Tab15 Hühner (Geflügel-Album, Jean Bungartz, 1885)

The Phoenix is a German breed of long-tailed

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

. It derives from

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

of imported long-tailed Japanese birds similar to the

Onagadori The Onagadori ( ja, 尾長鶏, "long-tailed chicken") is a historic Japanese breed of chicken, characterised by an exceptionally long tail. It was bred in the seventeenth century in Kōchi Prefecture, on Shikoku island in southern Japan, and w ...

with other breeds.

History

The Phoenix breed was created by , the first president of the national German poultry association, in the late nineteenth century. A few delicate imported long-tailed Japanese birds were cross-bred with birds of other breeds including

Combattant de Bruges The Brugse Vechter, french: Combattant de Bruges, italic=no, is an endangered Belgian breed of gamecock. It dates from the early nineteenth century, and was bred specifically for cock-fighting. It named for its area of origin, that of the city ...

Krüper The Krüper is a German breed of creeper chicken. It originates in the former Dutchy of Berg, now the Bergisches Land in western Germany, and is one of three chicken breeds from that area, the others being the Bergische Kräher and the Bergis ...

, Leghorn,

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

Modern Game The Modern Game is a breed of ornamental chicken which originated in England between 1850 and 1900. Purely an exhibition bird, Modern Game were developed to be most aesthetically pleasing and to epitomize the visual appeal of the gamecock or ...

Old English Game The Old English Game is a British list of chicken breeds, breed of domestic chicken. It was probably originally bred for cockfighting. Two different standards are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: Carlisle Old English Game and ...

, Ramelsloher and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

. The

Poultry Club of Great Britain The Poultry Club of Great Britain is a registered charity founded in 1877. Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys". The club m ...

decided in 1904 to group the German Phoenix and

breeds under the name Yokohama; the Phoenix is not recognised as a breed. The silver variety of the Phoenix was accepted into the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in resp ...

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standar ...

in 1965, and the gold in 1983. Black-breasted red was recognised in 2018. The Phoenix was first accepted in the Australian Poultry Standard in 2012, with any colour standardised in

accepted.

Characteristics

The Onagadori is thought to have a recessive gene that prevents it from moulting each year in the usual way. This gene was not transferred to the Phoenix, so its tail does not reach the same remarkable lengths as that of the original Japanese stock. The tail may reach or more.

References

{{Chicken breeds of Germany Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Germany