“I would also ask him if he produces any gosanke that develop fast enough, say by year 5, so that they could be entered in to shows? Brady speaks frequently about his fish developing very late in life, many times that is beyond the show life of a koi.
__________________
Mike Pfeffer”
Hi Mike,
Yes, definitely,... I do produce “some” Koi that develop more quickly,... BUT, also, this can be controlled by environment and diet, in addition to genetics. We have a lot of control over when our Koi “finish”.
Just in the last few months, Koi from my farm have been awarded “Baby Grand Champion”,... “Best In Size 1”,... “Best In Size 2”,... “Best In Size 3”,... “Best In Size 4”,... “Best In Size 5”,... “Best In Variety”,... “Young Champion Dealer Division”,... That's a pretty wide spread of awards.
I HAVE chosen my parent stock specifically to produce Koi that finish or mature more slowly,... BUT obviously not all of the Koi produced from them do finish slowly,... but by starting out with that goal in mind I am able to produce more Koi that do finish slowly. That to me is where real value is in a Koi. The length of the “journey” is Koi value. The owner has the opportunity to enjoy the blossoming of their Koi over a longer length of time. Unfortunately MOST of the higher-end Koi I sell aren’t ever shown. They go to collectors who like to enjoy them privately, SO to them a slower developing Koi is a better value. They aren't interested in rushing their Koi to a show, so longevity of coloration, and anticipation is more valuable to them.
Also,... by working with parent fish that peoduce Koi that develop more slowly I get more Koi that meet MY goals as a breeder. I do get some that finish more quickly, just by default, BUT if I were using parent stock that produced babys that finish quickly I would be getting really no “slow bloomers”. That’s not what I want. Real Koi Value is in the journey. I just read an article about an American breeder in the midwest that commented that his soil produced good colors early. He stated that the Showas from the Japanese breeder of his parent fish had “black” that didn’t emerge until the Koi was 6 years old, but at this American breeder’s farm the showa babys (from the same line) had black that was “really black” as tosai. Trust me, that’s not what you want in a high quality Koi. To finish early is,... well,... finishing early,... and there’s no where to go from there but down.
This Kohaku was born on my farm in 2004,... so it will be 3 years old in May. If we look it over we can see it is capable of doing very well in US shows right now. If we look closely at the beni we can see that it also has several years of development ahead. That to me is quality and value, and good money spent. It will do well now, and will do very well later over the next several years.
Best Wishes,
Brady Brandwood
