Does anyone do anything interesting with feathers the chickens lost?

[LynnGrigg]

I collect them too. I use them in art projects. I like to glue them down onto canvas paintings, lampshades, jewelry boxes etc. They make a cool edition to southwestern or eclectic style artwork.

 

[Varisha]

I'm saving mine for my aunt. She makes all kinds of arraingments with dried 'weeds', and all other kinds of items. (walnuts, driftwood, etc.) I can't wait to see what she does with my feathers.

 

[wegotchickens]

I press flowers and leaves to make cards with, and have been saving our pretty feathers to glue to card stock. For friends/family I'm going to print a picture of the peep it came from and then 'frame' the pic in feathers on the card. We've had a lot of support from a great many people who are supportive even if they think we're crazy. So I thought I'd send chicken thank-you notes to them!

Mom said I should be careful, since feathers have mites. Have seen no evidence of any on our feathers. Has anyone else ever heard of this?

 

[DuckLady]

I send some to my 93 YO grandmother who is unable to travel here to see my animals. Last year for her birthday, I took a pic of each chicken, duck and goose and sent a feather from each one (as far as I could tell) attached to each pic.

My husband uses some for fly tying and the rest blow over the fence and get my neighbor all riled up.

 

[Carole AM]

Hey ALL! I'm glad I found this! I also do gourdcraft, and have a stash of feathers. I use them on rims around my bowls.
If I take my pet turkeys or chickens to a "show & tell" program, I always take feathers to give the kids. They love it!

I also found this site which gives lots of good ideas.
http://www.geocities.com/felicitax/

I have more links... I have to find them.....

 

[eggzettera]

I just put mine in the compost heap - feathermeal is good for your soil.

 

[Forest_Nymph]

I've collected mine and stuck them into a premade straw wreath until it was totally covered. I hung it on the front door with a few halloween things stuck in ...after that, I stuck a few autumn things in to replace the others. BTW, most of my feathers were black irridescent with a mixture of mottled and browns. Its been a few years and with a dusting now and then it still looks pretty good !
It makes a straw wreath serve multiple purposes throughout the holidays.

 

[Dawn419]

Here's the "floral" arrangement I mentioned yesterday. I'm thinking about finding a vase/bottle with a larger neck/opening since I can't get the feathers to spread out the way I want them to. Give me some input, please!!!

Just click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture...



Dawn

 

[wegotchickens]

Since feathers are so light you should be able to put them in an old-fashioned ink bottle size of jar or bottle. A shorter bottle will allow for more spread even if the opening isn't much bigger.

I got some cute "mushroom" chickens from the craft store the other day that used real feathers for the wings and tails. I'm going to try and find directions for how to make something similar. I'd love to make a replica of each of my peeps!!

 

[Judymae]

Dawn~I love your arrangement! It is soooo beautiful!