Feather Care?

[FFing Duo]

I am beginning to collect information about tying so that I can make a good Xmas list for the other half of the duo. The information on this board has been invaluable.

But in the meantime, a friend, who raises chickens, gave me some feathers. First, how do you "sanitize" them to remove mites etc? Second, are chicken feathers at all usefull?

Thanks in advance

[Loren]

I have the same question about sanitizing. I've been given quite a few peacock, pheasant and mallard feathers, but they are filthy. I cleaned one bunch with disinfectant and surfactant (liquid dish detergent) and even used color-safe bleach. This worked well, but may be too tough an environment for some feathers.

As far as chicken feathers, tiers use hen feathers all the time for wet flies. Small neck feathers and fluffy marabou-looking ones are useful.

Loren

[RoyC]

A friend of mine uses the microwave to kill any mites. Just put the feathers in a plastic bag and nuke'em for a minute or two should stop the mites.

[Steve Hudson]

A good question! Most, if not all, "naturally" sourced materials will come complete with their share of bugs, some of which eat the very materials you're trying to save. You don't want to unleash 'em in your collection!

I saw the results of ignoring this precaution one time, and one was enough to convince me. A small feather-eating bug of some sort got loose in a fly box, and before it finally ate itself to death it had neatly severed an unbelievable number of hackle barbs. The result: Instant wet flies.

The microwave approach can be used, assuming that what you're cooking doesn't have too much water or fat in/on it. Otherwise, you may cook it, filling the house with all sorts of interesting aromas.

The approach I recommend to students in our tying classes at our church is to put the material in a sealed plastic bag and pop it into the deep freeze for several days. That'll get rid of whatever's lurking in the feathers and fur.

Just don't forget what you leave in there, lest you get interesting responses when the household chef goes looking for hamburger but finds dead animal parts instead!