QUAINT-CUSTOMS OF WORLd'S. QUEER PEOPLE
THE HISTORY OF LONGTAtLD: ROOSTERS
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This rooster's tail feathers are 18
feet long. He is. without question,
the king of barnyard .fowls that is if
rooster royalty.depends on the length
of tail feathers!
Years ago, over a hundred, the peo
ple of the Island of Shikoku, Japan,
got the idea that roosters should have
longer tails. A great rivalry arose
between the native to get the longest
tailed rooster. By patient selection
of fowls in breeding they kept on
lengthening the tail feathers of the
male bird year after year until the
rooster above pictured was obtained.
Naturally, in breeding roosters
with such long tails, it'is necessary
to confine them in very 'close quar
ters, so that Jt will be impossible for
the feathers being molted o'r to wear
out. The fowl is, therefore, placed
m a narrow cage, so narrow that he
cannot turn around in it.
Once every day or two he is taken
out and allowed to" stretch his legs,
under the careful surveillance of an
attendant To Jieep his plumage in
good shape, from time to time he is
given a' bath and .carefully dried,
after it.
Through this careful and . well
planned routine the cock lives out its
alloted span of, life, of eight or nine
years. -- k
.The rooster seen jn the photograph
is the property of Matsuzawa, a
dealer in, antiques at, the famous
mountain resort, Miyanoshita, on the
Island of.' Shikoku,
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