The Phoenix is one of many breeds of chicken

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

 that resulted from European selective breeding of onagadori

Onagadori

Onagadori is a breed of chicken originating Kōchi Prefecture of Japan. The Japanese government designates the breed in Kōchi as a Special Natural Monument....

,. a long-tail fowl bred in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 for a thousand years.

They molt every year or every other year. They have wide, rigid sickle feathers two to five long, with their saddle feather growing from 12 to 18 inches.

The Phoenix breed was accepted into the American Poultry Association

American Poultry Association

The American Poultry Association is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. 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 response to the burgeoning need for an overseeing body to set standards...

 Standard of Perfection in 1974 with the Gold and Silver varieties. Recently the Black Breasted Red variety has also been included.

Mr. Hugo du Roi, the first president of the National German Poultry Association, created the Phoenix breed.