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Are these feathers desirable?

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I don't know anything about flies or fishing, other than commercial fishing.
I thought this might be a good place to ask.

I'm raising a chicken crossbreed that has developed unique hackle and saddle patterning.
It is more delicate and intricate than their Barred Rock father.
They are called Rainbow Rock.

 

Should I save the feathers if I have to eat any of these guys?

 

blackclose1118.jpg

 

dexterclose1119.jpg

 

blackfoot1216.jpg

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Probably make decent woolly bugger hackle and good streamer hackle, it won't be worth much as far as money goes though.

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Tough to say from the pictures but they look fluffy and wide. I Agree, they would be run of the mill stuff for buggers and such. It does look tasty though.

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The fad's somewhat over, but you still might find some beauty stores looking for hair extension feathers.

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Free is always good. But seriously, I have used all grades of Hackle for very nice flies. It all depends on what you want to do with it. Hackle tip wings, palmering, tails, streamers or wet flies, if it looks dry enough, you may be able to use it on bigger dry flies.

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that chicken has the potential to tie some great flies with its feathers and a dinner for four

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If you don't want to kill any just yet (you seem to not want to), pluck some feathers from the saddle area and send them out for us to try. We can pm (personal message) you on this forum with addresses and then post our opinions here.

 

If you do kill your birds, skin them don't pluck them, scrape the fat off, and treat the skins (there are discussions elsewhere on the forum on how to do that right, I'm sure). Then you can send out half capes and half or quarter saddles, which is the way they're sold on the market.

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If you don't want to kill any just yet (you seem to not want to), pluck some feathers from the saddle area and send them out for us to try. We can pm (personal message) you on this forum with addresses and then post our opinions here.

 

If you do kill your birds, skin them don't pluck them, scrape the fat off, and treat the skins (there are discussions elsewhere on the forum on how to do that right, I'm sure). Then you can send out half capes and half or quarter saddles, which is the way they're sold on the market.

 

Thank you. I am willing to try that.

I thought that the markings kinda look like fish scales.

PM me if you want to evaluate these feathers.

 

I will follow your skinning suggestion.

When I've eaten a bird killed by a fox or a hawk,

I just slice it open, carve out the breast meat and chop off the legs,

so I don't need the skin at all.

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Looks like some fantastic big bass & saltwater hackle as wide & long as it appears for poppers & streamers, etc. !

 

Thanks.

I'll send you a couple if you want to try them.

 

I've been researching a little.

I'm not quite sure what makes a feather wrap properly?

I give my birds a rich diet, so maybe that'll help?

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If you don't want to kill any just yet (you seem to not want to), pluck some feathers from the saddle area and send them out for us to try.

 

I plucked two from the cape and one from the saddle.

Can you do anything with these?

 

hackles414.jpg

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They are pretty feathers, for sure. But, as has been mentioned, they are very wide. Wrapping around the hook, the barbs will stand out too far for small and medium sized flies. They'd be good for large streamers, but not much more.

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