Onagadori Breeding & Genetics

The Onagadori (roughly means "Honorable Fowl") is a rare breed of long-tailed chickens from Japan. It was first thought to be a descendant of the Shoukoku, but recent modern genetic researches have already weakened this theory. The Onagadori breed's roots are quite ancient and its ancestry is believed to have been from a mixing of the green male junglefowl and the red female junglefowl (i.e. Bekisar). It was from the cross-breeding of the Totenko and the Shokoku that the Onagadori was born and the species refined from around 1912 to 1926 (the Taisho period) to what we know it as today. In the 1920's to preserve their beautiful tails, they came to be bred as cage birds. The Onagadori is one of Japans treasured monuments.

Characteristics

The Onagadori's trademark feature is the non-molting tail feathers, that if kept in the best conditions with high levels of animal husbandry, grow for the lifetime of the roosters. While, the hens molt normally, as do the feathers that cover roosters' heads, breasts, backs, and legs. The Onagadori has also long saddle feathers, and hens themselves show the signs of having a wealth of feathers. Onagadoris have single combs, white earlobes, relatively medium-sized fine wattles, and slate-blue legs. The hens are poor layers of light brown eggs (around 25 eggs per year), but they are known for being broody. On avarage, the weights for rooster and hen are 1.8 kg and 1.35 kg, respectively.

When Is It Classified as an Onagadori? You can tell that the bird is of the Onagadori species when both is tail, and saddle takes 3 years to molt. Although the bird may look like an Onagadori, it needs these specifications to truly classify as that breed; otherwise, it cannot (strictly) be classified as such, even if their lineage is in the process of being refined.  Other disqualifications include if the color of more than half of the bird’s earlobe is red and if its sickles or “Utaibane” have a smaller foot measurement than 5 feet or 1.5 meters. What Does the Onagadori Look Like? The male is known for having a medium-sized single comb. There are usually 5 points facing straight upwards. The texture of its head is smooth, while its size is also medium. Its face is also round-shaped. As for its beak, it is slightly curved, of medium length. They have large, shiny, and wide eyes. Its breast expands, and is very broad, followed by its belly, which is muscular and firm as it decreases in size towards the tail. They have legs that, just like the rest, are medium length, and are upright. The male Onagadori has a medium-sized wattle and a proportionate neck. The feathers on the neck reach down to its shoulders, beyond its throat. It has strong, large wings, with a lengthy span, possessing firm wing tips. Lastly, its back is broad and long and is smooth all the way down to the tail. In a year, its tail should grow around 90 centimeters, while a few other feathers will continue to molt for the next 3+ years. On its tail is the Kawari-honge/kouge. This is a special feather, being the widest of them all, spanning 3 meters in length. This is a very important factor in determining the prize factor of the Onagadori, as the count of these feathers can range from 1 to 4. If the Onagadori has 4 kouge, then that means it is very expensive, highly prized, and extremely sought-out for.  When it comes to the female Onagadori, it looks more like the female Shokoku species. However, the Onagadori female would have longer feathers, whose back feathers create the shape of a semi-circle. It is also a bit thinner than the female Shokoku species.  Varieties of the Onagadori There are many varieties of the Onagadori, which will be discussed briefly in this article; The Fujishiro Onagadori has a comb that’s colored bright red. In females, this is a pale red hue, while the red can be seen on the male’s face and wattles. Their beak is colored yellow, and their eyes are a mix of brown and red. Their earlobes are either a very pale yellow or white, and they have green or yellow legs. As for the Shiroiro Onagadori, it is colored white, holding a red comb as well, with a yellow beak, red eyes, and white earlobes.  There are other variants, such as the Akazasa, which is black breasted, the Shirozasa, which has traces of silver, the Goshiki, which is pale and considered the “original” color of the Onagadori. There’s also the Shojo, which is called the “black-tailed buff”, and is colored golden red, and possesses a black tail.

