Brittle Rachis?

[Hatchet Jack 0]

I've been tying up parachute patterns using grizzly neck hackle.

Dang stems break too often when wrapping the hackle around the post.

 

Any thing I could do like soak the whole neck in some solution to cut down on the breakage?

[wschmitt3 0]

Try steam. Its really really dry in my apartment during the winter and I have had luck reducing breakage with peacock herl by waving it in front of the steam vent on my kettle for a few seconds.

[FIN-ITE 34 0]

You could just soak the individual stems in water as you use them. Most likely it is just poor quality hackle because good hackle has a nice thin flexible stem.

[mikechell 0]

Start from the tip of the hackle, not the stem. The thicker portion at the stem is more likely to resist bending, and to break.

[McGnat 0]

You might try using a hair conditioner. I've done it after using hair dye to dye a hen neck. May not work for your problem, but it caused no harm when I used it.