Jack Dennis gets credit for the Kiwi Muddler, but I'm not sure he was the first one to have the idea. I remember very shortly after Byford introduced the Zonker, guys tying Sculpin patterns with Zonker strips, before Zonkers were in any catalog and pre-cut Zonker strips weren't available. I remember one guy in particular saying "The Matuka sculpin is a great pattern but what if I used a rabbit strip instead". I'm sure it's one of those ideas that occurred to a lot of tiers.

Back to the original question, I spray the turkey feathers. But I don't worry too much if they get separated while fishing. It doesn't seem to hurt the effectiveness much.