Dr. O....... Dr. Frank X. Ogasawara, Professor Emeritus of Avian Sciences, University of California at Davis, passed away on Saturday, June 8, 2002 at the age of 88. A native Californian, at an early age he moved from San Diego to Nevada, where he completed his primary and secondary education. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. from Davis in 1949 and 1957, respectively. His Davis education was interrupted by the war when, to avoid internment, he traveled to Utah and found employment with a turkey rancher. This episode changed his life, as it developed his strong interest in poultry science.

Frank’s entire academic career was spent at Davis, working in the area of reproductive physiology. A grant from the National Geographic Society allowed him to travel to Japan and explore the management and breeding of Onagadori, the Japanese Long-Tailed Fowl. The breeding population had been nearly eradicated during the war and there was fear that this Japanese national treasure would disappear. He returned to the United States with two dozen eggs and started a breeding program at Davis. With his graduate student, Francine Bradley, a cryopreservation technique was developed and the first Onagadori chicks from frozen-thawed semen were hatched. The senior author or co-author of numerous scientific publications, he was responsible for the avian physiology and introductory poultry science courses at Davis. To the undergraduate students, he was “Dr. O.”, and his tireless support of the avian sciences major resulted in it being known campus wide as the major where students were treated as individuals and cared for. Over the years “Dr. O.” served as an advisor for more than 500 students. In recognition of his contributions to undergraduate education at Davis, one of the new buildings in the Colleges at La Rue will be named after “Dr. O.”

Dr. Ogasawara shared his talents with faculty and producers in other countries including Nagoya University, Japan; Edinburgh University, Scotland; southern Brazil; and Guangzho, China. He served as chairman of a USDA-sponsored national turkey research study committee and as general chairman of the Poultry Science Association’s Annual Meeting. He was awarded the National Turkey Federation’s Outstanding Research Award, the Poultry Science Association’s Ralston Purina Outstanding Teacher Award, and named a Fellow of the Poultry Science Association. The Pacific Egg and Poultry Association named him Poultry Scientist of the Year and he was an honorary member of the Japan Zootechnical Society. Frank Ogasawara was married to Kay Inouye of Carlin, Nevada. In addition to his wife, he is survived by children, Pam, Patty, and Paul, and five grandchildren.

