I don't have one. Would I be able to flesh a bird(pheasant) with something else, like say, a muskrat flesher?
Thanks.
Return to Bird Taxidermy Category Menu
DirtyDawg you don't need a flesher for upland birds, it's a nice tool to have for cleaning up the bones but I dont use them on upland skins unless a very fatty area is found. On waterfowl it is a tool that every taxidermist should have. But on upland birds I just really clean the skin well by rubbing with sqouring pad with borax under it and then wash and rinse the skin 2 or 3 time in antibactiral dawn dish washing liquid.
...but one thing I forgot to mention is the bird was pen raised, and he's real fat. Not sure if that really makes that much of a difference, so I'll try the method described above. Thanks.
Ol' Dirt Dawg
You can easily de-fat an upland bird. Use a motion somewhere in betweeb sawing and shaving ... it's hard to describe but it works very well. I have even de-fatted waterfowl using this method many, many years ago. It workes fine on them too, but takes forever, and makes more holes than you want to think about sewing up.
One more thing I would also like to mention to you if this is your first bird dont get to discouraged if you do make a few holes in it. Lord knows it happens to all of use as long as you dont loose to many of the large feathers, but if you do you can very carefully glue a few back into place another trick is on holes that are not very large I have used small stick pins to close the hole up just lift up the feathers and and push the pins through the skin into the form and whaLa it should be good to go. Good luck DirtyDawg and dont get discouraged and have fun.
So far I've been doing good using Borax and a curved serrated blade fish skinner.I got the sawing /shaving thing figured out too. It's working pretty good on the fatty areas, but I see what you mean about holes. When are they gonna add a sewing forum in dis place? LOL. Later peeps!
DirtDawg a.k.a Bird Ripper
DirtDawg:
Use a cordless drill with a wire wheel attached. It is very easy to control the speed so you don't tear into the bird. Works for me.
Elmo
Is it o.k. to store the bird semi wet? I washed and rinsed several times, but I need to trim more fat, I think. It seems to mostly be around the tail,backbone, and under the wings. It's getting to be pretty late, so I don't really have time to do this tonite. I patted and wrapped the bird in towells and stored in a large cooler(my front porch). How long can it stay like this before bad things happen?
DirtDawg