10/07/2021
Behold, one of the rarest chicken breeds on earth! The Japanese Onagadori, prized for the rooster's amazing tail lengths, is the only chicken breed on the planet that can exhibit non-molting tail and saddle feathers. Onagadori chickens are not long tailed Phoenix chickens. Phoenix chickens can only grow only up to a 3-4 ft tail and usually molt their feathers every year. There are only a handful of chicken breeders in Japan own these incredibly rare chickens and most people in Japan have never seen them. There are roughly only a little over 200 adult Onagadori in existence in Japan which makes them incredibly rare and on the verge of extinction.
The Onagadori, In Japan meaning "honorable fowl" as well as "long tail fowl", has been protected by the Japanese government for many years and is considered a living monument of the Japanese culture. The Japanese believe Onagadori were first created by crossing a long-tailed chicken breed called Shokoku with Green Junglefowl in the middle of the Edo Period (1600 - 1868). Green Jungle fowl exhibit an ability to not molt for longer periods of time than normal fowl which is why the Japanese believe this is where Onagadori got their non-molting genetics from. Some Onagadori roosters in Japan acquire tails of more than 30 or 40ft. Sound insane? We know what you're thinking but their tails truly can get those lengths and there is plenty of photos and videos of Onagadori shows in japan to prove their existence.
Despite Onagadori being so rare and almost unheard of in the US, Feather Lover Farms was able to acquire Onagadori type fowl and have been testing our roosters tail growth for a couple years now. Our Black Breasted Red rooster displayed above is showing off a tail of almost 7ft long at the base of his tail to the farthest tail feather. Though, not anything close to the quality and tail lengths as some of the Onagadori in Japan, our rooster pictured is still in blood feather and tail is still growing strong. We also have other Onagadori type roosters tails growing out right now and will be posting their photos once their tails grow to greater lengths.
We have 4 colors we are working with in our Onagadori breeding program and they come in White, Black Breasted Red (BB-RED), Golden Duckwing and Silver Duckwing. Chicks are sold unsexed and will come in a variety of the 4 colors as we can not guarantee a specific color you will receive. We will try to give you the most assortment of colors possible at the time of shipment but simply can't guarantee what colors or the amount of colors you'll receive in your chick order. Chicks will come unsexed.
Our goal is to eventually produce Onagadori here in the US that are just as high in quality and amazing tail lengths as the ones in Japan. Though we are far from that goal, It will take a lot of breeding, growing many birds out to adult age, and selecting only the best ones to use breeders. We have hand selected only the best birds to use in our Proto-Onagadori breeding program and we will need your help to not only improve the Onagadori quality in the US, but help prevent Onagadori from going into extinction.
