ragged feather question

[Dave Hyer]

I keep getting small areas of feathers where the outer edges are ragged, I believe it's from fat or grease from the washing process but I'm not sure. I wash in Dawn three timmes and then soak in Acetone for 10 min then blow dry.

[Paul C]

You didn't mention rinsing Dave.  You MUST rinse your birds throughly.  I would suggest at least 3 separate rinse baths in clean. cool water.  10 minutes is WAY too long in acetone as well.  When I use acetone on ducks I leave them in it for no longer than 2 minutes.  Upland birds even less.  10 or even 20 minutes in Coleman fuel is fine but with acetone its a no-no.

[alan webfoot]

acetone can severely dry out and shrivle up your skins

[Paul C]

acetone can severely dry out and shrivle up your skins

Hence the "no longer than 2 minutes" comment above.

[Matt]

I have had some of those issues in the past, and it was because there was some dirt or residue left in the feathers. Now if I get some feathers that are alittle rough, I go ahead and mount the bird and then hit those feather with some Coleman fuel on a cotton ball. Then blowdry them and they regain a nice clean edge for me.

[Dave Hyer]

Thanks guys

[genesis]

I've had the same problem. I now have a few "special" tools that I use while grooming my birds. I know this is going to sound weird, but, I use a flat iron (like my daughter uses on her hair) to straighten out bent or curving primaries, secondaries, and tail feathers.  I also have a hand held travel steamer (like the ones used to steam wrinkles out of clothes) that I use to relax and smooth out the feather itself. short bursts of steam will make those feathers straighten and lay down beautifully.  Along those same lines, I use a 1.5 inch curling iron to curl the tips of the primaries on those "action" flushing birds to give them that special motion look.  I tried the Danny Owens feather curler, sold by Van Dykes, but, for me, it didn't seem to work as well as the curling iron. I use a low heat setting and it doesn't harm the feathers at all.  I hope this helps.