Turkey Tail Cleaning

Amen Joey! I "built" this a few years ago for rinsing big birds. Let's you pull it out of the water without risking ripping the bird. Like you said immersion is the way to go, and with this contraption I can submerge and then rinse with running water while the bird stays in the holy tub too.

 

Thanks for sharing Brooke. That is clever of you.
I had been doing my turkeys suspended on a traffic cone over a floor drain.
Then using a garden hose to rinse.
For my smaller birds I have been using a large colander. But it isn't big enough for larger birds.
Your idea will work sweet. I will put it right over my floor drain.

 

One note on the "wire wheeling". That should just be the first part of it IMO. After I wheel the fat off, I take a wire bristle brush like welders use, and I brush between the quills again. I grasp the feathers and lay the base of the tail over a trashcan. Then I push the brush down through the quills to break up all the fat residue up under the skin. In my experience, the wheel never gets deep enough into the tail area for my liking.

 

I don't use DAWN EVER on any of my turkeys. Hate the stuff. When I do have to wash my turkey's (Which is about every 3rd or 4th one) I use ONLY powder TIDE. Wash once in TIDE, rinse once in clean water. Squeeze as much water out by hand, then towel squeeze more, then blow dry with shop vac in reverse with a hair dryer in intake with heat set on high. I NEVER tumble my turkeys, EVER. All this after the bird has been fleshed.

 

How I go about cleaning the quills is first with a scalpel, then with scissors, followed by wire wheel. Next, I the wrap a paper towel around the quill and squeezing with my finger and thumb nails removing everything on the quill. When it is ready to wash, it is already clean enough that I would have little problem using them for chop sticks to eat my dinner.

I pretty much just leave a thin piece of skin to hold the quills in place and approach the quills as LowT, who used to be on here, did for total meatless/fatless tails. There honestly is only a small amount of skin and quills and that's it. There is 100% no meat or fat any where.

 

^^ this^^

 

Does anyone just remove the feathers all together then bondo them before putting into plaque? Is there any benefit leaving it all intact? My primary tail feathers seem to look frazzled on the edges. I washed with dawn and rinsed 5 times twice submerged. Now have them soaking. Maybe they will come back i am not sure. It looks i have access brushed them so much that they are getting pulled up to much and not as wide as they used to be. Is that possiable? Any tips would. Be muchly appreciated. I wish i could find a taxidermist i could learn birds from trial by fire tends to get to hot on my ass.

 

Did you dry them? Once you've cleaned the nasty off the quills, put a little dawn in the sink with hot water and suds it up with your hand, then lay the tail in and rub it from the quills to the tips of the feathers, flip and repeat. Rinse numerous times under cold running water making it sure to rub each feather removing all soap. Grab it by the quills end and sling it to remove most of the water. Roll it up in a clean towel and press it. Lay it out on a flat surface and dry the feathers blowing air from the quill end towards the tips. Once all the feathers are completely dry, lay the tail out on a flat surface and arrange the feathers. Use painters tape and tape it down to the table crisscrossing your tape so you catch every feather and the ends should contact the table so it can't move. Slide a piece of wax paper under the quills and Bondo, or super glue and borax. Wait till dry, remove tape, flip it over carefully and glue the other side of the quills.

 

Yes i did dry them with blower of off my shopvac. It has a detachable blower. Now these feathers sat on the guys kitchen table about 6 month's before brought to me. The process you listed is close to the same i did but i used no hot water only cold.

 

I do it all the time.

 

Yes you can completely remove the quills, especially if you're doing a fan mount only where the display will be flat.

One note on cleaning, I'm unclear if we are talking about the coverts or the actual tail feathers. The coverts will sometimes be frayed on the ends, which there is nothing that can be done about that, it is what it is. The primary tail feathers will sometimes have twisted barbules in the individual feathers that need individual attention to zip back up. Sometimes turkeys are just turkeys and they get damage to their feathers.

If you have really stubborn feathers that just won't zip or lay flat, not that I recommend it, but you can take a iron on the lowest setting and put the feather between some parchment paper and lightly press them flat. It works in a pinch, but I wouldn't make a habit of it, you can EASILY cause more harm that good this way.

J~

 

Quote: It looks i have access brushed them so much that they are getting pulled up to much and not as wide as they used to be. Is that possiable?

The blow drying technique is the secret to restoring the width and fullness. After the feathers are thoroughly cleaned and rinsed as discussed at length, use a hair dryer on high heat, low fan. From the back side of the feather, blow it until it is HOT while holding the feather in the palm of your other hand. The heat opens the feather up and helps to zip the frayed ends back together. Each feather should be addressed individually. With some practice this becomes easy.
Hope this helps.
Blessings

 

Wow! Learn a new thing everyday. I'm gonna try this.