AKA “Fly Tie Chickens”
The roosters grow long feathers suitable for tying dry flies. These are a game-type breed that lays smaller, light brown eggs. They would no doubt be excellent at free ranging, and the hens often go broody.
I bought the original trio about 5 years ago from Alsdorf Genetics, before they went out of business. Other hackle businesses only sell feathers, never live birds or eggs, to limit competitors. I don’t tie flies, I just like the looks of these roosters and enjoy having birds that are so rare. They are actually easy keepers, cocks don’t fight much, so you can keep multiples together with the hens. Eggs are small, almost bantam sized, and the hens are not especially good layers, even of the small eggs. But they taste as good as other chicken eggs, just use a few more. I think of these chickens as one of my “guilty pleasures”, the males are amazingly beautiful, and even the females have longer hackle feathers on their necks that flow in the breeze much more than normal hens.
