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Chicken Feather Fletchings??

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Jeremiah:
I have a few questions about using chicken feathers to fletch some cane arrows.

I read a great how to by madcrow on removing turkey feathers quill intact only problem is I don't have access to any turkey feathers.... but I do get a fresh batch of a quarter million chickens or so every 8 weeks.

So do chicken feathers make good fletchings?
If so, how you tell a primary feather, and if its left or right, if you just came across it on the ground?
Any way to humanely nab a few good primaries off a fat chicken about to head out to the choppin block?

Might seem silly, just tryin to finish up my first batch of arrows and don't want to have to wait around til the spring to get a turkey.

Thanks for any advice!

half eye:
Jer...
    The primaries are the hard feathers on a birds wing. Primaries have two different sizes on @ side on the quill.....a skinny side and a fatter side. Take your "found" feather and put the shinny side up. Now hold the feather with the skinny part facing forward and fat side facing backward.....if the feather "droops" to the right it's right wing.....if it droops left, well ya get the idea.
     Dont know any reason why they wont work as far as mechanics goes. Only question is are they long enough for what ya want (if ya want 6" fletch ya might have a problem....but if your looking for 4" or maybe 5" they might make it)
     Most poultry places scald the dead birds to get the feathers out easier, so ya can just pick some out of the "big mess". Being wet and all matted up dont hurt the feather at all....just dry it out and whack it couple times in your hand and it will be good as new. Matter of fact you can actually wash them in a dish detergent solution in a bucket, rinse, and shake them up in a sack full of sawdust and ya got clean, well manicured feathers.
    Hope that helps ya some....Ya dont know for sure less ya try it, nothin wrong with usin what ya got.
rich

Jeremiah:
Hey half eye, thanks for the reply. Thats enough to go on and like ya said can't hurt to try. I'll post some pics if it works out alright.

FlintWalker:
Good to see ya around Jeremiah!  You still shootin' the "chicken" bow :D  I never got a chance to see it after you put a finish on it. Bet it looks good.

JackCrafty:
Chicken feathers are very delicate compared to turkey, but they work, of course.  I've used guinea feathers and rooster tail feathers and they work fine as long as you don't get them oily, muddy, or bloody....any type of liquid besides water will make 'em look like they came out of a cat's mouth.  ;)

The upper arrow has duck and pheasant wing fletching.  The lower has guinea wing....notice the helix.

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