peacocks, pheasents and a newbie's confusion...

[flyfisherjoe]

Both pheasant tail fibers and peacock herl are great fly materials.

... I couldn't tie a normal fly becuase it seemed like the feather strands were just too short and also really thing and hard to work with ...

What size do you consider a normal fly? The fibers from a pheasant tail should be about 2" long. That should be plenty.

You are right when you say:

... which would come with practice I know ...

hang in there, your in for a lot of pleasure from fly tying

[GrayGhost]

raw fish
Once you get to reading more about different pattern the more you find that almost anything goes. If it works use it is the basic theory about fly tying. by the way pea cocks are in the pheasant family, lol you find the domesticated chicken their too.
Ghost