Music: Amazing Grace
Performed on Shakuhachi and Koto by Mr. Hamada Tomohiro and Ms. Sasaki Kimiko.
Used with permission.
Project Onagadori -
- a breeding program to re-make the breed. Please note that we do not have pure Onagadori. There are no known pures in the US at this time. The birds we have are descendants, not pures. Therefore, not "Onagadori", just non-molting long-tails than can potentially be developed into Onagadori with lots of work and refinement. For a bird to be classified as an Onagadori the saddles and coverts must remain growing for at least 4 years consecutively.
Hakuraikou, now at 14 months of age, possesses 18 inch saddle feathers. These fall within the measurement of 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the coverts as per the Japanese ideal with the current length of the coverts.
The final lengths of 4 foot saddle feathers and 12 foot coverts before first molt of the adult plumage would be the absolute ideal. Only time will tell if he will or will not meet those lengths.
These saddle feathers first started growing at 2 months of age and at a year later most still continue to grow.
Many of the coverts in the 14 month photos are missing due to the gradual switch over to adult plumage in that region of the feathering.
This is Hakuraikou at 1 year of age. His coverts and saddle featheres remain in blood-feather.
Hakuraikou out for a walk on jess and leash at 1 year of age.
(4 MB Quicktime video opens in a new window)
Hakuraikou at 9 months of age.
Hakuraikou at 9.5 months of age, with 28" tail.
Hakuraikou at 10 months of age, still in blood-feather.
Yellow-legged recessive white cockerels at 4.5 months of age, 2.5 Lbs.
(Looking down, planning to join their uncle and cousin on the ground)
Blood-Feathers: Lightly pigmented birds such as this recessive white male clearly show the rich blood supply that fills the quills of feathers in the tail.
Photos from the '05 breeding season
Below: A 9 month old female offspring. The photo does not show the extent of multiple feathering that she has. Weight: 2 lbs 14 oz.
Below: The sister to the two birds above. She is six months of age in this photo. Looks pretty much the same at 9 months. Her tail actually appears short due to the length and profusion of the coverts and saddles. Her tail actually starts just in front of the ends of the wings.
Pictured above are offspring from the yellow-legged recessive white line that we acquired. Some of the combs lop, but that really seems to be their only bad point so far. More long-rage rearing will tell more on resistance, but so far so good.
They have remarkable flight characteristics. The offspring acquire total controlled flight at only three weeks of age. Slow motion playback of recorded flight reveals that the wings move in the horizontal figure eight with the tips going out beyond the head on the downward stroke as typical of other flighted birds. Not a typical chicken thing at all.
The multiple feathering and tail angle is like nothing else. The body feathers are fine and lacy around the edges. Very wispy and soft.
We are rearing these birds in the Japanese manner implementing "tombaku", tomebako. A tomebako is a box that the males are kept in to test for the non-molting gene, keep the bird calm, and protect the tail. But most importantly it keeps the bird safe from the harm of loosing large amounts of blood that could come about from them accidentally pulling blood-feathers if not so carefully cared for in such a way.
Some people have implied that tomebako are in some way inhumane. It could not be further from the truth. The roosters are let out every day and often for exercise and handling. As mentioned above, such a rearing method actually protects the bird from what could be severe injuries it could acquire from running unsupervise on the ground.
They claim the tomebako as territory and will many times fly back to it on their own. It's really not fair to make assumptions on this rearing method until you have done it and studied the birds involved.
Above: photos of the outside and inside of a "tombaku". The Japanese breeders refer to it as a "stop box", or tomebako (tOh-meh-bah-kOh), written in kanji (with the hiragana "me") as or in hiragana as .
With our tomebako, we have simplified the design and construction from the Japanese design, while keeping the same approximate dimensions.
Anyone interested in these plans may obtain them for a donation through the mail of $12 for the project to David Rogers. E-mail for details: greenthumbs777@yahoo.com
The plans and much other useful information can also be found in Long Tailed Fowl, the new book by David Rogers and Toni-Marie Astin. Details (link opens in a new window)
The exact hardware such as hinges, handles, and latches are up to you. The plans are for a traditional - type tomebako, but it's recommended that you install a florescent light fixture for a full-spectrum light bulb as shown above. We have found that the birds do better under full spectrum lighing.
The donation helps to provide feed and care for the birds in this project.
Our goal is to breed up true modern Onagadori. Selecting very carefully for health and feathering, making as many family lines as possible so that inbreeding will never be required, are the most fundamental things at this point. Coloration and comb size can all be fixed after the main points of the breed are set.
We are in frequent communication with Japanese Onagadori breeders. They are quite helpful and very polite people. We have great respect for them. It is their, and our, desire that this breed be preserved. Not any just one breeder can do this on their own. It truly takes a group effort of swapping information on what we all know and understand about the breed and sharing our experiences with it.
Also, we are networking with various breeders within the US who also use Japanese rearing methods to share info and swap family lines.
Anyone interested in learning more about the breed, dietary needs and housing requirements, etc, can learn more by visiting these sites-
Proto-Onagadori, an MSN message group dedicated to sharing information on how to refine Long Tails with non-molting in their background into true modern Onagadori. Thus making the birds existing now "proto" in hindsight. http://groups.msn.com/proto-onagadori
To view the proposed standard click here. It's an elaborated and more complete version of the Japanese standard.
Tuzo Project
At left is Viper, our pure male Tuzo from Toni-Marie Astin. Quite a fine specimen. A great example of the breed aside from the light leg color; which is easy to fix. Toni-Marie had been working to improve leg pigmentation as well before we were chosen to take on the breeding program.
Viper has much better upright posture than is pictured here. He just wasn't quite sure what to think about being outside.
Tuzo are a bantam shamoid. Said to have been developed in Europe and America from the Japanese Nankin Shamo and similar breeds.
As such, they are known for their tenacious fighting style when used as pit game.
However, we have worked against this habbit and are breeding for show stock, not fighters. The temperment has come a long way and Viper does not mind the company of other roosters.
Below are photos of his daughter from 2004. She and her sister are still being used in the breeding program.
Tuzo hen, outside
We worked on the Tuzo breedings this yr too, but don't have pics yet. Below are pics from '04.
Our Tuzo were also improved. Both sexes of our original trio have yellow legs. We were especially pleased to have this hen pop up from the breedings.
Weight was an issue in the previous generation. This little hen is right on target at 35 oz.
Notice the darker legs in the indoor photo where
the light isn't glaring so much.
Tuzo hen, indoors
Tuzo hen's naked wing spots
Tuzo hen's naked keel
Another area in which she is an improvement over her parents and siblings is her bald patches on the tops of the wings and down the keel. She should produce some very good sons.
We are looking forward to breeding her to a new male in '06.
One of the resulting male offspring from the '07 breeding season
or in hiragana as 
.
