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Cree Genetic Hackle Rooster Bred by Mark LaBar
Welcome!

 

Thank you for your interest in Catalyst Genetics!  Since the mid-80’s flocks of genetic hackle chickens that produce fly tying feathers have been bought up by large companies in order to control the market and drive out competition. This left just a few small breeders around the country that until recently never sold any breeding stock. Over the last couple of years a few small breeders have started to offer eggs and chicks from genetic hackle stock.  At Catalyst Hackle we have taken the best of all of these lines that we could find and produced a very high quality chicken that produces fantastic fly tying feathers.  In addition by using stock from several breeders we have managed to increase egg production, size, and health of our flock.  

About Us

 

 Catalyst Hackle was started by two life long friends that love fishing and chickens. We are a small family operation(s) raising about 150-200 rooster a year for hackle production. Located in Michigan we have great weather for raising chickens. We started with locally sourced breeding stock, then we were entrusted with very high quality breeding stock from CR Bird Farms in Washington state. Since that time we have maintained the CR Bird Farms line and used it to improve the quality of our whole flock. 

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In 2017 our family was hit with devastating medical news with a Leukemia diagnosis, 2018 was a challenging year in which our focus was on our family and we lost many birds to predators. Since then we have focused on hatching a few birds a year to maintain our CR Bird Farm line of hackle birds. 

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Fast forward to 2023, with the many challenges of the last 6 years behind us we have gathered our CR Bird Farm stock, invested in new genetics from Spurlock Hackle Farm & Heartland Hackle Farm for a fresh start. 

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Our Products

 

​- Dry Fly Capes


- Dry Fly Saddles


- Hatching eggs


- Young birds


- Breeding stock


 

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