Feathers on the Claw

[ceviche]

How easy might it be to raise your own chickens for hackle? I stumbled upon this website for the McMurray Hatchery, where you can order their "fly tyer special." As they put it:

"We have had many requests for chicks which will produce fly tying material when they grow up. Here’s a collection which will put you in business. These are all cockerels which produce the hackle feathers you want. Pullets don’t have these. This Special includes at least some of each of the following: Barred Rocks for the Grizzlies; Blue Andalusians for the Duns; at least 4 Silver Penciled Rocks or Wyandottes (straight run since we don’t sex these) for the Badgers; a Buff, Brown, or Red hackle breed for variety and experimentation."

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

I'd go this route, if I could limit my purchase to just one for fun and/or if I lived in a more rural area where I could have a handful or more. Still, for those who want to live the dream, this would seem a viable avenue. It's nice that McMurray thought about us fly tyers.

[chadk]

Hmmm, I don't think you'd really be happy with the quality of the feathers for the amount of work it would take.

We have chickens (for eggs) and ducks (just for fun). I haven't started using the feathers yet because my fly tying station has been out of service for a few months. But once I'm back in business, I'll do some sampling of those feathers. There are some very interesting ones on those ducks and I have a nice variety of chickens.

And I think all of those listed in the package are breeds you can pick up at your local farm suppy - that's where we got ours...

[kodiaksalmon]

For business, or for your own tying supply?

Have you ever raised chickens? It's not hard, but you gotta want to do it, and if you're doing it for business, a background in poultry husbandry would be beneficial, or nature would be just off on it's own.