I know this is an old thread...but this winter I quit fishing and started chicken farming. No, for reals, that's what happened. I have an assortment of four breeds, they're still very young, only about 8 weeks old. However, I have a chick named Pot Pie that's a barred rock, and damn those feathers are sexy. Sadly, this chick almost died and I had to hand feed her etc, and now she's the tamest and thinks she's a dog, her and Ava are homies...so there's no way I can eat that one. Is it possible to use feathers plucked here and there? or will they not work as well lol. I use a ton of barred hackle in jigs and god help me if I steal jim's bugger recipe lol. I'm tempted to start cruising craigslist for an unwanted barred rock rooster, I see them posted all the time from people in the city that can't keep them when they realize their "hen" started crowing.