Ok guys I need some help here. I have mounted a few ducks that turned out pretty good.THe last 3 or 4 that I started to mount didnt go that well.The first was a drake shovler and the others were redheads.I got them skinned fleshed and degreased with no problem.Once I started to mount them they started to loose alot of feathers.They lost so many feathers that I had to throw them away.Once I cleaned them I tumbled them for 6 minutes and then used a blow dryer to get them all the way dry and then start to mount them.Any ideas? I try to be as easy as I can with them.
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How long were these birds in the freezer before mounting began? How long to thaw them once out of freezer? What time of year were the birds actually harvested-Early season or late season? How long to skin, degrease, and wash? A Redhead is one of the toughest skinned birds there is and I hve never had any problem with them unless the customer has had them for too longand they are freezer burned or they have been frozen then thawed and sat in blood for a while. Give some more info about the time you take for your process and we'll try to help. Jeff www.hoosiertaxidermist.com
Could be other things, but I would highly suspect pin feathers.
WEll it takes me about and hour and a half to skin and flesh the bird and then i wash it in dawn a few time and then soak in my degreaser for about 20 minutes.I try to keep the bird as moist as possible when im fleshing.The birds have been in the freezer for about 1 1/2 years.Most of them were shot in mid to late winter.The last redhead I did had a few pin feathers in the head but the feathers that were coming out were all full grown feathers.Could it be that I am fleshing to much? when I get done fleshing you can move each feather quill by itself and thats when they seem to pull out.I try to get everylittle bit of fat a membrane off that I can.Am I taking to much out so the feathers dont have anything else to hold on to?when i dry the birds I try to keep the inside skin as moist as posible but maybe it isnt wet enough.Im lost on this one.any help would be great.
over-fleshing to me. All you ned to do is break the membrane covering the fat layer and remove some of the fat so the feather roots are seen. If you remove all the fat with the wheel you will have the problems you mention. Allow your detergent to work its magic and do the work for you. After I flesh on the wheel, I cover the inside of the skin with a good coat of dawn and gently rub it in and allow to set for 5-10 min then into the sink where I rinse the skin then soak in warm dawn water for 20 mins. or so then begin hand washing for another 20 mins. or so. rinse a minimum three times so the rinse water is clear and gently squeeze water from skin, then wrap in towels. On waterfowl I then blow excess water and tumble 5-10 mins. and blow dry with warm air till down is completely dry.