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Duck skins
I have recently obtained some duck skins. One wood duck and one teal.
Both have been stored for some while, and are coated in crusted borax (I think!), but are also covered in what is obviously duck fat. All the feathers are sticky.
I have tried washing the teal skin in a mild detergent to remove the fat, and on the whole it have been successful so far. However the feathers appear split and a mess. Is there any way to rescue this, and what are your recomendations for the Wood Duck. (a real rarity here, so I don't want to mess it up!!)
Any help appreciated..
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I recommend that you pluck all the feathers you think are usable off of the skin. Then was the skin in a detergent to remove the duck oil. This may require several washings. I stick the feathers inside a large sock and tie the end and run it through the clothes washer. Then take the feathers and spread them out as much as possible and let them dry.
This is what I do on the ducks I harvest and it works OK.
Tim Anderson
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At a recent expo...one of the tyers said what Tim just said only he used a zippered pillow case...[think he does lots of feathers]..and then he'd put the pillow case in the dryer and said the feathers come out nice and dry and fluffy.
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Yes I suppose that is probably the best method, although I was rather hoping to keep the feathers on the skin... Is this not possible??
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In my experience the duck skins are too fatty to allow you to leave the feathers in place. I tried washing the whole skin 3-4 times in detergent and the fat still eventually soaked into the feathers. Pluck them and give them a good wash in a sock or zipperd pillow case.
For storage I have sized them in bundles and bound the butt ends with a fine copper wire. Almost as convenient as leaving them on the skin.
Duck wings can be dried successfully, just place them in a box with salt or borax (about 2" thick) and let them sit until all the moisture is gone.
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store those dried wings in air tight containers......they will still attract insects with the marrow and meat intact.....I also pluck my wings and use the wire to keep the macthed pairs..good to have matched wings from the same bird too!
Your McGinty's will look awesome!
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Ok so on a teal or a wood duck, apart from the flank feathers and the wings, what else is worth keeping??
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Back and breast faethers can be very useful in many pattern's....Still looking for hen mallard skin myself...one of these on the water !!!!!!!....Been told my outback is quiet enough to glide up on a sleeping duck!!! I shall see!!! http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif
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When I removed and washed the feathers from a woodduck skin and a mallard skin, I used a blow dryer to dry them in a small burlap sack. They came out perfect. It took a lot of time but now I have loads of feathers separated by color and type in ziplock bags.
Eric Leister in his book, Fly Tying Materials, even suggests saving the down at the bottom of each feather for dubbing!
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Mickporter:
Take a look at the breast feathers of the 2 species of ducks. They make a neat little hornberg type fly. My photographing skills are lacking, but this will give you an idea.
Tim Anderson
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ckHornberg.jpg