Hello! I hope this is the right place to post this being sports related. My uncle is an avid fly fisher and I'd like to raise some birds for the feathers for him. He ties his own flys so I'm not concerned with that, but I am concerned with harvesting the feathers.
Is there any way to get quality feathers without killing or hurting the bird? For example picking up the feathers after molting? I'm new, my chicks haven't molted yet so I don't even know if the feathers would be in poor condition at that point... One post I had read mentioned keeping the roos isolated until it's time to pull them out to determine hackle quality (I may be mistaken, it's all new to me) so does that mean you want to keep them away from the rest of your flock? Why?
Also, how old would the bird be at time of feather harvest? I'm sure it may vary by which type of feather you'd want, but even if the bird is older, would it still be good for meat? If anyone could point me in the direction of where to find the info, I'd really appreciate it. Google didn't help much so...I guess I'm asking you and I should get back to work. BYC is so addicting! Thanks to any and all replies!
Is there any way to get quality feathers without killing or hurting the bird? For example picking up the feathers after molting? I'm new, my chicks haven't molted yet so I don't even know if the feathers would be in poor condition at that point... One post I had read mentioned keeping the roos isolated until it's time to pull them out to determine hackle quality (I may be mistaken, it's all new to me) so does that mean you want to keep them away from the rest of your flock? Why?
Also, how old would the bird be at time of feather harvest? I'm sure it may vary by which type of feather you'd want, but even if the bird is older, would it still be good for meat? If anyone could point me in the direction of where to find the info, I'd really appreciate it. Google didn't help much so...I guess I'm asking you and I should get back to work. BYC is so addicting! Thanks to any and all replies!
