Treatment of pheasant feathers

[darylt66]

I have just been given feathers of which have just been freshly plucked from a cock pheasant. Do I need to treat the bony/feather ends with anything or just leave to dry out naturally? also do they need to go in to the freezer for a few days to kill of any mites and what is the best way to keep them stored for fly tying purposes.

Thank you,

Daryl

[roll cast]

Ok I'll be serious now, the way I normally do it is first scrape off all the meaty/fatty/ generally gooey horrible stuff at the bottom of the feathers, if their well plucked their shouldn't be any of this.

Wash the feathers, a bit of shampoo will help to demat the feathers fibres if their stuck together.

I normally leave the feathers to dry wrapped in newspaper on a radiator, just blot them dry first. After this I microwave them and freeze them for 3 days, then repeat this again. Then parcel them up in a ziplock bag with some napthalene crystals.

[darwin]

Hello Daryl and welcome
Please ignore some peoples children
This link might help FAQ - Processing Fly Tying Materials at Home I would wash the feathers in warm soapy water, rinse and blow dry as a first step. I then toss mine into the freezer for a few days or so. Some of the guys zap them in a microwave for a few seconds. I keep all of my materials in a sealed zip lock bag just in case. Make sure the materials are bone dry if you seal them in a bag. I had some deer hair rot on my as it was not completely dry when I sealed the bag.

[darylt66]

Thank you Darwin and Roll cast - Much appreciated

Daryl

[roll cast]

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There see my above post

[arkle]

It seems that barely a week goes past & someone asks a similar question. A simple request is DO NOT USE NAPTHALENE, it's CARCINOGENIC. There are plenty of harmless, to us, repellants out there.

[darylt66]

Hi Arkle,

What could I use instead of napthalene crystals that will be just as effective?

Thanks,


Daryl

[roll cast]

Originally Posted by arkle

It seems that barely a week goes past & someone asks a similar question. A simple request is DO NOT USE NAPTHALENE, it's CARCINOGENIC. There are plenty of harmless, to us, repellants out there.

I think you will find its actually classed as a possible carcinogen.

[arkle]

Rollcast, why take ANY potential risk to anyone/thing.

Darrylt66, a quick google of safe insect repellents should get you pretty close. Or safe organic ins... try to look for spray types as then, the chemical(s) don't fall away & possibly cause damage to other members of ones household be they human or otherwise.

[Fishing Junkie]

You can buy pheasant tails for 50p each. Why go to so much bother?? Personally I'd rather pay someone to do it than run the risk of c##King it up and infecting my other materials.