Hair Saddle Feathers

You WON’T find saddle feathers in the US.

Ok, having said that…

Step 1: Go to Google Maps

Step 2: type in “fly fishing south africa” or “fly fishing netherlands” or “fly fishing australia” or if you happen to be fluent in another language, do the same for those countries too.

Step 3: Go down the list of shops and start calling. Make sure your calling actual shops and not fly fishing excursion or lessons, stuff like that.

Step 4: Write out a script and have some Male call asking for a “full rooster saddle.” Tell these shops these darn women in the US are buying them all up and you are running low for your fly tying classes

They’ll probably sell you a full saddle for about $150 or so. If you get one for a lower cost, then good for you!

They’ll ask what color you’re looking for…so first I’d say Grizzly because you can get the most money from those feathers…if no, then ask for furnace or ginger, etc. I’m sure you know what you want

I called a couple shops and came across a few full saddles of dun colored feathers. So they are still out there ladies…you just need a person in the loop like myself telling you how to get them.

Stay tuned for more secrets and tips

It’s a drought out there.

Hair Salon’s…you’re going to love this TIP!

Ok, Ready?

Promise to “like” my Facebook Fan Page? Cause if you do, I’ll tell you where to find them!

Ok here goes,

Fly Shop owners are keeping their feathers locked up in the safe. If you hair salon people try to get them, they’ll hit you with a fishing pole.

They are holding them for people who will use them for fly tying.

IF YOUR A FEMALE, DO NOT CALL THE FLY SHOPS! THEY KNOW WHAT YOUR UP TO AND WON’T SELL YOU FEATHERS!! THEY’LL SAY THEIR ALL OUT

Get your hubby or cute boy toy to call them and DON’T mention they are being used for hair extensions! Geez people

As many of you already know, it’s almost impossible to find Whiting saddle feathers!

Because of the huge demand increase in the past several months, Whiting decided to create a fashion product line!

They are going to be called “Whiting Fashion Packs.”

I’ll be sure to let you guys know where to find them once they are available!

Straight from the Doctor at Whiting Farms himself.

Here’s what’s selling like hot cakes right now:

“Specifically we are selling strongly our Whiting 100 saddle hackle packs, and our flagship Whiting quarter, half and full rooster saddles.”

Before you buy hair saddle feathers, (the kind used for hair feather extensions) it’s a good idea to know what you’re buying!

There are a lot of synthetic and fake feathers, and you can expect to see more as the demand for this fashion trend increases. So if you want the real deal, it’s important to know how to look for it.

The hair feather extensions that you see in the hair of celebs, since the beginning of 2011, are from a particular type of rooster.

Not just any ol’ Rooster. The type of rooster producing these hair feathers are genetically engineered and took over 30 years to achieve the quality they are today. These roosters were specifically raised to produce these beautiful and unique feathers for fly fishing.

Fly tying is an art of twisting these feathers (along with other material) around fishing hooks to imitate a bug and then used to catch fish.


 

Background

Genetic Hackle chickens are some of the most exotic chickens you’ll ever see! These rooster feathers are up to five times longer and thinner than feathers on domesticated birds. Genetic hackle birds have been selectively bred for about half of a century for their feather quality and are a testament to the flexible nature of the chicken when it comes to extreme genetic manipulation.

There are less than 20 breeders of genetic hackle birds in the USA, therefore they’re extremely rare. I wouldn’t bother trying to contact these farms directly; their saddle feathers are out of stock for over a year. You won’t get priority over the large “hair industry” companies and fly fishing distributors.

Occasional shipments will still go to fly fishing shops in the coming months, but you can bet they won’t last on the shelves long and they’ll be twice the price.

The “Prada” and “Gucci” of rooster saddle feathers:

	Whiting is by far the biggest name for producing some of the best feather quality in the world.
	Before Whiting Farms, Metz (just bought out by Umpqua Feather Merchants) was the largest commercial producer of saddle feathers in the world.
	This is a good quality saddle feather produced out of Michigan. This breed of roosters have been improved over the last 20 years
	Collins’s main genetic emphasis is in breeding birds with thin, flexible quills that wrap true and don’t split or twist. Collins Hackle Farm has been in the game over 30 years and breeds with some of the best rooster breed lines available.

Types of Rooster Feathers

The type of rooster feathers that work best with your hair are Rooster Saddles. The saddle is the part of the rooster that produces the longest feathers.

Don’t confuse Rooster Saddles with Hen Saddles! Hen Saddle won’t work in the hair because they are too short!

Also, when you’re searching for saddle feathers, you will most likely come across “rooster capes.” Rooster Capes come from the neck area of the rooster. These feathers from rooster necks are short and could be used to put on earrings.

Other Terms Used

Some terms others are using to find saddle feathers:

Saddle Hackle
Rooster Hackle
grizzly rooster feathers
fly fishing feathers
long grizzly rooster feathers
fly tying feathers
fly tying hackle

Colors

The most popular, natural hair colored, saddle feathers are:

Grizzly
Furnace
Ginger
Badger

Other colors include:

Black
Light Dun
Medium Dun
Dark Dun
Cream
Brown
White

There is also a number of Dyed colors to necks and capes. Whiting Farms has about 46 natural and dyed colors for their rooster saddle feathers.

Grading Scale

Saddle feathers come in different “grades.” This information is important to know, that away you don’t end up with an order of real wide feathers, when you were wanting the super skinny ones.

Grade 1 – the highest quality.

Grade 2 – feathers are a little shorter than Grade 1

The high quality saddle feathers are also referred to as High Grade, or Pro Grade.

Whiting came up with their own grading scale. It’s Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Platinum. You’ll mostly see the Silver and Bronze grades, which are the grades you would want for your hair feathers. They are typically skinnier and longer.

How Long Do Hair Feathers Last?

These natural/real hair feathers can last in your hair for months (usually around 3-4), can be washed and dyed too!

Wrap it Up Yo

So to sum this all up, the type of rooster saddle feathers you want are pro/high grade feathers, that are over 10 inches long from one of the above mentioned brands.

I appreciate you reading through this post. Please be sure to “like” my hair feathers facebook fan page and share photos of your hair feathers! Thanks!

It’s no secret, fly fisherman are PISSED.

They were accustomed to walking into their local fly fishing shop, chit chat with the shop owner about good fishing spots, grab some packages of saddle feathers at a  low cost and go about their day.

Life was peaceful and the fish dinners were amazing.

This all came to an abrupt, screeching halt. Small town fishing shops were being invaded by teenage city girls. Coming in small groups wearing sun glasses and long sun dresses, smiling and giggling, looking around the store in confusion and not knowing where to start.

This scenario has spread like wild fire throughout the United States.

Suddenly the Fly Fisherman can’t feed the family and have to turn to other means of eating.  (there’s been a huge increase in illegal dog catching recently…a coincidence? I think not!) All because they can’t get the saddle feathers to make the flies (the fish bait).

But wait.

Could this demand increase the fish dinners again and decrease the illegal dog catching?

Because saddle feathers are becoming impossible to get a hold of, people are going to start getting creative. Lots of attention is going to the feather industry.

I bet people will come up with some amazing synthetic hairs that even fly fisherman could use. It could possibly create a whole new line of fishing flies!