I'm struggling to see how the hackle breeders are in any way responsible for a fashion trend in young women, or for the prices that folks are charging for feathers on eBay. I don't see that the hackle breeders have raised prices in the last few years. I paid $90 for my last dry fly cape, and I still feel like I got a bargain - I've tied dozens of flies with it and will be able to tie hundreds more, as long as the cat doesn't get it. My capes have produced feathers for dry flies, streamers, saltwater patterns - you name it. I'd guess that I'll end up at a few pennies per usable feather by the time I'm done.

My belief is that this fashion fad will last a couple months, backorders will be cancelled, and we'll have a reasonable supply of feathers again.