Well I kept finding birds you and I would call "Phoenix" called "Yokohama"; then I stumbled across a site that explained in the UK they treat both breeds as the same breed but as different types based on the comb and a few other details, it did give a bunch of UK SOP info... so I am thinking that might be the deal at least in the UK and would explain all the Straight Combed "Yokohama" birds.
I am in USA so the 2 breeds are split, but here the fertility rate and longevity rate of both breeds seems to be impacted by something, from what I am reading. It may be the diet on longevity, and I read a paper that suggested fertility/vitality in the Red Breasted Yokohama may be genetically linked to the genes that make the stunning colour, but I also read a bunch on info on diet with birds with lots of Green Jungle Fowl DNA can effect fertility too. I know people cross breed the two breeds here and then usually back breed to get the type/breed they want, and they are working hard to get more or stronger non-molting genetics going, plus we do have Jungle Fowl, and it would not surprise me if some experimental breeding has gone there too. So that would equal allot of Green Jungle Fowl DNA, I also read something about other JF being in the mix too... if the bird lines here do have increasing amounts of JF in them they might be having feed issues: As our food supply of feed corn is GMO and I am wondering if that is having effect as the GMO corn was originally in feed for animals only. Now you never know what your getting when you buy corn for humans, but I am pretty sure most corn based feed in USA if not all is GMO. I also understand corn in general is toxic to Green JF birds.
We had a Jungle Bird in the flock we fed all the birds regular feed back then too, but it was mixed with 50% Wild Bird Seed Mix, grit & oyster shell supplemented, what ever veggie & fruit scraps & cooked grains I had left over (they got cooked rice regularly) and then lots of bugs, worms, slugs and snails, plus they could all forage in my yard daily... they stole the dog and cat food allot.. also some of the neighbors would walk down and add there table scraps of breads, veggies, and fruits. I had no idea the JF might need a special diet then like I have been reading now, I just figured Seeds, cooked grains, Fresh Veggie/Fruit parts, and creepy crawlies would be good for them all.
But also I am unsure how much bottleneck breeding has occurred to get "perfect" birds, too much inbreeding could create a problem too with longevity, vitality and fertility. When I was poking about on the net trying to understand the Japanese Native Foundation Breeds for both Yokohama and Phoenix type birds I was struck by a very different approach to the SOP info I could find, they have types that allow for a greater genetic diversity in birds of a breed other then feather colour. There are different expectable body types, different earlobe colours that are oaky, and different combs even, they seem to recognize depending on breeds different variations and all these birds are judged equally good, not one better than the other, often the types represent areas of the region they originated from or special family lines of the breed, cross breeding also between types appears to be done. Here in the USA the SOP does not do that, and based on how upset people get about SOP issues (for any breed) on BYC the idea of variations in body type, earlobe colour, etc in a breed being normal and worse acceptable at show would be heresy I think. But both Foundation breeds despite all the variation I was reading had certain things in common for their breed and that was the big focus that made them members of the breed and what the judges look for... so it is possible in the pursuit for the "perfect" bird in western breeding practices we may be damaging genetic diversity necessary for genetic viability in both breeds I am thinking.
I read some place that some of the native feeding practices might be based on Japanese Kampo (Herbalism), so I am going to poke around on that a bit, started reading a book on the "preservation of health" that had a big impact on traditional Japanese healing for humans. Pretty much anything humans do for themselves they will also try in a modified way on their livestock and pets so investigating Japanese ideas about traditional ways to stay and be healthy makes sense to me as a start to understanding feeding practices.
Just some thoughts on all the stuff I am trying to understand. I would like to try and keep Bantam versions of both breeds down the road.
