WING"TIPS" # 34 Broken leg bone repair

[wingman]

Hello! I was putting a couple wholesale pheasants together today and one was to be mounted in the position of the pheasants forever logo, a hard/ fast walking bird I like to use the hip attachment on birds, especially upland as it assist in anatomical accuracy when positioning the legs. Well as usuall the bird had BOTH legs broken right at the bottom of the drumstick so I implemented this method I am about to show you, I learned this method of repair From my friend Gary Senk probably 14 or so years ago and every time I use it it works very well. Its not unlike many other methods of repairing bone damage But a couple small additional tricks may help some with leg sturdiness and leg accuracy. The following photos will have accompanying text with them to explain the procedure.The first photo shows the broken bone and the following the repair method. You will find this method will help the stability of the final mount and will resolve some of the issues in dealing with a damaged leg bone... GOOD LUCK!! 

[wingman]

The First photo shows where I cut through the  meat and tendons of the drumstick leaving them attached to the skin/leg, The second photo shows both of the legs with the damaged bone removed and the meat/tendons remaining The trick now is to LEAVE the tendons/sinew as an aide of attachment in the next step, to do so gently scrape/remove ALL the flesh from the tendon/sinew left attached to the skin. The third photo shows the step completed with the flesh removed.

[wingman]

The next photo is taken during the wiring of the damaged leg, Run your wire down and out the leg as this was a standing bird, Next wrap the tendons around the wire and tape them to the wire. I like to use the hip attachment so I retained the bone which was not damaged and I tape it in position to the leg wire. The third pic shows the leg/tendons all taped back into position

[wingman]

Okay Here the first pic show running the wire once again, This leg has no bone structure left SO I will recreate it with wire using the tendons as a ''base'' of attachment for the leg structure. The second pic shows the properly bent wire being taped into place and the third pic show the final look of the repaired leg bones You can rebuild the muscle structure in whatever manner you choose, I often use cotton or a bit of clay....

[wingman]

And here are the two birds mounted today, The walking bird is the one I demonstrated the repair tutorial on, Both of its legs were badly broken. GOOD LUCK!!

[WCTaxidermy]

Eugene, great looking mounts, thanks for posting.  John

[CR]

Thanks wingman, awesome post, I gotta ask though, what is in the pheasant mouth at the end???

[wingman]

CR, Once I get the head shape the way I want it I take black tape and tape the beak shut, keeps it from shifting during drying.

[Ginger2000]

Awesome!

Any tips on how to fix a broken leg thats burst through the skin tho??

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h31/userpen/DSCN6421.jpg

Its that bad its left a red bruise on the other side of the leg, and the bone is shattered D:

I had an idea to mount her on one foot, hiding the bad one, but I'd like to avoid that if I can - Tips?

[trophybirds.com]

that one looks like a good candidate for some super glue/borax mixture.mount the bird as usual, and prior to injecting the feet,fill the void with super glue and thenimmediately apply borax to it.this will instantly harden.at that point, go ahead and inject feet and allow to dry.once dry and prior to painting feet, sand the repaired area to blend in.

[Ginger2000]

that one looks like a good candidate for some super glue/borax mixture.mount the bird as usual, and prior to injecting the feet,fill the void with super glue and thenimmediately apply borax to it.this will instantly harden.at that point, go ahead and inject feet and allow to dry.once dry and prior to painting feet, sand the repaired area to blend in.

Sweet, thanks!