Phoenix chicken

The Phoenix is a German breed of long-tailed chicken. It derives from cross-breeding of imported long-tailed Japanese birds similar to the Onagadori with other breeds.[5]

Phoenix
A golden Phoenix hen and rooster, showing the classic long flowing plumage of the breed
Conservation statusstudy
Other namesGerman: Phönix
Country of originJapan; Germany
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    Standard: 2.5 kg
    Bantam: 740 g[1]
  • Female:
    Standard: 1.8 kg
    Bantam: 680 g[1]
Skin colouryellow
Egg colourcream or tinted
Comb typesingle
Classification
APAall other standard breeds[2]
ABAsingle comb clean legged
PCGBnot recognised[3]
APSlight breed softfeather[4]
Illustration from the Geflügel-Album of Jean Bungartz, 1885

History

The Phoenix breed was created by Hugo du Roi, the first president of the national German poultry association, in the late nineteenth century. A few delicate imported long-tailed Japanese birds were cross-bred with birds of other breeds including Combattant de Bruges, Krüper, Leghorn, Malay, Modern Game, Old English Game, Ramelsloher and Yokohama.[5]

The silver variety of the Phoenix breed was accepted into the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection in 1965, and the gold in 1983.[2] Black-breasted red was recognised in 2018. The Phoenix was first accepted in the Australian Poultry Standard in 2012, with any colour standardised in Old English Game accepted.[4]

Characteristics

The Onagadori is thought to have a recessive gene which prevents it from moulting each year in the usual way.[6]:991 This gene was not transferred to the Phoenix, so its tail does not reach the same remarkable lengths as that of the original Japanese stock. The tail may reach 90 cm or more.[1]

References
  1. Carol Ekarius (2007). Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. ISBN 9781580176675. p. 143–44.
  2. APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
  3. Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
  4. Australian poultry standards (2 ed.). Ballarat, VIC: Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association Limited trading as Poultry Stud Breeders and Exhibitors Victoria. 2011. p. 121. ISBN 9781921488238.
  5. Phoenix Chicken. The Livestock Conservancy. Accessed August 2014.
  6. R. Tadano, M. Nishibori, M. Tsudzuki (2009). Genetic structure and differentiation of the Japanese extremely long-tailed chicken breed (Onagadori), associated with plumage colour variation: suggestions for its management and conservation. Animal Genetics 40 (6): 989–992. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2009.01955.x. (subscription required).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.