Onaga-dori (long-tailed fowl) and their inherited studies in Japan. Author(s) : SASAKI, K. ;  YAMAGUCHI, T. Author Affiliation : Natn. Inst. Anim. Ind., Chiba-shi, Japan. Journal article : World's Poultry Science Journal 1970 Vol.26 pp.562-568 Abstract : This unusual type of fowl found only in Japan is described and illustrated. Reference is also made to 3 ancient breeds, the Jidori, Shokoku and Totenko, which form the origin of the Onaga-dori. The feathers of the Onaga-dori moult annually except for some of the saddle and tail feathers which continue to grow and have been known to reach a length of 8 m. Since 1954, some genetic, physiological and sero-logical researchhas been carried out on this breed, in particular on the genetics of tail length. Three classes of tail length have been distinguished, long tail, sub-long tail and short tail. Studies on the Phylogenetic Relationships of the Japanese Native Fowl Breeds (Japanese Poultry Science/17 1980 Blood samples taken from 602 fowls of 24 Japanese native fowl breeds were analyzed for protein polymorphisms using starch gel or agarose gel electrophoresis. The genes on 8 loci, i.e. Ct, Akp, Akp-2, Amy-1, Es-1, Alb, Pas A and Tf, are polymorphic and other genes on 8 loci, i.e. Grb I, Grb II, LDH-A, LDH-B, MDH, GPI, To and Hb, are monomorphic. Genetic distances among 16 main Japanese native fowl breeds of Onagadori (long tailed fowl, 1), Shokoku (long saddle, 2), Totenko (long saddle and long crower, 3), Ohiki (long saddled bantam, 4), Uzurao (rumpless, 5), Tosajidori (small Japanese old style, 6), Gifujidori (medium Japanese old style, 7), Oshamo (Japanese game, 8), Koshamo (Japanese game bantam, 9), Chabo (Japanese bantam, 10), Tomaru (long crower, 11), Minohiki (long saddle, 12), Satsumadori (Japanese new game, 13), Koeyoshi (long crower, 14), Jitokko (creeper, 15) and Ukkokei (silkie, 16) were calculated based on the frequencies of genes on 16 loci using NEI'S equation10). A dendrogram was drawn by adopting the unweighted-pair group (UPG) method of clustering in numerical taxonomy by SNEATH and SOKAL6). A closer relationship was observed between Onagadori And Totenko than between Onagadori and Shokoku. It is plausible that Totenko was more possible ancestor of Onagadori. The value of semen freezing and artificial insemination techniques for preservation of Onagadori, the Japanese Long-tailed fowl. Author(s) : Bradley, F. A. ;  Ogasawara, F. X. Author Affiliation : Department of Avian Sciences, California University, Davis, California 95616, USA. Journal article : Japanese Poultry Science 1980 Vol.17 No.2 pp.70-73 ref.8 Abstract : This Japanese breed was almost annihilated during the 2nd World War, and although the population is slowly being built up, numbers are still far from numerous. AI experiments with deep-frozen Onagadori semen were carried out at the University of California. For 14 Onagadori pullets inseminated with frozen-thawed semen, egg fertilitywas 11.8% and hatchability 70.6% v 75.9 and 88.1 resp. for 14 control pullets inseminated with fresh, whole semen. Genetic structure and differentiation of the Japanese extremely long‐tailed chicken breed (Onagadori), associated with plumage colour variation: suggestions for its management and conservation R. Tadano  M. Nishibori  M. Tsudzuki First published: 06 November 2009 Summary The Onagadori is a distinguished chicken breed that is characterized by an extremely long tail in the male. In this breed, three different plumage colour varieties have been developed (black‐breasted white, black‐breasted red and white) in which the black‐breasted white is believed to be the original colour of the Onagadori, based on historical records. To establish a conservation strategy, 176 birds were genotyped for autosomal microsatellites. Significant genetic distinctness was found between the original (black‐breasted white) and two derivative varieties (FST = 0.091 and 0.093). At the same time, a Bayesian model‐based clustering revealed that the majority of individuals belonging to the black‐breasted red and white varieties had an extremely low proportion of the genome shared with the original type (black‐breasted white). This suggests that derivative varieties were created by crossing with other breeds, with low introgression of the original‐type genome. We propose that the three plumage colour varieties should be treated as separate genetic units in a conservation programme. Characteristics of Egg-related Traits in the Onagadori (Japanese Extremely Long Tail) Breed of Chickens 抄録 The Tosa-no-Onagadori (briefly Onagadori) is one of the native Japanese chickens that is characterized by extremely long tail feathers in males, and thus designated as a “Special National Natural Treasure” of Japan. We investigated the timing of sexual maturity of the Onagadori and White Leghorn hens and the quality of the first 10 eggs laid by these young hens to obtain basic information for reproducing the Onagadori efficiently and also to assess their usefulness as research material for quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of egg-related traits. Onagadori and White Leghorn hens reached sexual maturity at around 237 and 192 days of age, respectively. The repeatability, a genetic parameter, of 22 egg quality traits including weight, size, and color of the eggshell, albumen, and yolk was estimated to be 0.14-0.61 and 0.15-0.83 for the Onagadori and White Leghorn, respectively, which indicated the stability of Onagadori eggs as well as the White Leghorn and further suggested that young Onagadori hens lay eggs with suitable quality to produce more offspring from