There are no true Onags in the US. Only decendants of a few roosters that were given to the US by Japan years ago. They are now protected by the Japanese government I think so there's no way to get pure ones.TommyVT05 has some of the decendant lines,. Mr Cy Hyde is one of the most well known breeders with those decendant lines, onagadori on here has some of Mr Hydes birds in her lines, and there are a few others that have them. But the true Onags take EXSTREAM care to get tails that long. The Japanese litterally keep the males solitary housed in tall cabinet like enclosures called Tomebakos (??spelling??) And they are non molters and have to be fed a strict diet that doesnt contain any grains other than brown rice or they will eventually get a build up of gluten which will poison and kill them.
From what I have heard you can't import anymore? If there are some in Germany I do have a person in Austria that helps me import rabbits so that could be done. However at this point I just really wanted one young cockerel to play with and see if this is something I could commit to in a breeding program. Lets face it, if I can't manage ONE rooster, I would not be a good candidate to breed them. However if I get one rooster and enjoy it, then I would consider going the next step. The first step however is to get that one chick and see how it goes. I have wanted to do this for years and now that the kids are gone and I have the space and time.. well.. its time.
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But getting them out of Japan would be the problem, I think they are only bred by the Japanese now and that the Japanese government has a ban on exporting any eggs or birds of the Onags out of Japan. I wouldnt think there would be any true ones in Germany but I dont know that.
Yes, there are some breeders or were in the 70s.. in Germany. I don't know if they are still there and would have to look. I was really hoping to just find a roo here in the US to start out. If I like them, then I would go further. It would be silly to spend the money on something like that if I found that the special care and feed was something that I didn't want long term. Right now, I would like to have a roo to care for and do special things for. However a breeding program with maybe 10 roos all in special cages on special diets may be enough to drive me to drink? who knows. This is why I start slowly with any project. Im a prefectionest. If I can't do it as well as some people and better then most, then I will look at why. If I find its just not for me, then.. I wont' give 110%, however if I find I like it, then I will give 120% and do all I can to honor that breed.