Bird wings

[Rob55]

Hi guys, I was at a shoot yesterday and brought home a couple of mallard drakes and a pheasant, the meat from which was delicious

However it seems a huge waste to discard the rest of the bird. I would like to remove the wings from the ducks to use the lovely blue feathers at another stage for tying. Similarly, the hen pheasant has a few nice breast feathers and tail feathers.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, when I have cut the wings off the ducks, is there anything needed to preserve them or stop them rotting? It might sound silly but I'm not really sure what there is under the feathers (flesh?) but I am sure whatever is there will decay unless somehow preserved.

Thoughts?

[Ephemerella]

I'd just pluck the feathers you want from the wing, then throw it before it decays.


Tell me that you didn't really throw the valuable bronze mallard flank feathers away?

[maharg]

Not a lot of meat on the wings and it dries out quickly. Put the wings in a brown paper bag in an airy garage with a moth ball thrown in. Leave for a couple of weeks and they should be ok.
Lots of other good feathers on the wings, grey quills and the white satins underneath are all worth using.

Cheers, Graham

[saracen]

Hi Scrob,

I agree with everything that's been said, however you are better coating the meat in salt before putting in the hot press.Keep checking it every few days and if it's still moist, put more salt on it.

Saracen

[sweenytodd]

Originally Posted by saracen

Hi Scrob,

I agree with everything that's been said, however you are better coating the meat in salt before putting in the hot press.Keep checking it every few days and if it's still moist, put more salt on it.

Saracen

Hot press being the airing cupboard for those that live outside Ireland .

I would have thought that a cool airy place was better than a warm one ??

[mayflyjunky]

Originally Posted by Ephemerella

I'd just pluck the feathers you want from the wing, then throw it before it decays.


Tell me that you didn't really throw the valuable bronze mallard flank feathers away?

The bronze mallard feather along with the well marked flanks on Teal don't come on the birds untill thay loose their plumage usually into November when the weather gets colder.

[silversedge]

Also the CDC feathers from the ducks preen gland,the ducks my Friends get me from their shoot don,t seem to have any wonder why?

[Fishtales]

I've used Borax on deer skin and wings, get it from the chemist.

The following was taken from here http://www.uky.edu/~agrdanny/flyfish/petti.htm which is quite a good article on preserving and tanning.


'Make sure that you get the meat out of the wing, if you plan on keeping that part. Make a cut on the inside of the wing and fold back the skin and cut out the meat and use Borax.'

All I did was put the wings into a bag with some borax, after rubbing some into the open end, and left it. Check it every few days and replace the borax until the flesh is dry. Don't leave it too long in the Borax or the feathers go brittle.

If you are wondering which of the Pheasant feathers to keep you might find this interesting.

http://www.jackgartside.com/art_pheasant_feathers.htm

[Jackwow]

Originally Posted by scrob

Hi guys, I was at a shoot yesterday and brought home a couple of mallard drakes and a pheasant, the meat from which was delicious

You shot two ducks and a pheasant yesterday and you've eaten them all already?! Ever heard of hanging gamebirds (pheasant) to improve the taste?

[BRUCE1]

Originally Posted by Jackwow

You shot two ducks and a pheasant yesterday and you've eaten them all already?! Ever heard of hanging gamebirds (pheasant) to improve the taste?

if it was yesterday they were shot its illegal here on a sunday not sure of over there ??? but if you look at his initial post time "today 12-16 am" i think he means saturday as he says yesterday being as its the early hours today ....