What color eggs do Yokohamas lay?

Small **cream to lightly tinted** eggs — a warm off-white, never blue or dark brown. They are indifferent layers, giving only about **60–80 small eggs a year**, so this is an ornamental and show breed rather than an egg producer.

Are Yokohamas good for showing?

Yes — showing is their whole purpose. They're exhibited in the APA's **All Other Standard Breeds** class in Red Shouldered and White (recognized 1981), and judges reward a long, clean, unbroken **tail and saddle**. Their rarity and dramatic type make a well-conditioned Yokohama a standout on the show bench.

How hard are Yokohamas to hatch?

The eggs hatch like any chicken egg — **99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch**, with no breed-specific quirks. The real difficulty is sourcing fertile eggs: hens lay little and go broody quickly, so hatching eggs are scarce and seasonal.

How do you care for a Yokohama's long tail?

Give cocks **high, wide perches** so the tail hangs clear of the floor, keep housing **clean and bone-dry** with dropping boards, and avoid crowding. Wet, dirty, or cramped conditions break and soil the feathers you're breeding and showing for.

Yes. The Livestock Conservancy lists the Yokohama as **Threatened**. Only two varieties (Red Shouldered and White) are recognized by the APA in the U.S., and finding quality breeding stock usually means going through a specialist long-tail breeder or a hatchery that maintains bloodlines.

Are Yokohamas broody?

Often, yes — hens tend to go broody after laying only a small clutch, which is part of why annual egg numbers stay low. That broodiness can be useful if you want the hens to hatch and raise their own chicks.

Yokohama: The Long-Tailed Ornamental Show Fowl

Verified September 2026Cream eggs

The short version

The Yokohama is a rare ornamental long-tailed breed developed in Germany from long-tailed Japanese landrace fowl exported through the port of Yokohama in 1864. It is prized for an extraordinarily long, flowing tail and saddle — feathers of three to four feet have been produced — carried on a slender, upright, pheasant-like body. In the United States it is shown in the APA's All Other Standard Breeds class in two varieties recognized in 1981: Red Shouldered (white with rich red shoulder markings) and White. It lays a small cream/tinted egg and is kept for beauty and exhibition, not production. The Livestock Conservancy lists it as Threatened.

APA class: AOSB

Egg color: Cream–Tinted

Broodiness: Frequently broody

Varieties: 2

Egg-color genetics

Yokohamas lay a small cream to lightly tinted egg — a warm off-white with the faintest tan cast rather than any true color. There is no blue or dark-brown pigment at play; the interest in this breed is entirely in the bird's plumage and tail, not the egg basket. Expect only 60–80 small eggs a year from an indifferent layer that would rather go broody than fill a carton.

Why the tail gets so long

The Yokohama's signature comes from genes that slow or suppress the annual molt of the main tail and saddle feathers, so those feathers keep growing across multiple seasons instead of being shed each year. The Livestock Conservancy notes tails of three and four feet have been produced, with far longer historical claims for related long-tailed fowl. Realizing that potential is as much husbandry as genetics: the feathers only reach full length on a bird kept in clean, dry, spacious housing with high perches, because a trailing tail that drags through bedding or mud simply breaks off.

Is the Yokohama the same as a Phoenix?

They are close cousins and often confused. Both descend from long-tailed Asian fowl and were developed in Germany, but they are separate breeds: the Phoenix carries a single comb and does molt its tail, while the Yokohama carries a walnut comb and is bred for the non-molting, flowing long tail. If you want the longest possible tail, you want a well-bred Yokohama; the Phoenix is a hardier, more practical long-tail.

