Clean Peacock Herl

[mahanvey]

Hi Jim,
I have used both types of peacock feather. They both have the same result for me. I seem to get more flies from the packaged than the single feather, but really I've never counted. The trick I use is to spin my tying thread around the peacock before I wrap the hook. This gives me the strength of the thread along with the color of the herl. I use twice the number of herl pieces I normally would before I spin (just like spinning dubbing) then I put the herl around the hook and I have a perfect hook everytime.
Good Luck!
Michael

[aged_sage]

Supposedly the strung hackle comes from India, where the Blue Peacock is native, and is "harvested" by picking up the dropped feathers during the molting season, mostly by the children, who then sell them to local buyers. A process not unlike our own trapped-fur fur trade. Hence, these feathers are, for all intents and purposes, at least one-year old when they are dropped. How long they may lay before being picked up is anyone's guess, and what all of the exposure to the elements does to the feather is not known.

Bronze herl is definitely a preferred herl for some patterns, and is produced by exposing the feathers to strong light or sunlight. It does take a while for the bronze to begin to show. Except for the head and neck, I have a full skin( wings, tail and all) hanging on my wall that has a beautiful bronze color to all but the sword feathers. I do not know how old the skin is, as it was given to me about two years ago. It does not receive any sunlight but has become more bronze with time.

If I am any judge, it would require almost every feather in a tail to yield enough herl to make a standard sized package of strung herl.

Back to the "original " question, if the feather is soiled and you want to clean it, simply wash it in warm soapy water, rinse thoroughly with running freshwater and place on a clean towel to dry. I would not use a detergent, as they can be quite harsh chemically, and I would not dry on newspaper for fear of ink transferring to the wet feather.

[Greg H]

Most birds live outside and they do dust themselves. A few years ago I received a pheasant skin, and it was dull and 'sticky' to the touch. A quick slosh in a pail of tepid water with some shampoo made it shiny and manageable (what else would you expect - is this a new TV promo?) - rinse well and hang or lay out on newspaper to dry. The amount of grit in the bottom of the pail surprised me. This works well on road-kill squirrel tails too.

I have never felt the need to do the same with peacock herl, but I assume it would work just as well, and at least it wouldn't harm.