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What else can I use?

1K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Pete-pec 
#1 ·
Besides corn cob grit to dry my bird in a garbage bag after displacing water with the mineral spirits? I do not have a tumbler and am
Looking for something I could purchase that you don't have to order out of a magazine.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks
Brandon
 
#4 ·
I simply take two old bath towels, and roll up the bird inside. I squeeze out all the water I can, and then either in the "gas" bath (which I will no longer use on ducks) then do the same thing with the duck, this time I'm squeezing out as much "gas" as I can. Then it's the hair drier. I'm not on any campaign to eliminate the "gas" bath, because I've used it the whole time (odorless mineral spirits), but it is something I will no longer use due to the fact that the skin has a certain texture water wet versus "gas" wet. I prefer how supple the skin stays after the water alone, and will no longer "gas" because of it. It has a lot to do with the length of time I have with the skin remaining moist, and the feathers remaining dry. The hair drier thing works well for me, and I can dry an average sized bird in 30 to 45 minutes. I'm however a hobbyist with that kind of time. I dry just like Brian. I start at the tail and work my way to the head, except I dry the head last, and do it right before I insert my artificial head. Brian most often uses the real skull, and his method requires the head to be dry for his method as well. Using an artificial, It is the last thing I do after sewing up the bird, and putting it on its base, therefore I need it to remain sort of wet so the eyes and bill juncture remains wet, and doesn't turn to leather. This allows the skin on the head to remain flexible and also allow it to ride of=ver the artificial head.

Another thing I do for prep the night before, is invert the bird after it has been squeezed out in the towels, I invert the bird's wings, legs, and neck, and sew all the holes needed (wings, neck, head, and breast juncture). This is where I will syringe clay based wallpaper pasted in these places to fill with this medium versus poly fill. I cannot have holes in these spots so the paste doesn't escape the skin, and onto the feathers. Of course I sew up larger sized holes, but most of the time there aren't too many to worry about on the body. After sewing up these holes, I apply a powdering of borax, re-invert the skin feather side out, and wrap in a towel, and put it in the fridge. The next day, you have a skin wicked dry and will dry that much faster the following day using the hair drier. Brian will then tumble his to help with preening, and I will agree that there isn't much preening if the bird is dried right, but I don't tumble, and have very little feather aligning to do after blowing it dry correctly. I pay very close attention to the wings and tail to make sure the feathers are shingled correctly with air-flow alone, and this help immensely. Make sure when drying that you dry the entire bird. That means all the downy feathers along the flank, the wings, as well as under the larger feathers that are mostly on the underside of the bird. I will spritz water on the inside of the cavity as I'm drying to keep the skin from getting crispy. This will not transfer to the feathers, as long as you keep the spritz on the skin.
 
#5 ·
As usuall, thanks for the great info Pete...

So, you don't "gas" at all anymore for ducks? Ie; white gas, MS? Just good fleshing and good amount of dawn baths?

What about geese? ( I know whole different ball game, but drying alone)
 
#6 ·
Just good fleshing and good washing. If you see funk in your gas bath, you didn't flesh, wash and rinse the skin or feathers good enough. Hey people may chime in here, but I work as a chemical operator, and soap in the presence of water encapsulates oil. Those gas baths help the drying process. Again, I'm not against it, I just don't like how fast it does dry.

A goose like a brant or a Ross? I would still not gas. A giant canada? Perhaps. I just dried a pair of eiders with a hair drier alone with no gas, and I'm not sure there is a bird with tighter feathers or more down? They were fine. Took about an hour, but the skin was still moist.
 
#7 ·
Makes sense to me Pete... I just built a flesher today so hopefully it will aid in a better fleshing job along with good cleaning Of dawn baths may not use MS. I will just evaluate it as I go. Again thanks for the feedback Pete.
 
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