Using some dove feathers...Need some advice on killing bugs...

[add147 0]

Okay I have read and read on this subject and from my understanding one can use game bird feathers. Song birds are a no no! Correct? I am getting ready for my annual dove hunt here in a few days. Can't wait!!! Anyway I have read and read on how to preserve them using Borax. I think all I will be using are the wings unless someone else can suggest other areas of the bird I should utilize. Since these are wild birds I sure in the world do not wish in introduce any critters to my stash! Some folks suggest taking the wings and placing them in the freezer for several weeks, others say that will not kill the bugs if there are any in the feathers. Me personally I think 3 or 4 weeks would kill anything in the feathers. Some say that using a freezer is no good because birds up north are in the cold and still have bugs. However those birds have bugs because there is a warm bird body to help the bugs survive the cold elements. Some say nuke the feathers in a microwave for about 20-30 seconds. Well today I ran across a used microwave for $10.00. Surely after a good long freeze in a deep freezer for 3 or 4 weeks and then nuke them for 20-30 seconds in the microwave ought to kill any bugs!!! As always I value everyone's opinions and thoughts.

 

For those of you going dove hunting September 1st good luck and be safe!!!!

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Well I would take the whole skin of a dove myself, much like a pat ridge skin, as the body feathers should make good soft hackles. Cure them with borax and the freeze for 1-2weeks and you should be good.

[KOKOEK9 0]

Hi, last spring I dried 2 squirrel hides in borax and then when dried put them in plastic container for storage put mothballs in with them, don't use naphthalene they don't kill anything use parachlorbenzine not bugs evident. quarintine them for a few months just to make sure

[Bugsy 0]

Well I would take the whole skin of a dove myself, much like a pat ridge skin, as the body feathers should make good soft hackles. Cure them with borax and the freeze for 1-2weeks and you should be good.

Well, dove isn't like partridge. The skin is delicate, and the body feathers readily fall out. Skinned or not, you'll settle for a bag of loose feathers.

[Ed Gallop 0]

I wouldn't freeze and nuke the Doves. I have done that with deer hair but that was decades ago. Borax is cheap, fast, easy, and effective. I use gallon ziplock freezer bags for birds, use plenty of borax, lay them out flat and let them sit until there is no chance of eggs hatching. I have forgotten them for over a year but a couple months would easily do. Then I wash the borax out, dry, and put in fresh bags to add to my collection.

[BBBruce77 0]

If the skin has any fat present mix rock salt with the borax and that will draw out the fat and the skin looking like a piece of parchment. Use repeated applications until all the fat is gone. This is especially important if you live in a warm, humid area.

[sandflyx 0]

just borax for a few weeks will do, have been prepping birds all my life for shops and have never had a problem. 2-3 weeks is all I do. large birds need the wing cut open to get the borax into the meaty area between the bones.

[FlaFly 0]

I've been told by exterminators that eggs, like those of fleas, can survive long periods even in the cold. I wonder about things like mite eggs, etc. It sounds like some of you guys have experience with freezing feathers successfully... wonder if any have had a resurgence of scoobies after the feathers are thawed?

[phg 0]

You have to use a deep freezer, not the one on your refrigerator. The temperature needs to get down to -20f, which is about -29c. That will kill most, if not nearly all, eggs. After that, treating the skin with borax takes care of the rest. Personally, I don't have access to a deep freezer, so I just treat with borax, and have never had a problem.

 

In cold climates, insects winter over by burrowing into the ground, rotting logs, or some other material that will insulate them from the cold. Even so, the mortality rate is very high.

[sbr 0]

How does placing dog/cat flea collar in a ziplok with the feathers work? How long in bag with collars?

[FlaFly 0]

If you're gonna buy stuff to do the job, may as well just buy the feathers :-)

[mikechell 0]

Sbr ... if you're going to use a flea control product, go with the "Advantix" or "Frontline" gels. They are put on your dog oce a month and will kill ticks and fleas. Since tick and mites are in the same family of critter, I would imagine it'll kill those too.

[FlaFly 0]

I was kidding about the cost of buying flea collars, but at the cost of Frontline, etc., you could buy a ton of feathers, and high quality ones at that. Also those systemic flea poisons rely on the insect biting the dog and ingesting poisonous blood. Not sure it would have any effect just putting it on or near the feathers. Maybe we have a vet online.

[Cannonx4 0]

Wondering, could you put the skin in a zip lock bag and seal it almost up. Then give a shot of Raid into the bag and finish sealing up. Let it set in there for a day or so. Think that would work?

[FlaFly 0]

Or you could soak the feathers in gasoline, then light it on fire. I guarantee that will kill the critters.