[fiestyredhead331]

After I finish todays plucking session I'll have  a serious amount of turkey feathers lying around, thinking about putting some into the nesting boxes for the chickens? anyone tried this or something similar before and is it a good idea? Just thinking it will be super cosy for the girls and a way to get rid of at least some of the feathers? 

[Womble]

 
We composted them, and they dissapeared given time....

[shygirl]

I sold mine on ebay. iv sold loads. one lady was making a fancy dress indian headdress 

if you have seen the price of a couple of feathers in a craft shop, you'll see its a shame to throw them away.

[fiestyredhead331]

wow never thought of that shygirl...good shout!!! 

[shygirl]

aslong as you put in the ebay small print they are "uncleaned" as sometimes feathers have a bit of juice in them.
we sold the downy feathers in a bag that would fit in a brown envelope to keep postage down. big feathers sold in sets of 5 or 10.
list them for 99p then it costs nothing if it doesn't sell.

[chrismahon]

Pretty feathers sell on ebay for fly tying. Have to say we never bothered to sell ours. The pretty ones went in a vase or my straw hat and the rest were composted. Some take a good year to rot though.

[shygirl]

we used to sell boar hair too  - the long thick ones were best - my poor boar had a few bald patches - bless him but it did help pay for his feed. 99p for 50 hairs      there is a demand though for fly-fishing.

[Womble]

I never thought about boar hair, but I guess it must be like deer hair?  That's hollow inside, so it's both stiff and buoyant - perfect for dry flies, which are meant to sit on or in the surface film of the water to mimic hatching or flying insects.

I have seen feathers for sale on Ebay, but I've never tried it myself, even though we have the peacocks etc. I might have to look into that one....

[oor wullie]

Boar bristles are mostly used in salmon flies, they provide something a bit stiffer amongst the other, more flexible materials.  Think of them being like the legs of a prawn.

Goose or turkey feathers tend to be used for the wings of a fly.  When selling these make sure they are in pairs (ie. a feather from each wing) as feathers from opposite wings curve in opposite directions.  Fly wings tend to be made from 2 bits of feather held together so they have to curve into each other or the whole thing will be lop sided.