yep, that was me.
I have very high show quality birds, but they are all bantam, I also have some with the onagadopri blood in them from Cy Hyde.
BUT, if you want to show, there's no such thing, so just do phoenix. The trem "AMERICAN ONAGADORI" get's a lot of people in trouble, as there are very few out there, actually if they didnt come from Cy 's line, they dont have any onagadori in them. So basically what the american Onag is is a pretty, long tails mix breed, so no showing.
These birds traits will disqualify them as a phoenix in a show as well. Minly, these are used only for high dollar breeding projects only. Also for the standard, you'll have to stick with the duckwings and whites to show
as for the pens, fully roofed is the best ,to keep as much of the bedding as dry as possible at all times. Wet feather break easily, especially if the pen gets muddy. To compate that, it's best to put in a deep sand bed in the pen, then cover that with a good litter (I use wheat hay)
roost as high as possible in the pen help too.
If showing, you must keep you males solitary, broken tail feathers will hurt or disqualify you again on them.
Mine like I said are bantam, the stall in those pics are 4 wide, 12 deep and 6 tall. I keep 2 roosters and 3-5 hens in each and is just fine for BREEDING.
Mine all stay in blood feather for 10-18 months, so during this long period, they are constantly growing, so for the best tails for shows, you really cant ever let your males in a breeding pen.
If you want to breed too, get multiple males, use some for breeding pens and the others as you babied show birds.
For the perfect bird like you see in so many on line pics, you really need to keep the males in a stall called a tomebaku. Basically a cofin stood up right is what it look like to me. But then you are really getting into work, as you will have to take them out daily for excersie, actually hold their tails up while you are doing it so they dont drag the ground, oil them for them, as over 3 foot, they cant. Give them a little sun for vitamin D every day, etc. I can tell you how to build one if interested. I've never gone that far with mine, but that's how those with perfect tails tend to do it, especially in the onag projetc birds. The birds really like those cages too, even being so small.
For a standard size breeder for show quality, you will fine none better than Cy Hyde, he has them in both phoenix, and the mixed onagadori lines. THEY ARE HIGH though, so be prepared for that, but if you want the best, you have to be prepared for that on these birds, good ones are always $100 ish, eggs over $100 a dozen is normal.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask, and I can give you some names and numbers if needed for some standard fowl starter birds.
