THE BREED HAS CHANGED IN GERMANY, THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Before the fall of the Iron Curtain, the West German Phoenix and Onagadori Club revised the standard for the Phoenix. When the Iron Curtain came down and contacts were renewed or made for the first time, there was a large chasm of differences between the two Germanies direction in breeding. One is more Onagadori influenced. The other is the more practical and sleek modern version. The Phoenix clubs first united and then split to a certain degree over the standard. The East German lines are, on the average, much more feather-rich and possess also, to a certain degree, a modified form of the gene "nm" or "gn" in that many roosters do not moult for two years, creating at least for a couple of years, the impression of an Onagadori.

(also practically identical with the UK standard, illustration from the current Swiss Standard for Poultry )

This is the current standard for Phoenix (2001) in Switzerland and Italy and is clearly an Onagadori-type bird. This extreme feather length is only to be found in pure and hybrid Onagadori lines or those, as you will see in the illustrations below, from the UK, which have maintained a high level of Onagadori genes in their "Game-coloured Yokohama".

The falling back-line, the heavier "Landhuhn" body are typical of the Onagadori. The extremely long feathers show the influence of the gene "gt" which distinguishes the Onagadori from the other long tail breeds of Japanese descent. Due to this extremely hgh and demanding standard most breeders of Phoenix In Switzerland, England and Italy never have birds that gain any notoriety at the shows because of the inherent difficulty of keeping the tails in good conditions and that only Phoenix with high levels of Onagadori blood show this type of feather growth.

A Golden Duckwing (Orangehalsig) (top right) of British breeding lines showing clearly in this rather untypical pose, the Onagadori-like form and feather growth. The tail is magnificent in this bird, which has a triple comb - perfectly acceptable in the British standard. The bird illustrated below is truely a magnificent example of a Longtailed Phoenix of the older type - and very Ongadori-like! This very unsual colour, a Blue Breasted Golden, is beautiful. The saddle length and fullness speaks for itself. In England, however, this bird is called a Yokohama. Click here for the Official British Standard for "Yokohama".

The general loss of this extreme feather length in mainland Europe has been documented in Belgian literature with references to the "degrading" of the Phoenix to lengths of only six feet. Only six feet! Many breeders today would be very content to have cocks with six foot (two meters) lengths of sickles! Note the illustrations below of Phoenix from older literature already showing the less extreme lengths of tail feathers in the Phoenix - and this not many years after their creation.

Below: Illustrations around the turn of the last century showing Phoenix (UK: gamefowl-coloured Yokohama). Note the similarity in the body forms illustrated here and the current German standard above. The Swiss standard, however, shows a genetically very different bird.

Photo above courtesy of Julia Keeling, Secretary - Asian Hardfeather Club.