their earliest egg laying stage. Principal component analysis with the 22 egg quality traits revealed five principal components explaining 79.70% of the total phenotypic variance. One-way ANOVA revealed differences between the two breeds in PC2 (heights of the albumen and yolk, size of the whole egg, and weights of the whole egg and albumen), PC3 (eggshell color), and PC4 (weight, thickness, and strength of the eggshell), which means that besides cultural assets the Onagadori is also valuable for QTL analysis of egg-related traits, for which phenotypic differences are quite useful for detecting corresponding  (Journal of Poultry Science/51 2014) Time-Dependent Changes in the Genetic Diversity and Structure of the Onagadori Breed of Chickens Based on Microsatellite DNA Polymorphisms Takao Oka, Ryo Tadano, Tatsuhiko Goto, Jun-ichi Shiraishi, Sayed A.M. Osman, Naohiro Nagasaka, Takashi Bungo, Teruo Maeda, Masahide Nishibori, Tetsuya Umino, Masaoki Tsudzuki To conserve the Tosa-no-Onagadori (briefly Onagadori), one of the native Japanese chicken breeds designated as a Special National Natural Treasure of Japan, time-dependent changes in genetic diversity and structure were analyzed based on 20 microsatellites. From three varieties (black-breasted white, black-breasted red, and white) of the Onagadori reared in Nankoku City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, blood samples were collected in 1999, 2005, and 2009-2010. Significant genetic differentiation was recognized among breeders and among varieties in the whole Onagadori population, but it was not observed between years. Focusing on breeders, some populations showed decrease in allelic richness (AR) and expected heterozygosity (HE) with advancing years. Focusing on varieties, AR of the black-breasted red variety showed significant loss from 1999 to 2010, resulting in the significant loss of AR in the whole Onagadori population. In contrast, the AR and HE of the black-breasted white and white varieties were constant across sampling years. The DA genetic distance among populations decreased with sampling years, and genetic homogeneity increased in the whole Onagadori population. Structure analysis supported K＝2, dividing the genetic constitution into Onagadori-specific one and the rest. In the black-breasted white variety, the birds that have Onagadori-specific genetic composition increased with time. On the contrary, in the black-breasted red and white varieties surveyed in 2009-2010, there was no bird that showed Onagadori-specific genetic background of more than 75%. To maintain the Onagadori in Nankoku City for a long term, regular monitoring of genetic diversity and systematic reproduction using excellent black-breasted white birds that have the Onagadori-specific genetic composition should be continued. DISCUSSION Body weight differences among three varieties were observed at many weeks of age, though there were only a few weeks of age at which differences in body weight gain rate were detected among three varieties. At 13 to 30 weeks of age, black-breasted red males showed higher body weight than black-breasted white males, and at 26 to 30 weeks of age, both sexes of the black- breasted red showed higher values than those of black- breasted white. Furthermore, asymptotic body weight of the black-breasted red is the highest in the three varieties in growth curve analysis. These differences are thought to be due to the differences in the genetic backgrounds among varieties. The black-breasted white is believed to be the original plumage color of the Onagadori, and the origin of the black-breasted red was in cross between black-breasted white Onagadori and Toutenkou (Tsudzuki, 2006). Toutenkou is also a Japanese indigenous chicken breed which is characterized by black-breasted red plumage and long crowing, and its body size is larger than Onagadori (Tsudzuki, 2003). Therefore, there is a possibility that genes from Toutenkou breed established the body size of black-breasted red Onagadori larger. Actually, Tadano et al. (2009) revealed on the basis of microsatellite DNA analysis that three plumage color varieties of the Onagadori have different genetic background and suggested that they should be considered as independent genetic units in a conservation strategy. To improve and approximate the genome of the black- breasted red to that of the original black-breasted white type, it is necessary that black-breasted red are successively backcrossed to black-breasted white.

When enough generations (e.g. more than eight generations) have been passed, the body weight of black-breasted red will be similar to that of black- breasted white, and uniformity of breed will be accomplished between black-breasted white and black- breasted red.

In growth curve analysis, the female had the inflecting point at young age in comparison with that of the male in all varieties. In addition to this result, some researchers also reported that the female tends to have the inflecting point at age younger that of the male (Barbato, 1991; Mignon-Grasteau et al., 2000; Goto et al., 2011). Usually, ornamental chicken breeders in Japan treat with both sexes similarly in feeding their chickens. Judging from the difference in inflecting points between sexes, feeding program should be changed between sexes. To feed chickens under the best condition, diet for females should be changed from grower diet to developer diet one or two weeks earlier than for males. In addition to the genetic improvement by backcrosses mentioned above, improvement of feeding program will lead to the better conservation of the Onagadori.