Author Topic: Turkey Feathers (Read 1873 times)

skarhand · « **on:** December 05, 2013, 10:33:55 am »

I had a question on turkey feathers.

Someone gave me a huge bag of turkey feathers that I had asked them to save for me which is great, however, they are all sopping wet and stuffed in a bag. Most that I can see are pretty jostled. Like you took your hand and stroked the feather the wrong way. Are they salvagable being like that? can I dry them and straighten them out? Or are they no good anymore?

bluegill68 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 05, 2013, 10:43:29 am »

Try steaming them over a pot, they will generally come back to shape with a little teasing with your finger, then just let them dry.

Pappy · « **Reply #2 on:** December 05, 2013, 11:03:14 am »

Need to get the all out of the bag and get them dry,they will ruin /mold and such pretty quick if you don't.Once they are good and dry it will probably suprise you how good they will look with a little straighting up. Don't try and do any straighting until they dry naturally.

Then if not satified you can steam over a pot as bluegill said.

Pappy

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #3 on:** December 05, 2013, 11:07:37 am »

First you want to spread them out and dry them, next hold each feather over the steam of a slightly boiling tea pot. They will start to re-form in the steam but you will have to shape and knit the barbs back together with your fingers. Let the feathers dry for a day or so and put them in a bag with 1/2 cup of borax( from the washing section at walmart) in the bag. Shake the bag and distribute the borax, this will keep your feathers bug free.

skarhand · « **Reply #4 on:** December 05, 2013, 11:27:33 am »

Awesome! Thanks guys.

JackCrafty · « **Reply #5 on:** December 05, 2013, 11:30:19 am »

Like everyone said, the main issue right now is getting the feathers dry. A big bag of feathers is a LOT of feathers, so you might not have the space to lay them all out. You can put them in a dryer on the lowest heat setting if they don't smell and you watch to make sure the lint trap doesn't get clogged up. At the very least, they can be put in a cardboard box and mixed together with shredded newspaper. The newspaper soaks up the moisture and the cardboard breathes enough to let moisture out. I used to use borax but now I just throw in a few mothball packets from wal-mart to kill the mites.

JackCrafty · « **Reply #6 on:** December 05, 2013, 11:32:23 am »

I made an video a while back on repairing feathers with steam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNNkT6QckXo

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #7 on:** December 05, 2013, 02:00:09 pm »

Mothballs work great but you can smell them on your feathers forever, especially while on a stand in damp weather years after you treated them.

Great video on feather steaming!

osage outlaw · « **Reply #8 on:** December 05, 2013, 02:33:52 pm »

I freeze my feathers for a week or so when I get them to kill any bugs. Then I put them in a small tub inside of a big tub where the bottom is covered with a layer of borax.

skarhand · « **Reply #9 on:** December 05, 2013, 02:47:39 pm »

Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully I can get some good feathers out of it. I will let you all know how it turns out.

Pappy · « **Reply #10 on:** December 06, 2013, 06:24:43 am »

I keep mine in air tight ammo boxes,I fog them as I add to them with permanion
tick and bug spray. Never had a problem.

Pappy

skarhand · « **Reply #11 on:** December 06, 2013, 10:13:25 am »

Unfortunately I think about 95% of the feathers are no good. In addition to being stuffed into a bag and left in the ran for a few days, they were apparently removed from the turkeys with a plucking machine and most of the feathers are mangled beyond repair.

I laid out a few, but I have a feeling I will be lucky if I get enough to fletch 2-3 arrows.

JackCrafty · « **Reply #12 on:** December 06, 2013, 10:19:17 am »

Bummer. $:-\$

Primitive Archer