Should I leave a bird in the fridge to thaw out or is it ok to leave at room temperature to thaw, the last bird I did was a chukar, I had alot of feather loss, I am just learning and I think I put the poor things through too many freezing and thawing cycles plus I thawed it at room temp, could this have contributed to the feather loss?
Thanks
Return to Bird Taxidermy Category Menu
I'm in South Florida , it is very hot and humid So I thaw everything in a refrigerator usually overnight , you are not suppose to thaw and freeze several times,celular decomposition starts as soon as the animal dies,if you have to thaw and then you can't do the mount for some unknown factor ,it is best to at least skin the bird and dry preserve and freeze inside newspaper,you can also freeze the carcass for future reference or measurements. good luck.
Alex is correct about not refreezing...skin and preserve and then freeze.
As far as thawing...I just hang the birds by the feet so they will thaw evenly. Plug the nostrils and vents with cotton to avoid leakage on plumage...
Wrap a damp wrag or paper towel around the head and feet as they will thaw first...ypou don't want them drying out on you.
Place a newspaper on the floor under the bird (they like to read the Classifieds when hanging around doing nothing).
When the wings drop...they are ready for skinning.
~ ETCC