How do you preserve the moulted feathers

[Wilfred]

Hello i am wondering now how people here preserve the feathers moulted by their BOP's for possible imping later on. And what would be best ways of doing this.

I myself do keep them just in a glass and also in plastic. But at least the first option is actually not well for the quality of the feathers.

Any good ways known here? Must be?

[OutFlying]

Air tight plastic container - Tupperware etc.

[Graham Stuart]

Air tight plastic container - Tupperware etc.

And in the dark i think, dont know why but i read that somewhere:yawinkle:

[GregMik]

Air tight ziplock bag in the freezer.

Greg

[Renton]

Put them in a plastic box and shove them in the freezer! Too in there cold for feather mites or anything else that would try to eat them.

[Miguel]

I keep them inside a tube (normally were whisky bottles are kept) on the fridge or other cold place, sometimes in a bag then in the tube. I keep the shafts facing the bottom of the tube.
Before I store them I spray them with anti mite & lice, if needed I add a silica gel pack inside the tube...

[Tim Laycock]

I keep feathers in a brown envelope, never had a need to use anything else

[Hawkmaster]

I use an old tall Roses Chocolate bottle.

[Wilfred]

well this threat is interesting! In fact i will place them in a plastic bag or tupperware indeed from now on and then cool.

I guess freezer is actually too cold? just cellar or so or some place where it stays cool all year long would be optimal i guess

[GregMik]

Where did you get the idea that the freezer was too cold?

Greg

[Parahawker]

Where did you get the idea that the freezer was too cold?

Greg

A freezer does not weaken the feather or effect its apearance in anyway
i had over a load of Gyr Feahers in the freezer of different colour shades
& when i managed to get a full profile of Black to white it was at least 10years from start to finish!

& those of you that saw the pics will agree it was awsome

PS... I dont have the pics with me in Oz so tough.. lol

[tawoodee]

I,ve kept feathers in good condition using several methods.

Sort out the ones you wish to keep and be very selective. Putting the ones you intend to keep in an old pringles tin until the end of the moult can work provided that the dreaded mite doesn't strike. I tend to wrap the ones I want in aluminium foil with a card backing (so they don't get bent by people looking for other stuff!) 'after' they have been sprayed with johnsons anti mite spray. They keep well and imp well.

Another method i have used with success is to sort feathers by type and create a feather library. Feathers are first sprayed with J.A.M. then placed in individual A4 plastic see through document wallets. It works really well and gives you quick easy to identify feathers, especially if you keep a number of hawks. Don't forget to put feathers in quill tip down to avoid feather tip damage. Some thieving toe rag stole my last library, a sad loss as it had a lot of excellent feathers from a variety of raptors. Anyway both methods work well. You can also recondition feathers within reason if you know what you are doing.

Ta Ta.