Osage Roost
General Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: Lowcountry Longbeard on November 09, 2012, 10:32:56 AM
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I am sure many of you Roosters already are aware of this project, but some may not. If you are like me and do not want to throw out any parts of such a noble bird, then this may be a good option for you. The Old Geezer himself connected me with Dr. Reyman of the Illinois State Museum who collects wild turkey feathers for redistribution to Native Americans. Apparently it was a separate project from the NWTF's, but they have now joined forces. I had 16 wings from the last 8 gobblers that I had sent to Heaven still crammed in one of my freezers and was desperate to find a home for them to make room for this falls "venison project". I pulled them all out one Sunday afternoon and let them thaw and went to work. I pulled out the propane turkey fryer and filled it up 2/3 of the way with water and heated that water up to about 180 degrees. I dunked each wing one at a time in the water for 3 minutes and then used rubber dish washing gloves to pull out all the primaries, secondaries and speculum feathers - about another 2 minutes or so = 5 minutes a wing. The feathers dry off rather quickly and are not damaged in any way if pulled straight out by the quill. The whole deal went fairly quickly, just an hour or so, and I had a hefty box full of 300+ nice turkey feathers. I received a very nice return note from Dr. Reyman thanking me for my donation and explaining that the body feathers go to the Hopi's in Arizona and the wing feathers went to the Cherokee Nation for fletching traditional ceremonial arrows. My method produced clean loose feathers, but I believe they also accept wings that have been boraxed and dried as well. My method also leaves you with the wing bones which may be important for all you "suckers" out there! If you are interested in participating, please send your prepared wings or clean feathers to:
Illinois State Museum
Attn: Jonathan E. Reyman, Ph.D.
Research & Collections Center
1011 East Ash Street
Springfield, IL 62703