Getting out Blood in Feathers on finished bird?

[Kittrell Hill (Tuggy)]

I mounted a duck and used winks to remove the blood on the feathers but after the bird dried there is a rusty color on the feathers. Just wondering if any one has a suggestion on what to use to get the white back in the feathers. Thanks

[Darrell]

It really has to be done before you mount it.  Nothing you can put on it now will do much.  Maybe try some bleach on a q-tip.

[Kittrell Hill (Tuggy)]

Thanks that is what I was afraid of. I just can't figure out why it stained back up after three or four weeks.

[Darrell]

Its probably iron not blood.

[James Parrish]

It depends on how bad the staining is and how long the bird has been dried, etc.  If the bird was mounted in the last few days and the staining isn't terrible, you can spot clean the feathers with whinks on a Q-tip.  Mist with a little water to rinse out the whinks and dry with a hair dryer.  If the stains are stubborn, you can use the 40 volume peroxide gel from the beauty supply.  Do it the same way, but let it sit for 20 minutes on the feathers before rinsing.  Be careful as it can burn your skin and the bird's feathers.  If all else fails, you can always airbrush the feathers if you need to.

[Darrell]

Hey James, how are ya.  Question i tried to touch up a pintail a few weeks ago that had some residual staining (iron).  I tried winks on a q-tip and didn't work.  How long do you let it sit?  Maybe I should have gotten the area damp.

[James Parrish]

If it is truly a rust (iron) stain, it should pretty much disappear instantly.  The feathers that are stained need to be saturated w/ whinks. 

[JLW]

Try rubbing Alcohol on a Q-tip. This sometimes works for me. LOL Wagner's Taxidermy

[AliciaG]

Try a drop of peroxide (the 3% drugstore kind is fine), put it on the stain and let it sit for about 30 seconds and wipe off what's left.  Always works for me.

[Nancy C]

I have said this so many times that I hate to repeat it anymore, but then I realize that almost nobody ever checks the archives.

Anyway,
stain removers, including Whink, peroxide and etc. do NOT remove blood. Soap and water, a toothbrush, and elbow grease remove blood.
Stain removers bleach out iron.  If you put Whink on blood, you can make it very pale in color, but the sticky protein part of it will still be left behind.
The same thing goes for peroxide.
To remove blood, SCRUB IT OUT with a soft brush and plenty of soap, THEN, and ONLY then, can you apply a stain remover in case some of the iron has leached out into the feathers.
I almost always thaw out my larger birds in lukewarmish water. This not only thaws them out so quickly that the bacteria barely have time to wake up; it also helps to loosen the blood stains so that they come out with very little work.
Smaller birds are "case by case" projects.

[Oakcreek]

Nancy... Do you go right to skinning them out wet? and why not smaller birds?

Jason

[PWS]

funny, I have no problem getting even freeze-dried blood out with hydrogen peroxide...  may not "clean" but it breaks up the blood so that it can be washed out.  I guess you could scrub and risk losing/damaging feathers, or speed up the process with a little H202.

[Darrell]

funny, I have no problem getting even freeze-dried blood out with hydrogen peroxide...  may not "clean" but it breaks up the blood so that it can be washed out.  I guess you could scrub and risk losing/damaging feathers, or speed up the process with a little H202.

I assure you that if Nancy says it then it isn't going to tear the bird up unless you strong arm it.

[Nancy C]

Jason, I squeeze out the excess water as soon as the birds are thawed and then I skin them wet. If they have iron stains I will use a stain remover on them after they have been drained, but before I skin them. That way it doesn't get on the inside of the skin and I don't miss any turned under edges or other areas.

As for small birds ... like I said, it's case by case. Anything quail sized or bigger would usually be thawed in water, but some, like doves, are better if you can get by without washing them at all.
The songbirds that I get are usually on the verge of slipping, since they are normally "found dead" salvage jobs, so I handle them very carefully. I will moisten them with denatured alcohol in order to part the feathers, but I try not to get water on them if it can be avoided. Of course, if they are freezer burned and dried up then there is no choice. In those cases I will inject them under the skin and hope for the best.

PWS,
In ... oh, 30 years, give or take, I have never damaged a bird by scrubbing its feathers. Obviously you aren't trying to rip them out by the roots; you just want to work the blood out from in between the barbules. It doesn't require brute force.
Peroxide has its place, but it doesn't have as much effect on protein as it does on iron. I don't like to make the stains harder to see before I have had time to deal with them.

Whatever works for you is what you should do.

[laststopb4home]

Kittrel, what kind of duck is it, possibly it's not stained at all???