I was wondering if you actually soak the bird skin or wash it to degrease it. I have a pair of hooded mergansers right now that I have skinned and fleshed and they are in a bin of Dawn dish soap and water. I wanted to know if it will hurt them if I just leave in the solution overnight. I have heard it called wash and I've heard it called soak. Please shed some light. Thanks in advance. This site has really helped me out being new to taxidermy, and I thank all of you who contribute to all of us new guys.
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Take them out once your sure they are cleaned and then rinse them multiple times untill you see no suds, if you dont want to mount them tonight wrap them up in celaphan and put them in the refridge, they will last in there up to 1 week otherwise freeze them. One note try not to tuck any of the outside of the bird in the inside skin if your going to store it, espically the white feathers on the hoodies as they could get stained but fat residule. I would not leave them to soak over night could loosen feathers up, just my opinion.
That's kind of what I thaought about loosening the feathers. Alright they should be pretty clean so I'll get 'em out. Thanks Jerry.
Its okay and a good idea to CAREFULLY work the skin and feathers while its in the soapy water to aid in the grease removal.Good luck
Should I be using borax after the skin is dried and tumbled. I know that it really helps out in fleshing but really stiffens the skin up. Thanks.
use the borax on the skin if you are going to store it tonight it will dry your skin up. When your ready to mount it use your borax liberally it will assist in preseving and bug proofing
You've been a big help. I've done a couple other mergs and they came out alright but I don't know what the longevity of them will be. I really took my time with these two and am trying to get good at skinning, fleshing and preserving them. I have a stockpile of sawbills in the freezer and figured they would be good to start with, after all I don't even think either of the dogs would eat one. Thanks again, Greg S.
A good friend of mine soaks every competition bird he does overnight.
He puts them in a plastic tub with soapy water, and leaves it in the fridge overnight. I'm not sure if that is the reason, but his birds shine like none I've seen. If the skin is fresh it shouldn't hurt anything any more than being in the fridge over night would.
Tony