Mark, The amazing thing about feather genetics is that there are 3 basic stages- chick down, pre-nuptial, and nuptial. Each one is a separate 'program', and the 3rd may be a progressive program as the bird molts and gets older. Everything happens in the follicle- body down, quill, barbs, color, bars & spots, color patterns mating to adjacent feathers to form larger patterns (which I always find miraculous), molting cycles, seasonal cycles, etc. Everything that can happen to all of these components (and 1000's of details more), can only come from a mixture of the parental genes. And what you get is what you got. All one has to work with is dominant genes and recessive genes. This is the basis for the answer to your question.
There are many strains of the Pardo and Indio birds throughout the region of Spain where they are grown. The quality of the feathers has been bred in over generations, actually centuries, and color is what buyers look for, along with perfect confirmation of the feathers. If you're interested in the qualities they look for, let me know. Part of the market protection for Spanish CdL has been to foster the idea that CdL spades can only be pluck-harvested from mature, 'wild-grown' roosters that have been eating food from the native soil, which has chemical properties unique to that area. They also believe in plucking at the right moon-phase, which adds a mystical facet to everything. What gave credence to this for so long was the failure of anyone to come up with equal feathers grown in other areas, either from existing roosters (who lost qualities), or from hatches. Since raising chicks to maturity is an intensive project with high overhead and high mortality rates in the wild (the best die young?), it was easier to pluck-harvest feathers from mature roosters that are already established. These were also the breeders, so these traits became dominant. It usually took at least three preliminary pluckings, all trashed, to get to saleable spade hackles, then the roosters could be harvested about every three months, I believe. They only harvested good feathers, as sub-prime feather and a prime feather. Both were of excellent quality by tiers standards. I don't know if they plucked unusable feathers to see if prime feathers would grow in their place. Maybe one of the others who have researched CdL would know. The birds are supposedly treated humanely during the pluckings, as I think it would be better to have un-stressed birds. (We see what stressed parrots do to their feathers. Just my thought.) Tom raised his first chicks privately to study their genetic traits with his knowledge gained from other breeds. What he observed was that with husbandry tactics used on Hoffmans, Heberts, and Americans, he could bring out recessive qualities not seen for centuries, the main one being hi-quality first-nuptial plumage. Now he doesn't have the problems and hi-labor expense of plucking live chickens. He just harvests the neck and saddle with the same established methods used on the other breeds. He is now free to work in qualities never seen in the past as far as fast-harvest, high growth rate, hi-yield, etc. As mentioned before, the females can also be harvested for their products. As I see it, the Spaniards have protected their market very well, but the resulting price and scarcity has made quality CdL off-limits to most tiers. I remember seeing CdL in little packets only every few years, as items already scooped up by someone else. BUT, by protecting their market, they also set the limits on it. By approaching the whole process from a different direction, Tom will be putting hi-quality CdL within everyone's budget. Some may have problems with this, but the free-market society we live in is based on what Tom is doing. If you still feel that high-priced Spanish CdL is the traditional and only way to go, it will still be there, and probably easier to get, with the pressure off. But I saw a photo of what Rene bought at Sowbug. You guys are again in for a real treat. If we can track down that source, it would be time for a CdL Co-op swap. Byard? DonO ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Klemick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 5:51 AM Subject: Re: [VFB] Coq D'Leon Don, How does this reharvesting work as done in Spain? Are they plucking feathers that then regrow, to be plucked again? Mark
