kind of confused

[scotty macfly 0]

Reals simple question: is the bird flu affecting rooster hackle supplies? Lately for the last couple of months I have noticed my local fly shop having less and less rooster capes and saddles. They stopped ordering Whitings 100's. Some of the big box stores are having less rooster hackle.

 

Chicken and eggs have risen in price because of it. And compared to last year at this time, egg nog is limited. All due to the bird flu. Is this just my imagination, or is the lack of rooster hackle due to this?

 

 

[mikechell 0]

Since entire stocks of birds have to be destroyed if the flu is found, it would not surprise me if everything related to chickens goes up in price.

[BuzFly 0]

Yes it is. It s harder for the companies to ship their products and receive them. Some companies would harves there birds, skin them and then send them overseas for processing and dying. Now they are getting shipments flagged. Whiting is still selling their long saddles direct to the fashion industry overseas because it is still a hot thing overseas. They are also making it harder for dealers to get saddles because they are forcing them to purchase capes with them. Whiting is not supporting their dealers as they should. The growers have to have their facility test clean for three minthing in a row before they can harvest and ship. Strung feathers are also being affected. It's a shame but the synthetics are taking over.

Brad

[Adam Saarinen 0]

Where is the Bird flu?

[mvendon 0]

Where is the Bird flu?

 

Some up to date info can be found here.

 

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/bird-flu/bird-flu-news.php?country=us

[whatfly 0]

Definitely an issue, but mostly for the imported stuff like hen saddles and necks. Much less of an issue for domestic stock, and considering the steps Whiting takes with its stocks, seriously doubt they are having many issues now. Plenty of Whiting stock in all the stores I frequent, and lots of the sites online. They do have some hardball sales tactics with stores, so might just be your shop making excuses.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

There's a variety of factors causing feathers of all sorts to be less available than years ago. As noted above the domestic production of tying feathers is still going strong (but demand is up so supplies aren't exactly over-flowing...). Most other chicken feathers (hen, saddle, neck, -cheap junk or better quality...) comes from Asia (China mostly) so disease problems and all the very serious screening of imported natural materials has been a serious factor now for over twenty years (since the first early outbreak of SARS then "bird flu", etc.). Outfits that import strung feathers as well as inexpensive capes and necks contract in advance for feathers by the barrel -and must pay up front. If Customs inspects an incoming load and finds anything out of order (any sign of raw product with flesh or blood...) then they simply impound it on the spot and destroy it by burning. Your importer doesn't even learn that a shipment was impounded/destroyed for several months and the only notice comes in a form letter.... That means your importer is out every penny (the figure I was quoted is around $5000 per barrel) spent and has no means of any recoup of funds spent.... The one load that I'm familiar with also contained a pound or two that I was waiting for so it hurt....

 

Along with the above I've also been told by more than one supplier that in general feather quality has declined over the years since most chickens these days aren't raised on the ground (factory production) and birds for food aren't allowed to reach full maturity so the feathers aren't very good quality at all (the situation for turkey maribou, by comparison, is the exact opposite since the large quantities and early harvest will guarantee us turkey maribou in bulk forever....).

 

Add to that the big hairdressing fad that raised prices through the roof for high quality grizzly saddles and the end result is much higher prices for genetic hackle and a real reduction in the available product for shops in general. I'm hoping we're past that particular fad and must admit that I was sorely tempted to sell off some of my older, really high quality saddle patches -given the high prices being paid. The temptation passed so I never sold any of my own feathers (unless they were on flies...).

 

Hope this helps folks understand the world we live in. I recent years I'd say most new patterns were based on synthetics and many new tyers have never seen or handled really high quality feathers, produced from birds that spent all their lives on the ground, scratching for food.... Wish it weren't so.l