# Rooster Feathers



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

My husband use to do a bit of fly tieing and I wanted to give him some new stuff to use for some new fly's. I just killed our rooster and he had the nicest neck feathers, really thick and glossy black so I cut the skin free and stuck the lot into the freezer until I could find out how to preserve the skin.

Do any of you know how to best preserve the skin of my roosters cape? I am having NO luck with google lol


----------



## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

For tying fly's theres not much to preserving the hackle. All you need to do is remove any fat and meat from the inside of the skin and then salt it down good and tack it to a board and let it dry a few days. When dried out it will be ready to use.


----------



## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

You could also rub Borax into the flesh side after scraping. It was commonly used in museum skins/specimens that were not taxidermied.


----------



## Sully (Feb 29, 2008)

Use a tablespoon to scrape any fat and flesh from skin and rub well with Borax. Tack down flat to a piece of cardboard until completely dry. Dust off Borax. Should last for years. Bugs won't touch Borax in my experience.
Good luck.


----------

