Hackle.....?

[rayfound]

Besides, if not specified which sex, arn't they all called chickens?

Yes, but I was just making a joke that if you want hackle you need roosters, which WILL NOT give you eggs as you were hoping for as a bonus.

[1mocast]

I am still waiting for the price of a Whiting silver midge saddle on sale for $30...Post crash that is...

[Artin]

Besides, if not specified which sex, arn't they all called chickens?

Yes, but I was just making a joke that if you want hackle you need roosters, which WILL NOT give you eggs as you were hoping for as a bonus.

Eh, I'll take 'em both.... I am actually a fan of chickens. I think they are a very pleasant looking bird.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/fly_tyer_special.html

If I had room I'd have a coop with some already. I do prefer these though
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/bantam_ ... right.html





But not a whole lotta size 22 hackle coming off of these guys though

Artin

[Pete]

Ya they're cute Artin, but how do they taste?

[fly addict]

Ya they're cute Artin, but how do they taste?

I bet pretty good, I'll fire up the BBQ!
Mark

[Artin]

Ya they're cute Artin, but how do they taste?

I bet pretty good, I'll fire up the BBQ!
Mark

Pete, Mark
Give me 6 birds and 6 hours of bbq time slow cook with apple smoke and I'll just about make a sparrow taste darn good! The problem with chickens at the market today is that they are so modified to be large and meaty that they have lost taste. If you can get your hands on a true bird (which the adult will be much smaller than the ones at Vons or Ralphs) they will have an incredible taste to them.

Artin

[sschung]

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the fad will continue a bit longer. I have been talking to the other Tom at Whiting Farms about getting some necks special dyed. He has told me that the fad has move overseas to Europe, and people here are starting to put feathers in their pets here. The pet thing I do not get! Also besides the hat industry which has always bought feathers from the feather sellers, but jewelry manufactures and now hair clip manufactures are clamoring for feathers too. The worst part is that the jewelry industry will use more than just the hackle feathers. Even Marcos at Hareline has told me that the jewelry manufactures are calling him for massive orders now. He’s turned quite a few down in order to keep the fly shops stocked.

I would take Deans advise and buy half or even whole saddles/necks. You can even slip one with a fellow fly tyer to keep costs down. Cherry pick your feathers, don’t buy online. Some of the lower grade feathers are just as good as the grade above. Remember these feathers are graded by hand (the grader will miss a few or more if he has a bad day). I have necks that I bought when I first started fly tying and I’m still using them. The whole necks cost more up front, but you save a * of a lot more money in the long run. Next time, do a feather count between the 100 fly pack and a half neck/saddle or a whole one. You will see the economics.

Shane

[duckdog]

Shane is right, buying the 100 pack's is way more expensive in the long run than buying a full or half neck or saddle. About 15 years ago I had some down time because of an injury and counted the feathers on the saddles that I had at the time. this was more than 20 saddles , all whiting and a few hoffmans . I'm going off memory here but The #3 and bronze carried between260-280 feathers each(at a min. because I know that I was missing some feathers that were cupped tight to other feathers )
The #2 or silver grade carried right around 300 plus or minus a few, and the #1's were from around 300-340 .-- 100 packs are really expensive feathers !
Buying feathers and hair on line is always risky, best to be able to take them out of the package and look at them and compare with with others, but I guess the problem is that there just isn't that much in flyshops to buy or even look at. Ahh the good old day's when Bob M. used to run specials like - buy 2 saddles and get the third one free. I miss those day's.
I also miss the day's when my country wasn't 15 FREAKING TRILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT ! Thankyou congress and mr.president. Chicken feathers are the least of our problems.

[briansII]

I think this is a shameful thread. Don't you people have any feelings!



briansII

[duckdog]

That's disturbing.