Skinned it, now what?

[mart_s]

on my way home from work today i picked up some fresh roadkill a nice cock pheasant it was still nice and warm when i got home and skinned it, other than the tail feathers are there any other feathers that will be useful to me for tying small running water flies.

and now i've skinned it do i just leave the skin to cure or do i have to treat it and wash the feathers in case it was carrying any nasties?

unfortunately its ribs had smashed into the breast meat and the internals were damaged or it would of been tomorrows tea

any advice more than welcome

cheers martin

[Clansman]

Not sure whether you need to cure it or not, but other feathers you can use for running water are the back of the neck/church windows and the small wing feathers near where the wing joins the body.

[BRUCE1]

Originally Posted by mart_s

on my way home from work today i picked up some fresh roadkill a nice cock pheasant it was still nice and warm when i got home and skinned it, other than the tail feathers are there any other feathers that will be useful to me for tying small running water flies.

and now i've skinned it do i just leave the skin to cure or do i have to treat it and wash the feathers in case it was carrying any nasties?

unfortunately its ribs had smashed into the breast meat and the internals were damaged or it would of been tomorrows tea

any advice more than welcome

cheers martin

yeah make it into a soup and freeze it

[mart_s]

Originally Posted by barbusbruce

yeah make it into a soup and freeze it

its better in a pie with smoked streaky bacon, red onions, cream and port

[stevekale]

you need to remove any fat, wash it in mild detergent eg Fairy dishwashing liquid, dry the feathers with a hair dryer being careful not to dry the hide/pelt, pin it feathers down on a board and coat the skin with borax. Leave for a couple of weeks. Pour off borax and scrape of any that sticks - it sticks to the fat. Cover again and leave another week or so. After all that I would wash and dry it again.

[mart_s]

sounds like a lot of hassle might just keep the tail and bin the rest or pluck a few feathers tomorrow that i might use.

[g bigtrout]

If you dont want the church windows ill give them a good home

[mart_s]

bloody cats i hate the flea ridden things anyone know if cat pelts are any good for fly tying? went out after i'd posted this up and they'd done away with the full skin and 1 wing all that was left was the tail and a wing so plucked a few church windows and the centre tails and binned the rest i just hope it dragged it through a cat flap and the owners enjoyed waking up to a full skin of feathers

[neil26]

i have posted previously on my amateur experience of skin prep- try a search-
i found cock pheasant skin a bit difficult due to the size- quite big to store
and a lot of fat under the skin. all needs scraping off . it will take 4wks or so to dry.
i get a lot of birds in the season and have just plucked the useable feathers from the rest of the birds and popped them in separate bags.,