Rough turkey fan needs help....

[ShotGunSniper]

Hey everyone. I got to know how to get those rough stubborn fan feather's look their best before I mount it. As some of you all know, my bird flopped over into a creek and I had to fish it out. So they are not lookin their best.

Btw, how many row's of feather's should there be on a fan before mounting it?

[stinkpickle]

I usually just rinse off any dirt or mud and then take a hair dryer to it.  I think some folks wash it in Dawn dish soap, or something, but I've never tried it.

I don't know about how many rows of feathers you need.  It depends on how far up the back you skin it when removing the fan.  I think I usually end up with about 5 or 6 rows in front of the fan.  I'll hafta check when I get home.

[horsedoctor]

Wash it in Dawn and rinse it and rinse it & rinse it... a lot! You don't want any soap residue to collect dust. Then you can gently blow it dry. neither will hurt it at all. Feathers are used to being rained on & blown dry. Air flowing over the feathers when flying is how they reset separation in nature  It will look good as new when you are done.

[pcgobbler]

My buddy is a taxidermist and he told me to use an eyebrow brush, just don't tell your wife you used hers!!

[ShotGunSniper]

Wash and then blow dry it. That was what I was thinkin but wanted to see how everyone else done their's. Now this fan has aready hardened well.

Btw, do you leave the bone in the tail or cut it out? I really don't want to take all the feather's out and glue them back together. 

[opster246]

Cut the tail bone out and get all the meat and fat off.  You should still have enough skin left to hold it together.  Like the others said, give it a good washing - I use Fantastic on the feather shafts to help degrease and then wash with Pert shampoo and blow dry.  Should work fine. After it dries good, I bondo mine, I've also used hot glue, but it didn't work as good as bondo.

[ShotGunSniper]

Cut the tail bone out and get all the meat and fat off.  You should still have enough skin left to hold it together.  Like the others said, give it a good washing - I use Fantastic on the feather shafts to help degrease and then wash with Pert shampoo and blow dry.  Should work fine. After it dries good, I bondo mine, I've also used hot glue, but it didn't work as good as bondo.

Thanks, I know how to cut the tail bone out. I was just not sure to take it out or leave it. Yeah, I will probley go ahead and cut it out.