 The Best in British Hackles for the Discerning Fly Dresser |
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Sales:- Christina Tooley, Chevron Hackles, Brandirons Yard, Copplestone, Crediton, Devon EX17 5PD
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Situated right in the heart of Devon, between the two famous moorlands of the southwest, Dartmoor in the south and Exmoor in the north, is where Chevron Hackles raise their special birds; totally unique to this part of the world. Bred from American stock brought over many years ago these birds have improved generation after generation into the quality flytying materials they are today, equal to and even better than many imported capes. |
| Each year the breeding birds are chosen from the best of the previous years production; being rigidly inspected and graded according to barb quality, length of hackle and barb, flexibility of stem and density of hackling. Even the sheen, that natural sign of quality, is taken into account when choosing the best birds to breed from. After careful selection of both hens and cocks, these are then placed into breeding pens. Eggs produced by these birds are then collected by hand, placed into setting trays and kept cool until ready to go into the incubator. Temperature is important at this stage, as is humidity. Eggs are turned twice daily by hand, and every week for the next few weeks the eggs are put into the incubator. After three weeks of careful monitoring and removal of any dead or infertile eggs, hatching begins with around 800 - 1000 chicks hatching every week. Brooded under gas heat lamps for the first month, these little birds are then placed into the outdoor houses which are opened when the weather is dry enough and allowed to free range over the spring and summer months. In the Autumn when the weather turns damp and cold, the birds are then brought back inside for finishing; growing their final set of hackles in carefully controlled conditions to produce prime flytying capes. |
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Now that we have moved to a spacious farm with purpose built sheds, we are working to expand our natural colour range to include all the more popular colours such as ginger, dun, furnace, greenwells etc. Natural black is being produced, but will take a few more years to reach the quality of the genetic white and grizzle birds currently produced. |
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Here at Chevron Hackles we offer a range of British grown hackles. We know that our stems are amongst the finest, most supple available and that these will not bulk up a fly, but are still strong enough not to break when being wound onto a hook. The barbs especially on the grade 1 cock capes are stiff and dense and tie a small dry fly with case. For value we think that we cannot be challenged and our range of colours is wider than most. Long, narrow feathers provide maximum hackling with little waste.
We do not know how other genetic birds are raised, but believe that many never see natural light or scratch about in the sunshine, taking dust baths and eating grass and insects which we believe to be a hugely important part of the lifecycle of a happy healthy bird. |
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