I'm just wondering if there is a way to eliminate some of the fat or grease or whatever it is that is sticking to my primaries mostly during the wire wheeling process. These feathers ultimately get into the mess along the box walls or bottom and by the time I get it into the wash, it's stuck. "hot" water seems to help when rinsing, but even that doesn't seem to remove all of it. It seems to turn into an almost glue-like substance and I spend a lot of time trying to remove it alomost piece by piece. And, it's even worse if I go ahead and dry the feathers and then try to remove it, the feathers won't "zip" together then. Maybe it's just me, but I'm guessing there's a solution to this other than spending a lot of time at the sink.
Thanks
Return to Bird Taxidermy Category Menu
Chad
I do not worry how much goo or mess gets on my feathers during fleshing. After flesing I always wash three quick times in Dawn dish liquid, degrease, tumble, blow dry and my feathers always turn out very clean. In my opinion, the Dawn is the key.
Not only should you scrub the inside skin with a brush.. but don't be afraid to hit the feathers themselves with a toothbrush, dish brush... Don't get over zealous with it.. but you're not going to hurt them.
a good soaking in dawn or other grease cutter soap, Personally I think the cheap stuff works just as good, and scrub scrub scrub ... rinse rinse rinse.. repeat... rinse rinse rinse.. repeat.. rinse rinse rinse.. repeat........ if necessary.
Jon
i soak all of my birds in paint thinner then wash with dawn after using the wire wheel.
Pre soak after fleshing with 409 it does the job!
I do wash my birds in Dawn, but the stuff seems to "coagulate" while in the wash (mainly on the ends of the primaries, and mostly with geese) and is very stubborn to remove. I'm guessing from the comments that this is a common factor and I just need to keep scrubbing them...?
Cold water will make fat stiffen up into glue, as will re-freezing a bird which has been defatted but not washed. (BAD idea!)
Every goose that I de-fat gets a nice load of goo on the primaries, but I've never had a problem removing it. I wash them in WARM (about 100 degrees F) water, squirt a little dawn directly on the wingtips, brush them lightly with a vegetable brush -- problem solved.
I have also experienced the problem as described by Chad. It appears to me that at least in my case, small pieces of membrane from the fleshing/de-fatting process become stuck to the feathers; especially the primaries. This membrane is difficult to remove during the washing process and can be hard to see or find as it tends to get between the primary feathers and stick there. It really causes problems after the bird has been tumbled and dried. The material hardens and "glues" the feathers together. It is particularly troublesome on larger birds like geese and turkeys. You can pull it out of the feathers after it has dried but it tends to separate the feathers to the point that they can't zip back up naturally. My wash sequence is pretty standard; hot water and Dawn, ERA detergent to help remove stubborn stains, rinse well, spin cycle in washer to help dry, then a soak in Camp fuel for a few minutes before tumbling and drying. Thanks in advance for any tips that might improve my process.