You have to look at each hackle individually in my opinion. Browns can vary in shade greatly, in ALL breeders that I have seen. The best I have found over the years are the original "Hoffman" Browns, if you can find a leftover somewhere. I still have a brown neck and saddle that I guard closely and I grab them up whenever I find them. But it's really tough to buy mail-order with browns...more than other colors IMO.