dry preservitive vs. liqua-cure

[0islandson]

Which do you guys recommend for waterfowl and why?
I've done a lot of reading and not seeing any real advantage to either over the other. 
What do you think?

[George Roof]

The bird brains like regular borax while an airhead like me prefers dry preservative.  HOWEVER, considering your two choices, I'd think that PRICE would be one real advantage over Liqua-cure.

[coon hunter]

I just use 20 mule team Borax from wallmart .

[Randy H]

Borax is much more cost effective, but liqua-cure has more advantages. Borax will "treat" the skin, but you get more shrinkage from using it. It dries the skin much faster.
Liqua-cure also treats the skin, but unlike borax the skin is stabalized and dries much slower, thus reducing shrinkage. I guess it all depends on
what you want, but I will pay more for the liqua-cure advantages. My birds look much better dry when using liqua-cure.

[George Roof]

Randy, I guess I just have to ask, "Why would you want a bird skin NOT to shrink?"  I have no reason to doubt your last statement, but I know a lot of national and world champion mounts that looked pretty impressive using DP or borax.

[byrdman]

clean skin x proper mannikin x well groomed=no noticable shrinkage of bird skin......pass it over here

[Doty-Taxidermy]

I have used dry preserve and borax. I prefer borax because like George said it dries fast BUT not as fast as dry preserve makes them dry. I've never had any issues with the skins shrinking very much but I think having the right size neck/body effects that the most.

[Randy H]

George, I guess shifting feathers might be a better word. In my experiences, my birds seem to shrink more causing shifty
feathers when dry when using borax. I do not have that problem with liqua-cure. I dont have to wrap them with string
while they are drying. Everything stays right where I left it. Im not saying borax isnt good, I just like the liqua-cure results better.

[BeckyBird]

Does liqua cure leave a residue on the feathers? I've never used it.

The last time I used DP, it burned my hands. It dried out the knuckles and sides, and turned them all red. That never happened before, so maybe it was just a weird batch. Maybe I should have worn gloves.

My favorite preservative is Borax. It's cheap and doesn't burn!

[George Roof]

Becky, you should ALWAYS wear rubber gloves and especially with DP.  The alum and the talc are rapid dehydrators that dry up the natural oils on the surface of your skin and penetrate it just like it's doing on animal skins.  This is a great way to end up with dermatitis.  WEAR THE GLOVES.

[Redwolf]

I use plain ol' Borax. I used Van Dyke's instant preserve one time and it dried the skin too fast for my liking.

[SteveP]

Up here, we get a lot of waterfowl in some stage of eclipse plumage. I just tried liquacure on a fairly pin feathered lesser scaup. I managed to keep most of the pocket and head feathers through fleshing and washing by giving it a soak in denatured alcohol before skinning. After the tanning, I lost only a few small feathers in the last four rinses. The great part was NOT having to keep wetting the skin during the mounting. I only had to dampen the edges and eyelids once, with a Q-tip. Another thing about the tan, I don't have the mess of borax. It's a small thing, but noticable. It might be my imagination, but the two ducks that I've Liquacured, so far, seemed to take the foot injections easier into the webs. Normally, I never get the webs full before the stuff kicks. Just my two cents. I just wish it was closer to the cost of borax.

[byrdman]

why would you de-grease a bird....then put oil back into it? it will eventually bleed out

[SteveP]

Well, I guess I don't know everything, like some people do. I guess there IS only one way to mount a bird.

[byrdman]

Lighten up man ...I just asked