Plucking good time

[tomongoose]

Sorry if this is in the wrong bit I wasn't sure if it should be in fair game or not as its poultry not game

My friends and I have just finished the 157 turkeys for the year it normally takes us 4 days but we managed it in 3 this year and I am aching, 157 may not sound like much but it takes a fair bit of work on some of the big 30lb birds.

I find the most tiring bit is the gutting I kept getting cramp in my thumb which is not pleasant and I found the small hen birds although easiest to pluck are hardest to gut because of the lack of space inside. This year they had a lot more fat in them as well which made it a bit harder as it has been so warm they put on more weight as they didn't need the energy to stay warm as its so mild. I was particularly proud of my little brother who was only 11 and was helping us and was pretty much eyeball to eyeball with some of the big stag birds

 

[tomongoose]

sorry its so rambling it has been a long day

 

[Bowlander]

Well done, I've only got 3 to do today and thats enough for me. Was going to do them at the weekend but the warmer weather meant we may struggle storing them with no chiller.

 

[Wayne]

Tomongoose what have you done with the primary feathers? Perfect for fletching arrows.

 

[Toddy]

That's a *lot* of work
Bet your forearms, hands and shoulders are aching for a few days after that lot
.....come to think on it, doing that many, your whole body will be feeling it, especially if you were standing to do them a bit more quickly and cleanly.

Hope Christmas is Merry though

We're inclined to use Fair Game for not only the hunting/fishing kind of posts but also as a safe place to put the kind of photos that cause the squeamish to flinch.
Handy to keep things tidy for folks who open up threads on public machines, like schools, libraries, colleges, that kind of place. They know that Fair Game's the only place they're likely to come across posts of a 'visceral' nature.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[tomongoose]

Sorry Wayne the feathers got binned but I will keep some next year and Toddy your right I do ache all over. It will be well worth it as I think Christmas dinner tastes all the better for it.

 

[Silverhill]

Fair play to you mate. Me and my mate did twenty-six on Monday night after work. It was 2am when I walked through my front door, and I'm still tired from it all.

Still, you can't beat a decent turkey for Chrimbo

 

[Bowlander]

I've retained the primaries from my 3 if anyone wants them - they're black/bronze hybrids. My OH unfortunately chose the bird with a few poultry mites on and ended up having to delouse when we'd finished! There was only a handful but its making me itch just thinking about them!!

 

[Wayne]

I store my feathers with some moth balls after losing a large batch to mites. bronze turkey feathers are becoming increasingly hard to get hold of.

I am happy to skip dive for feathers but most Turkey producers wax these days and are a secretive bunch.

 

[Bowlander]

Mine are all hand plucked - some will be slightly twisted as they were hard to get out. I'll seperate them from the rest and delouse them. Send us a PM with your address and I'll post them on after Xmas.

 

[Wayne]

Cheers Bowlander

 

[Toddy]

We tell children that feathers can be infested, but if they want to use them safely, then 30 seconds in the microwave kills buggits Should work for your fletching feathers too. That said, my Granny just put them into boiling water for a little bit before she dried them off and relaid the hooks smooth; she used them to decorate hats and wee brooches.

I sometimes wonder what the mothers of these kids we teach think about the things they come out with when they get home

cheers,
Toddy

 

[palmnut]

You beat me to the request Wayne. Ah well!

Peter

 

[Bowlander]

Would tail feathers be any good? I'm happy to split the batch and post seperately if Wayne is?

I'l dust them with Louse Powder or spray them with Harkemitex.

 

[tomongoose]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I have kept some feathers back this year if you still want them Wayne

 

[Elen Sentier]

Just off to get my bird(s) tomorrow from the farm gate. Your pic took me back to childhood (I was about 9/10) and the woman next door plucking geese and turkeys at this time of year. I learned to help then but my arthriticky old hands will no longer do it. Know what you mean about cramp! The woman taught me to gut as my small hands and arms could get into the smaller birds easier. I'll never forget the first time a big old stag got up and ran about with no head adn only half his feathers on! I jumped a mile and then was fascinated, had to ask dad to tell me how it could happen

 

[johnnytheboy]

Just wondered if anyone had tried those work gloves with the rubber bonded on the outside of an inner fabric weave for plucking. I was out shootingt the other day and picked up a pigeon with these gloves on, they thing virtually exploded when i was handling it as those gloves dont have stick to the feathers!!

 

[Bowlander]

They work well but I just tend to tape up my thumb with micropore tape.

 

[tomongoose]

I use those gloves on the wings but they are a bit thick for fine plucking