Feather lose around eye

I have a problem to pose to you but I suspect that there is a straight forward answer to remedy with probably blantant mistake.

I was skinning a cock pheasant yesterday and everything was going ok; I successfully turned the head inside out and cleaned all the brains / fleshes / etc off the skull. I did not cut any bone out of the back of the skull (so to compress it) nor did I cut the jaw hinge. I re-turned the skin over the skull but to my horror, the little red and black feathers all fell off and left bald patches around the eye. The pheasant was given to me but it had been hund in his garage for at least 8 days.

What was the feather and red skin loss due to probably?
Do I need a different technique to turning the heads of birds?
Does the hinge of the jaw need to be cut off?

Your help is greatly appreciated on this matter

Kindest regards

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8 days in the barn ?

the loss of feathers was most likely due to the pheasant hanging for 8 days,,,,,,,,,bacteria,,,,,,becareful with the skin and check other areas,,,,,,,it can propably be repaired to some extent,,,,,,,,,,,after it is mounted let it dry and paint the red patch,,,,,apply spray on adheasive and carefully spinkle on red flocking,,,,,,,,,,,i would probably still make that side the blind side though,,,,,,,,,,,i always slit the head underneath the lower jaw of a pheasant,,,,,,,clip of the skull at the neck and remove it though the slit,,,,,,,often times you can pull the neck skin over the head to get to the skull,,,,,,but by the time you get around to pulling the skin back over the skull it is dried out and will rip,,,and i usually dont sever the lower jaw on purpose but sometime it comes apart on accident,,,,,,,,,either way will work just be sure to clean it well,,,,,,,,,hope this helps,,,,,,,,,,,,,,jim

Thank you :-) (a little further clarification needed)

Jim,

Thank you for the response, it was what I had suspeced but I am still learning alot. I don't quite understand the process of "slit the head underneath the lower jaw of a pheasant". Do you mean that you cut under the neck of the bird so that when you have cut the spine, you can push the skull down though the slit, clean the eyes out etc and then push it back up?. Is the standard stitch the best method for sewing up and do I need to pack the throat area under the stitching so to hide the seam.

Is there a good method of stopping the bacteria action "loosening feathers" or is it too late by that stage?

Kindest regards

Laurie, this one is a lost cause

Nothing stops the process once it starts. Can the bird. The BEST way to avoid this is to skin the bird while it's fresh or freeze it fresh and skin as soon as it thaws. Don't dawdle with it.

You are correct in the incision. Jim cuts underneath and for some stupid reason, I cut across the crown. Either way, the neck is skinned down to the head and severed. Then the incision is made, the skull pushed through the incision, cleaned, preserved, clayed and pushed back into the incision. Use a FINE thread and a SMALL needle with very close stitches.

Thank you again

George,

Thank you for your clarification; the few birds I have done I have turned the head inside out but they have always kept the feathers around the eye. I am going to have to practice some more until I get it right. Is there any advantage to using very fine fishing nylon compared to fine cotton? i.e. is the fine cotton prone to snapping (or do I need to develop my hamfisted touch into a "fairy light" touch.

Kindest regards

I like the nylon myself

I'm the original hamhanded person and the nylon (invisible thread) seems to hide much more easily.