Feathers

[tahoe 50]

Ok new to this all. Is any feather ok too use, or is there certain ones used for tying? Have a co worker who has chickens and raises chicks. Other friends who hunt for water fowl here on the coast.

[Fatman]

You can use all types of feathers!!

[skiptomylu]

You can use all kimd except for birds like song birds and for sure Eagles and other protected birds, their feathers are a no no! Now on ones it's legal, not all feathers are equal at all and for jig tails the neck hackle is best and the saddle hackle is really good for a collar. The soft hackle is also good for tails so lots of good stuff on chickens, but for marabou the chickens would be a bit on the small side and turkeys are better for that so maybe easier t just buy that stuff!

Some feathers will be too stiff to leave on the stem if making a tail and then you would need to take the barbules off the stem to use IMHO!

Skip

[canebreaker]

I have 6 Cornish X birds 14 weeks old. I'm going to skin, butcher them today.
For those that have done this before what do I need to do. I have skinned game in the past, but not to save the fur or feathers. After skin is removed I will wash it in hot soapy water and rinse. Lay them out on some fence wire to dry, cure. Do I add anything to keep the smell down?

[snake River]

We have been dyeing feathers for many years one thing you want to do regardless if you're buying loose feathers or using them off the birds in your yard is your wanting to worship them with dishwater soap rinse them really well and then when you get ready to die them put some white vanger this will set your dye when you are making your water bath pictures that you do not overheat the water keep your feathers in the pot until they turn the color you are wanting what I mean by this is if you're using a purple and if you leave it in there it will become very black looking or darker than your wanting so be prepared to all your feathers out of the pot when you get it to where you want them. we used to do this for a commercial friend of mine that tied up thousands of flies in a course I did this for myself like I said for many years some of the stuff that we posted on our some of my work though I have not said anything about that but the most important thing of all is to wash them with dishwater soap to get all the oil out of the feathers. after you are done dyeing put them in a pillow case and throw them in your dryer leap your dryer on long enough to dry them out if they are little damp spread them out on a sheet of paper I hope this will help everybody out. remember some of the best dye cost a few bucks the stuff that we've been dying specially the chartreuse is $80 a pound here is a company if you're looking to buy some I believe they are still in business fly dye stress type that into search and you should come up with the company they are very good and they specialize in dye for feathers and hair.

[snake River]

Here is a video for you guys that do not want to put a lot of money out for dye using Kool-Aid to color feathers.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsi3Qfo66lU

[skiptomylu]

I do not know all the info on it, but many high quality birds I have bought were skinned and the skin tacked to something to dry after some borax and salt. Then it keep all the feathers where they have been, but plucking and washing will work fine. Personally I always put any new feathers in the freezer for a couple days and then take them out for 24 hours and then back in the freezer for another day or two. This is to get rid of any bugs.

Good luck,

Skip

[canebreaker]

Thank you for the replies.
The 6 birds are cut up in a cooler with ice and salt for over night before I seal them in bags for the freezer.
90% of the feathers stayed on the skin. They are sitting in a bucket with 1 cup Dawn and hot water over night. I'll rinse, add salt and borax for a good 12 hour wash/soak tomorrow.