Breeding notes

The Yokohama is a German creation, not a Japanese one: breeders in Germany, led by Hugo du Roi, developed it in the late 1800s from long-tailed Asian fowl imported through Yokohama, and early stock was outcrossed to Malay, Phoenix, game, and Sumatra blood to survive and stabilize. Breed for the German long-tailed type, not for a Japanese landrace look.
Select relentlessly for tail and saddle length and for feathers that are held in a full, flowing sweep rather than a short game tail — this is the single trait the breed exists for. Non-molting or slow-molting main tail and saddle feathers are what produce the dramatic multi-foot lengths.
The Red Shouldered pattern is white with red confined to the shoulders and saddle; cull birds whose red bleeds into the body or whose white is muddy. Keep White and Red Shouldered pens separate to hold each pattern true.
Managing the long tail is a real breeding-and-husbandry job, not an afterthought: house cocks with high, wide perches so tails hang clear of the floor, keep bedding clean and bone-dry, and use dropping boards so trailing feathers never sit in manure or mud. Wet, filthy, or crowded housing breaks and soils the very feathers you are breeding for.
This is a slow-growing, lighter-bodied breed (cocks about 4.5 lb, hens about 3.5 lb) — give cockerels time to mature their furnishings and protect them from predators, as they are not built to defend themselves.

Showing notes

Shown in the APA All Other Standard Breeds (AOSB) class; enter by variety — 'Red Shouldered Yokohama, large fowl' or 'White Yokohama.' The 1981-recognized varieties are the two the American Standard covers.
Tail length and, just as important, tail condition win: judges reward a long, clean, unbroken flow of tail and saddle feather. A magnificent tail that is frayed, soiled, or snapped from poor housing will lose to a shorter but immaculate one — condition the bird for weeks before a show and transport it so the tail cannot be crushed.
Type is slender and upright with a pheasant-like carriage, a walnut comb, small or absent wattles, orange-red eyes, and yellow legs. In the show pen the White should be clean and free of brassiness and the Red Shouldered should show crisp, well-placed red on an otherwise white bird.

Hatching & incubation

No breed-specific incubation requirements — treat Yokohama eggs like any chicken egg: 99.5–100°F forced-air, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch. The challenge with this breed is getting eggs at all, not hatching them.
Because hens are indifferent layers that go broody after a small clutch, fertile hatching eggs can be scarce and seasonal; collect and set promptly, and expect to rely on the hens' own strong broodiness or a broody hen of another breed.

Recognized varieties

Red Shouldered (the iconic red-and-white saddled bird)White

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Yokohamas lay?: Small cream to lightly tinted eggs — a warm off-white, never blue or dark brown. They are indifferent layers, giving only about 60–80 small eggs a year, so this is an ornamental and show breed rather than an egg producer.
Are Yokohamas good for showing?: Yes — showing is their whole purpose. They're exhibited in the APA's All Other Standard Breeds class in Red Shouldered and White (recognized 1981), and judges reward a long, clean, unbroken tail and saddle. Their rarity and dramatic type make a well-conditioned Yokohama a standout on the show bench.
How hard are Yokohamas to hatch?: The eggs hatch like any chicken egg — 99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch, with no breed-specific quirks. The real difficulty is sourcing fertile eggs: hens lay little and go broody quickly, so hatching eggs are scarce and seasonal.
How do you care for a Yokohama's long tail?: Give cocks high, wide perches so the tail hangs clear of the floor, keep housing clean and bone-dry with dropping boards, and avoid crowding. Wet, dirty, or cramped conditions break and soil the feathers you're breeding and showing for.
Are Yokohamas rare?: Yes. The Livestock Conservancy lists the Yokohama as Threatened. Only two varieties (Red Shouldered and White) are recognized by the APA in the U.S., and finding quality breeding stock usually means going through a specialist long-tail breeder or a hatchery that maintains bloodlines.
Are Yokohamas broody?: Often, yes — hens tend to go broody after laying only a small clutch, which is part of why annual egg numbers stay low. That broodiness can be useful if you want the hens to hatch and raise their own chicks.

Sources

Yokohama Chicken (breed history, varieties & conservation status) — The Livestock Conservancy (Reference)
Yokohama (rare soft feather light breed profile) — The Poultry Club of Great Britain (Breed club)
Red Shoulder Yokohama Chickens (variety, egg color & long-tail care) — Cackle Hatchery (Hatchery)

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