Processing cockerels for other purposes

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I just skimmed this thread but I'd love to know how to skin them while still preserving them for framing or whatever as another poster did. Would it be the same process as tanning a fur? (Something else I've researched but never attempted.)
You don't need to tan it necessarily. The one I posted a picture of was just dried with borax. I strung it up in the frame fresh and laid it feathers down, flesh side up and covered the whole thing in a thick layer of borax. Like as much as I could fit on it and I just left in the barn for a couple of months. You could do the same thing with salt, but you would need to remove and replace the salt a couple times early on, like after 24 hours and then after 72 hours dump the salt and replace it.

You can also use the brain of the chicken to tan the skin. Just remove the brain, mash it up in a pot and add a tiny bit of water (enough to make a spreadable paste) and boil it for a couple minutes and keep mashing it until it turns into a paste and then rub that on the flesh side of the skin. You can also use egg yolks: one egg yolk and a teaspoon or two of water whisked up and rubbed on the skin.

You could also not string it up and work the skin after tanning it (with the brain, eggs or chemical tanner) the skin will be supple and you could make a hat or bag our of it or whatever you could do with leather, but it would have a feather side instead of a hair side. you would need to make sure to "flesh" (remove all the meat and fat layer from the skin) well and possibly also wash the skin to remove as much fat as possible.

Smoke the skin with thick smoke for like an hour and you will have a tanned hide of a chicken
 
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You don't need to tan it necessarily. The one I posted a picture of was just dried with borax. I strung it up in the frame fresh and laid it feathers down, flesh side up and covered the whole thing in a thick layer of borax. Like as much as I could fit on it and I just left in the barn for a couple of months. You could do the same thing with salt, but you would need to remove and replace the salt a couple times early on, like after 24 hours and then after 72 hours dump the salt and replace it.

You can also use the brain of the chicken to tan the skin. Just remove the brain, mash it up in a pot and add a tiny bit of water (enough to make a spreadable paste) and boil it for a couple minutes and keep mashing it until it turns into a paste and then rub that on the flesh side of the skin. You can also use egg yolks: one egg yolk and a teaspoon or two of water whisked up and rubbed on the skin.

You could also not string it up and work the skin after tanning it (with the brain, eggs or chemical tanner) the skin will be supple and you could make a hat or bag our of it or whatever you could do with leather, but it would have a feather side instead of a hair side. you would need to make sure to "flesh" (remove all the meat and fat layer from the skin) well and possibly also wash the skin to remove as much fat as possible.

Smoke the skin with thick smoke for like an hour and you will have a tanned hide of a chicken
That's a great description and ideas!
 

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