Someone on another string was asking about hackles and I was reminded of some useful info for soft-hackles.
One of the most under-used hackles over here is from the wings of red-legged partridges, and thus they are very cheap, the outside wing gives some very nice brown/olive feathers and they inside wing gives a much paler feather which has many uses and takes colour from Pentel type pens very well.
If you can get a good white hen skin, you can use the pen and will not have to acquire a huge collection of skins. The pens I have are, six shades of grey (I like grey),four olives, four yellows and assorted other colours, browns from pale sandy to dark ochre.
I know there are dyeing fanatics out there and I very much admire their work but I've had to limit the impact of my fly tying obsession on the house.

I thought I'd add this :-
Red-legged partridge, also know as French Partridge
Alectoris rufa

Larger than the grey partridge, it has a large white chin and throat patch, bordered with black. It has a greyish body with bold black flank stripes, and a chestnut-sided tail. It is an introduced species, brought to the UK from continental Europe, where it is largely found in France and Spain.