buff) and Pheonix, showing the results
of crosses done between the Phoenix-Onagadori lines around the 1940's to
enrich the feathering of the White Leghorn. These two images show the superb
FULLNESS of the saddles of these lines, demonstrating the importance of
breeding for both of number (hence fullness) and the length of the feathers.
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