I have had problems in the past and just recently where at the very end stages of the mounting process the head feathers start falling out very easily, I mean just grazing with a soft brush was lifting some of them out. During the skinning, washing and drying process there was no problem at all with any feather slippage. What exactly is going on there and how exactly can you prevent it from happening. Any info would be appreciated.
PJ
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Either remove the head via the bill, or split under the chin.
Time was probably your culprit here in the big picture, as pheasant do seem to want to slip a tad quicker than your average waterfowl.
Also, if you were able to do a full head inversion through the neck, this could be your problem as well. Those head and neck feathers are not tightly attached to begin with and inverting through the neck can be very stressful to them leading to them falling out later.
over all to answer your question.. I would say...
Practice more, to improve your time from A to Z.
and 2
Use a throat incision to remove the head.
Hope this helps,
Jon~
Your bird has either been sitting too long or you have been handling the head too much. Also,If you dont flesh the head skin well the layer of meat remaining could support bacteria growth by retaining moisture.
Tony
Or use artificials and do a total cleaning job.Tony hit the nail on the head dont handle them rough. Getting the chance to teach a class was a great reminder of just how rough people are with birds. Like working with crappies gentle and less is best....\
Practice practice practice...
Or could it be that the head is one of the last things to come into plummage, and you had some feathers that don't have much of a quill. I skinned quite a few birds this year that didn't look so bad until I inverted their heads and saw all those nasty little "early season" feather quills.
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