Interest was expressed for me to share some images of the Coq de Leon feather plucking I witnessed during a visit to Leon in Spain during the past summer.
The harvesting of these feathers traditionally is from live roosters, and can be repeated as and when the feathers have grown back.
The feathers in question are situated between the ‘shoulders’ of the rooster, so they are neither cape nor saddle.
The rooster is introduced to the people watching. Please note there is no sign of any panic. The bird is clear eyed, very alert, but also very calm and patient all through the process. This, more than anything else, impressed and surprised me.
A start is made. Each pull removes three or four feathers.
Reaching the end of the plucking operation. The bare patch is perhaps 2"x4".
The spoils. The traditional commercial presentation is to make clusters of twelve feathers, tied or stapled together.
Some olive oil is gently rubbed onto and into the skin, heading off irritation and possible risk of infection.
A close-up of the oiled bare patch. Now the wait is for the feathers to regrow, and the next session.
Wow, Thanks for sharing that Hans. I never would have imagined that you could safley pluck a bird in such a mannor. Do birds ever die from this? It seems a bit brutal.
Wow,I didnt think that was legal! In the US anyway.If my memory serves me,it was the Dettes that were in quite a bit of trouble with the animal rights people for doing that very same thing,but with neck hackle.Thanks for the photos,time to sneak into the chicken coop down the street!!! CJ
Thanks for showing us the pictures, Hans. It’s hard to fault a process such as this when the handler is showing particular care and respect for the bird. It would seem to me that if any pain was involved, the bird would not sit still for the next yank. And, it’s gratifying to know that mortality is not a prerequisite in order to obtain some excellent fly tying material. Do you think that most bird operations in Spain handle their birds in this same manner?
Steve Schalla
The most astonishing part of witnessing/recording this was the calmness of the bird throughout it all. I have seen how brutal roosters can act, but this rooster was alert, clear-eyed, looking around, but not twitching a muscle. Was calm before, during, and after. Amazing, and I would not have believed it if I had not been there myself
I have question though. If the feathers come from the “shoulders” and are neither part of the cape or saddle, why is it that whiting are selling coq de leon capes and saddles. Are they only different from regular capes and saddles in colour or are they different in characteristics (i.e. stiffness).
In his book “The Art of Fishing for Trout on Rapid Streams” H.C. Cutcliffe recommends a similar method of plucking roosters.He raised the rarest of colors and his birds were too valuable to slaughter. Bill
I have question though. If the feathers come from the “shoulders” and are neither part of the cape or saddle, why is it that whiting are selling coq de leon capes and saddles. Are they only different from regular capes and saddles in colour or are they different in characteristics (i.e. stiffness).
Bob if you look at the picture where it shows the bare patch you will see the feathers that have been plucked, and also see the neck (cape) feathers. They are quite a bit different in both colouring and shape etc.
Now I have both, I can say that the harvested feathers are much stiffer and have longer flues. Whereas the neck and saddle feathers are similar to normal hackles apart from colouring. The colours seem to vary much, whereas the standard Leon harvested feathers seem to be more similar in shades and texture.
The harvested feathers come bundled in dozens, strung together.
Whiting’s capes and saddles are packed as normal.
They are a remarkable feather and a joy to own. It seems a shame to ruin them tying them to a hook and let a nasty trout get its mouth around them!!! LOL
[This message has been edited by mickporter (edited 04 October 2005).]
My pet rooster would put up with that nonsense for about two seconds. Two seconds more and I’d have blood blisters the size of quarters on my forearms. I think in Darby’s book, “A Catskill Fly Tyer” he showed, or explained, how to lock a roosters wings behind him without hurting him and then pick the feathers you want casually and without fear of retribution.
I’ve never met a rooster that wasn’t mean spirited. It’s their nature. That woman must have put something in his drink…lol
And if you don’t believe me, ask Denny Conrad.
Later, RW
“We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours.” -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-
[This message has been edited by Royal Wulff (edited 04 October 2005).]
If I took anything away from that session it must be the amazement at the docility of the rooster. I know how ferocious they can be.
This rooster had sparking eyes, moved its head energetically, was alert and acutely aware of its surroundings. It did not act traumatized before, during nor after the plucking. The wings did not beat, the legs were relaxed. We were with a group of some 20 people surrounding the lady and the rooster, crowding them. Cameras clicking, flash guns popping. It was simply an amazing and enlightening experience.
I remember reading, years ago, that roosters were carefully plucked twice a year. It was at molting time, so that the roosters suffered little. I don’t know if these roosters were molting or not. If so, these are feathers that are about to fall out anyway.
As a kid, there was a fellow a few houses away that raised peacocks. He didn’t seem to care at all about the shed feathers. A friend of mine gave me about 15-20 plumes one day. The birds didn’t care, they had already shed the feathers.
Dogs that are shedding seem to enjoy having the excess hair removed. Maybe birds are the same way.
I don’t know if any of you guys have tried it but it makes your eyes water! She doesn’t feel it because she does it all the time. So maybe these birds are the same and get used to being plucked so they don’t notice.
Remember that once the feathers have hardened off in the growing process, they are dead, Much like our hair. Of course they aren’t hair so they fall out so new ones can grow. A bird’s feathers must always be in top shape in order to survive. The reason feathers can be pulled off so relatively easy is so that a predator with it’s mouth around the bird might just end up with a mouth full of feathers if the bird can free it’s self. Not too unlike some lizards who can shed their tail leaving it twitching and keeping the predator busy while the lizard makes it’s get away.
The feathers on a bird that do not come out easily at all are the primaries. It needs every one of those to make it’s escape.
