The Dow Jones Industrial average was down 180 points today. Stocks were having a bad day but oil, gold, gas, and feathers were climbing to new heights.
Rooster feathers are in high demand by the fashion world, but have the fly fisherman calling fowl. Peta is getting into the fray as the rooster population is decimated for hair stylists embellishing their clients tresses. Fly fishermen are now standing on the sides of streams with the fish laughing at their empty hooks.
The feathers are not easy to come by these days. They come from roosters that are genetically bred and raised for their plumage. In most cases, the birds do not survive the plucking.
At Whiting farm in western Colorado, one of the world’s largest producers of fly-tying feathers, the roosters live about a year while their saddle feathers - the ones on the bird’s backside and the most popular for hair extensions - grow as long as possible. Then the animal is euthanized. As hair extensions, the feathers can be brushed, blow-dried, straightened and curled once they are snapped into place. Most salons sell the feather strands for $10 to $20 a piece. The trend has become so popular a company online even sells feather extensions for dogs.
The craze has also left hairstylists scrambling to find rooster saddle feathers, as fly shops hold onto a select few for their regular customers. The businesses will now ask if the feathers are for hairdressing, said Shelly Ambroz, who owns MiraBella Salon and Spa in Boise. “If you go in, and you’re a woman, they won’t sell to you,” said Mrs Ambroz, who started to eye her husband’s fly-fishing gear after stores ran out.
“He told me to stay out of his feathers,” she said.
