beginner to bird mounting/first time post

[boure351]

Hello all,

I need a little help.  I just mounted a wood duck last night, first standing mount.  My question is how to I get the feathers on the head and on the back of the head to puff out?  My feathers seem to want to lay down over the neck.

Also, When mounting a "standing mount" duck, do I need to put wire into the wings to allow for bending and for them to hold the appropriate locations, or will pinning in place work?

I made a few changes to my recent mount, one was actually injecting the feet, the feet from the last duck I mounted turned out to look like beef jerky.  I guess this will be a dumb question, but is there any way to rehydrate dry feet?

Thanks all, I a have been reading posts and everyone seems to be very helpful and knowledgeable

[3bears]

Crest feathers- caulk under skin, groom til dry.  No you don't need to wire wings on standing mount- pins work, I usually do anyway.  Good luck dehydrating the feet, I won't say it can't be done, never tryed on a mounted bird, only on freezer burned. 3bears

[caroline]

Ok, I'm new too. Can you please explain a bit more about "caulk under the skin"? Thanks

[turkeyjim]

You can get some pretty big  needles and syringes at your local Tractor supply, fill the syringe with caulk and stick the needle through the back of the neck into the top of the head and inject. This works good for the cheeks on mallards too. One word of warning, if you have a shot hole, fix it or chalk will come out.
Jim

[3bears]

When using the real skull I think doing it how turkeyjim stated would work. I typically use artificial heads so I inject caulk right out of the tube into the head skin prior to super gluing the skin around the bill. 3bears

[txoutdoors]

On the feet, you can soak them in water and work them a little to get them loosened up. Worst case, mix water and dawn soap and inject the feet with that mixture before trying to inject with filler. The soap mix will rehydrate them nicely. You may have to inject 2x doing it this way. The water you inject to rehydrate will evaporate so you might have to refill the feet a second time.

[WestWindTax]

Injecting caulk under the skin helps a lot for a crested bird IF the neck was properly measured of the bird.  If your neck is too long it will stretch the cape just like a deer on a form that is too large.  The syringes that I use are the curved tipped kind.  If you are using a real skull, you can inject them thru the eye opening.

The wings on a standing mount do not need to be wired.  You can pin them thru the elbow and hide the pin under the feathers.

Hope this helps.

[Stream Side Taxidermy]

Will not help you this time, but the next time you can use pieces of cotten and push in that area and get it to your liking before you sew up the neck.

[dog sick]

hey 3bears is there a dvd out there that shows how they use caulk. i like to watch and see how its done some times you can tell somebody till your blue in the face and still dont get it thanks

[3bears]

Check the tutorials, if not I am sure there is a DVD. I too am that way at times. 3bears

[dog sick]

thank you ill check now