Removing, Injecting and Installing Waterfowl Feet

[KMA]

Well, I saw that some folks were asking about this method and after using Jknuth's great tutorial on rock-casting I thought I might post this one up in hopes of helping someone else.

REMOVING, INJECTING AND INSTALLING WATERFOWL FEET

#1 Make a Ventral Incision and cut the leg free where the femur and tibia meet 


#2 Using a sharp scalpel, carefully cut the skin free from the feathered area around the leg


#3 Strip the Leg Bone of the meet and tendon, remove the ball on top of the tibia pull the foot free



#4  Here are your feet once removed from the specimen - You're on your way

[KMA]

Ok, let's move on to Part II of the Process:

Wheel the bone clean and wash throughly with dawn. NOTE: the 14 gauge wire inside the leg bone to remove the Marrow.



Next, Gather all your materials for this step. They include those pictured:


Wire the leg as usual and then wrap the tibia tightly with heavy duty string. TIP: Beef up the bone by wrapping tightly with electric tape NOTE: the area where the string is left exposed. This is important for gluing securely later.





Now your feet are ready to be injected - See, not as hard as you thought

[KMA]

Ok, now for the final Steps: Again, gather all your materials. IMPORTANT: No matter what you inject with, be it Master's Blend as in this case, formaldehyde, glycerin, Preserve It's, etc, ALWAYS wear gloves and safety googles.  You haven't lived until you squirt this stuff in your eye    Note the reference pics from the client consultation to position the bird and the feet according to his wishes for this hanging ceiling mount.


Ok, put part A in one syringe, Part B in another, put the full syringes on ice to slow the "kick" down and allow you better working time. Inject 3cc into each syringe and carefully inject from the toe up. (Takes practice, but gets easier)





Here is the Injected Foot, carded and Secured to dry in the desired position:
IMPORTANT: Do not leave the paper clips on too long as they will leave an impression in the webbing and you'll note that I DO NOT use pins to close the holes from the syringe in the feet. Let it flow where it may and clean the feet with acetone. This is to prevent the "bloated" look that you see so often on injected feet.
 

[KMA]

Ok, set the feet aside to dry and work on the bird or do something you hate, like finish work on wood ducks

Here's the pic of the prepped bird and the feet with hanging wire removed and ready for installation:


Ok, carefully align the skin, place super glue gel on the THREAD left exposed earlier and taxi the skin around the leg with tweezers. I put borax around this area after gluing to make sure the glue has kicked.




That's all there is too it. I see alot of up and coming and hardworking bird brains here on the site and I hope this helps ya'll in the future.

[RMW]

Hey thanks for the tutorial!  Thats great.  I am going to have to practice alittle though.  I still dont like using super glue around feathers anymore than I have too. 

thanks!

[duck hunter 5769]

wow thats cool!!

[ducktape1]

Great tutorial, thanks for posting it !

[Milo]

great tutorial, very instructve ..new ideeas to try   
this tutorial should have a place in the TUTORIAL Section

[stuffenstuff]

Nice, Thank you. I wish more people would do tutorials

[JimL]

Thanks for the information and the pictures.  This will help me in the future. 

[erik1]

Birdworks do you ever have any trouble getting the paint to stick on the feet.  Not really stick but scratch or rubb off easily?  I thought about starting with base coat sealer but I don't want to loose the scale detail.  (comp feet)  Maybe painting is for another topic!

[The Legacy Studio's]

Thanks for the tutorial. I wonder how this would work on a struuting turkey I'm working on.
I was taught, weather it's right or wrong, to take the turkey leg off , cut an incision in the pad of the feet, pull the tendon's out then use apoxy to close it up, then inject it, I hate losing all the juice out the incision hole.
Any recomendations for this.
Thanks again ,
Jim from Ohio

[KMA]

Birdworks do you ever have any trouble getting the paint to stick on the feet.  Not really stick but scratch or rubb off easily?  I thought about starting with base coat sealer but I don't want to loose the scale detail.  (comp feet)  Maybe painting is for another topic!

Not with Master's Blend, but the glycerin can cause problems. Clean the feet really well with acetone or lacquer. Seal with Base coat sealer or Matte Finish and let dry thoroughly before painting. And if you wanna make darn sure, a coat of mod podge doesn't hurt to keep the paint on and give the foot a fleshy appearance as well.  Tip:  A wash coat of burnt umber over the final painting helps to show the scale detail you're hoping to keep.

[KMA]

Thanks for the tutorial. I wonder how this would work on a struuting turkey I'm working on.
I was taught, weather it's right or wrong, to take the turkey leg off , cut an incision in the pad of the feet, pull the tendon's out then use apoxy to close it up, then inject it, I hate losing all the juice out the incision hole.
Any recomendations for this.

Jim, I haven't removed the tendons from a Turkey's Foot in over a decade and IMO it was initially done so the wire could be inserted more easily.  Turkey legs are big, so fantastic Cast or Master's Blend is toooo expensive.  Just use the 1 part Bird Foot Preservative and the KEY is to inject the legs several times over 3 or 4 days to keep the foot/leg from shrinking. I actually load up a needle for each toe and leave it attached and pump it into the toes,leg , etc, each morning and the needle keeps it from running back out. After 5 days remove and let dry. Then clean the legs well with acetone, seal well with fungicidal sealer and paint.   

[mimes]

Are you mixing the MB in one syringe, then injecting? Looks like you may be injecting a little of part A then a little of part B into each toe? I keep mine in refrigerator to slow kick time. Please elaborate on mixing A and B.