I am getting ready to whack some roosters for my deep freeze. I was wondering if you have suggestions what to do with all those feathers...I have thought of pillows, but what else??

-- Storybook Farm (mumaw@socket.net), August 13, 2001

Answers

Try making feather flower arrangements, or use them to make flies for fishing, or decorate some pins or hats. Send me a feather duster, LOL!

-- stephanie nosacek (pospossum@earthlink.net), August 13, 2001.

My daughter saw gel pens with feathers just taped around the tops in the stores. Some are arranged to look like flowers, and she is making her own. I have some especially pretty feathers standing in an old blue canning jar on a shelf. It looks pretty next to an old wood egg crate. I had cheap feather pillows once, that were made with chicken feathers, and I couldn't stand the way they smelled!

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), August 13, 2001.

feathers are extremely high in nitrogen, which is why they tend to stink if allowed to get damp. Joel Salatin, internationally-known grass-farming guru, always uses the coptious amounts of feathers generated by his chicken slaughtering days, to create high-quality compost. He first puts a 10'x10' square of woodchips down 1'thick. Then he layers a foot deep of feathers, then more woodchips, and then innards a few inches thick. He repeats this layer by layer as high as it can be ptiched easily. Water the mass, and let sit. In 5 or six months, he reuses this compost to layer with beef offal. He says 6 more months turns it into the most beautiful compost you could wish for.

Dont overlook the nutritional content of those feathers that you could put into your land. It's valuable stuff.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), August 13, 2001.

I just found the coolest feather. We have about 15 humming birds that visit our feeders and there was a feather stuck to one of the feeders. It is so small that I had to use a magnifying glass to be sure that it was a feather. Now that got me to thinking---a humming bird feather pillow sure would be nice. I should have enough feathers by 2051. Doug

-- Doug in KY (toadshutes@yahoo.com), August 13, 2001.

I was in a fly tackle shop just the other day and saw a full rooster hackle(skin and all) to make fly's and jigs with. They had the price of $59.95 for just that one hackle. It gave me some ideals. If I could just learn how to dye the white hackles and saddles to make crappie jigs I'll be set to do a lot of selling/fishing.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), August 13, 2001.

Don't know if any of ya'll do Cub Scouts. We washed the nice ones (tied in a pillowcase in the washer), and made "Indian headdresses". Cubs really enjoyed it.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), August 13, 2001.

At walmart and craft stores they sell these hollow glass lamps that you can fill with things (we have one filled with seashells). One of these filled with feathers would look really nice!

-- Elizabeth (Lividia66@aol.com), August 13, 2001.

Russell, you're actually onto something. I tie flies and can always use new and different feathers. Hackles are important for dry flies (which float and imitate insect hatches), but wing feathers and crest feathers are also used, as well as down (although they call it marabou). If you know any fly tyers or have a fishing shop near you that does much with fly fishing check with them. Peacock feathers are always in demand from fly tyers, as well as feathers from other exotics, and with these you can just collect molted feathers. Your trash is always someone's treasure!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), August 13, 2001.

Dress the cape (the part with the fancy neck & back feathers) & salt it with borax.List it on E-Bay, ask about $8 per.Fly tiying folks buy 'em up!

-- SteveLewis (sparrowkiak@yahoo.com), August 14, 2001.