Satsumadori | lukanovpoultry

From www.ultimatefowl.com (a great discription on Satsumadori breed):

The Satsuma-dori (薩摩鶏) originates in Japan. Satsuma used to be the name of the prefecture now known as Kagoshima, in the island of Kyushu. In that time the breed was known as Ojidori (meaning large fowl) The name Satsumadori (given in the twenties) means nothing more than: Large fowl of Satsuma. In 1943 the Japanese Ministry of Culture declared the breed protected inheritance. The breeds origin comes of cross-breeding Shamo and Shokoku and was a true knife fighter. These speed fighters were the only ones to fight steel spurs. Very likely the Japanese copied fighting styles and breeding in knife spurs (slashers) of Philipinian breeders. As this breed carries a full, large, fanning tail it gained popularity (just like Sumatra and Yokohama) in Europe. Mostly Dutch and Belgian breeders imported these birds. Germany followed a little later. Today there is little breeding material to be found in The Netherlands and Belgium. It is gaining popularity in Germany and UK, where they can be seen at shows again. The gene pool that existed in Europe was originally built from 14 animals imported from Southern Japan in the seventies. However different bloodlines have been imported more recently.

Characteristics

Ring size rooster 20, hen 18.

The weight of the rooster lies approximately around 3,5 kg (7,7 lbs) and for a hen around 2,5 Kg (5,5 lbs) Just like Sumatra, Satsuma-dori have a small head and a pea comb. The comb should be as small as possible as they get less fast injured in battle. A large or falling aside on a show will lead to exclusion. Particular characteristic is the robust, wide stance of the legs, the long back and a full, long and fanning tail.

Most characteristics are different in many countries. Japanese don't care about variety but the shape of the body is most important, the animals need to be supple and quick. Germany has 4 varieties and the animals there are way heavier than original Japanese types. Also BB silvers are not allowed to have a dark color of the beak. Italian breeders tend more to follow the Japanese but they do care about varieties. The Netherlands haven't standardized this breed yet but hopefully they will follow the Japanese body type (as it is a Japanese breed).

The straight up-going stance comes from fighting wishes, as an animal with this stance can jump easily and hit high. Except the blacks all varieties have yellow legs.

Varieties known are Black (Kuro), Blackbrested-Gold (Kisasa), Blackbrested-Silver (Shirosasa), Red (Akazasa) and White (Shiroiro)

Source: http://www.ultimatefowl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Satsumadori (date of last access 05.03.2014)