American Onagadori?

[Takari]

I was looking on my local Craiglist, and found a a rare chicken, pheasant and quail breeder. After a while of looking around their site, I ran into the page for these "American Onagadori" chickens. They look like beautiful chickens and I was looking at getter a rarer breed for myself when my family gets chickens in the spring. They would have to be shipped to me, since it's an eight hour drive at least, and it's $50 for two sexed 1-2 month old Onagadori chickens. Has anyone here had experience with this breed? In order for me to be able to get some, they must be reasonably quiet, since HOA doesn't really allow chickens; they also must be able to tolerate the ocassional large snowfall we get here in NV. Friendliness is also a big factor; if they were good egg-layers, that would be nice, but it isn't of high concern.

American Onagadori page on his website

Thanks!

 

[emvickrey]

You are going to the right place to get them. I have a pair from Tommy and they are wonderful birds. You can go to my page to check mine out. The hen lays at 6 months old and the Roo is not quiet. It may be because there are other roos around. But they are beautiful. Tommy has great stock so you can count on getting fantastic birds from him. My roo, Sir Charles is a great protector. He will go up against a dog, cat or what ever he has to, to protect his girls. They are friendly, or mine are. I got them at 2 months, shipped from CA to TN. They where in great shape and I kept them inside with me for about a month to bond. They would actually sit on my shoulder and get up under my hair and sleep. Even though they are out in the coop now I can still pet them. Tommy will also help you along with them with diet and such.

Sir Charles is now 9 months old and his saddle feathers are just starting to drag the ground. Mine love tuna and Mackerel from a can.
When it comes time to feed the fish. I thought that little tid bit could save you some time.

When Fiona, the hen, started laying it was sporadic, then everyday. It's cold here now so she has stopped. She never did sit on her eggs though, but I have an incubator so it doesn't really matter to me anyway. I'm not sure how well they would handle your winter weather. You would have to talk to Tommy about that. There are ways to warm a coop enough to keep them from getting frostbite or just too cold. Heat lights, and somebody on here showed a way to make one out of one of those popcorn cans and a light bulb. Run a long extension cord to the coop if necessary and they will stay near the can for warmth.
If you decide to get them, Tommy is your best bet. I should have some available myself in the spring but I really don't plan to ship if I can keep from it. I'm farther away and shipping would cost you more also.

Good luck with what ever you choose to do.

 

[TommyVT05]

Quote:
Marie,

Thanks!

You are too kind!

Sir Charles is sure a beauty, and so is Fiona...
You could try to attach the picture of Charles's 2+ ft. tail at just 6 months of age. Haha. That would be super nice!

- Tommy

 

[RAREROO]

Well there you go, I'm sure Tommy himself can tell you what you want to know, but I believe the Onagadori are a high maintainance breed and lots of care has to be put into keeping their longtail featers, I also plan on getting Phoenix bantams from Toni-Marie Austin lines and I believe she used imported Onagadori to breed into her phoenix.

 

[TommyVT05]

Quote:
Clint,

Yes. That is certainly true. Thanks for adding that. They DO require VERY high maintenance, unlike the Phoenix. To get the long tails, you first need the nm gene in the bird and after that huge barrier; there are 10+ variables that you have to consider to maintain the tail, etc. So yes...I would say it’s not a beginner’s breed to try out. Nevertheless, even if you raise them under minimal maintenance, they still get really great tails; no lesser than any top Phoenix lines out there due to that awesome gt gene that Mr. Hyde & my line carry. : )

As for the Phoenix, I agree that Toni-Marie got some really nice looking Phoenix too, but I am not too sure about the imported Onagadori blood in them. The only two known "LEGAL" import was in the 1940's World's Fair and the second one was by Dr. Ogasawara. Besides those two, any other imports are ILLEGAL!!! The Onagadori is protected by the Japanese Government because they are considered a Living Monument of the Japanese Culture. So to be frank, it is illegal if such breeding practices are performed. I am sure what she meant by having the "Onagadori" blood in them is using Mr. Hyde's "U.S. Onagadori" line to breed into her Phoenix line. That is the only possible way since Dr. Ogasawara's imported Onagadoris have major respiratory problems as well as Mereks and Leucosis...

- Tommy

 

[RAREROO]

OH OK well I'm not sure about that either, I just thought I read somewhere that she had imported blood in hers, I think Aubrey told me the same thing too. They may not have been the Onagadori though, maybe just really great quality Phoenix, I can't remember right now.

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
Marie,

Thanks!

You are too kind!

Sir Charles is sure a beauty, and so is Fiona...
You could try to attach the picture of Charles's 2+ ft. tail at just 6 months of age. Haha. That would be super nice!

- Tommy

Here is Sir Charles. 3 of his longest feathers where pulled out by one of the hens in the coop. But you can see how fast they grow. My Avatar is him also. I have 3 babies that just hatched on the 16th. I'll post their pics when I get them on Photobucket.

This is the pair. Sir Charles and Fiona

 

[voodoochicken04]

OK..going to do some clearing up of some fact and fiction here.

First of all..Toni-Marie, in defense of her..she used birds from Cy, so not pure Onagadori, however she worked 9+yrs to repool the traits before using the birds..so they were not "just as is" birds from Cy. The Hyde line does not have any onagadori traits in a reliable pooled form.

Yes, Cy Hydes birds came from the Worlds Fair, but he mixed in bantam phoenix from germany which contained Dutch..thus losing the key Onagadori traits..plus as far as any reliable sources know only males were gifted to the Worlds Fair and females pass on the most valuable traits when crossing.

... as far as the hyde line, all you have to do is look at the legs; there are no blue legs in japan, that is a european game trait

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
So my hen is European and the roo is what Japanese? But I got them from the same place that the same roo sired in California.

 

[TommyVT05]

Quote:
Voodoochicken04,

First of all,

!!! to BYC!!!

Glad you could join us in our discussion but what struck me as odd is that, you are rather NEW here : ) and yet, your first post is on this topic and on this particular thread. Hummm...There is nothing wrong with that but you sort of came off on a defensive standpoint and strongly defending Toni-Marie. Are you associated or related to her if I may ask?

Please...enlighten us on who you are and what do you raise so we can better understand where you are coming from.

Anyhow, in regards to your defense, there is one MAJOR flaw about it. If there are only TWO "LEGAL" imports of the Japanese Onagadori line in which one had major problems like Mereks and Leucosis, don't you think Mr. Hyde's line (the only one left) is the only successful line to carry the Onagadori "blood" to be placed around the states? I mean, yes, repooling is possible but needless to say, how can you "repool" to get back something better without using other lines...and if so...what lines could she be using other than doing line breeding and heavy culling from Mr. Hyde's line? Whats left, as a possibility, is using illegally imported birds or eggs...

In all honesty, I am not here to say who is better, but everyone must agree that facts are facts. The Onagadori males came from the 1940's World's Fair, later on went to John Kriner and later passed down to Mr. Cy Hyde who opened the doors so that everyone can purchase them in the U.S. You can't ignor the roots on how all the lines came about...

As for the leg color, its true that the "green" is more the preferred color but there nothing that says that GREEN will be the only "acceptable" color. As long as it can perform the tail length, personality, etc. Mr. Hyde's line does have some Dutch but he too refine his line to fit the "Onagadori Standard". He gets green legs, grey legs and yellow legs. And if I may add, he once got a 8ft. tailed "U.S. Onagadori" with 36 inch saddle feathers that had grey legs...so there you have it.

- Tommy