The Old Folks Home

[Wisher1000]

Yes! Ask her if there is a secret, I didn't research extensively or try too hard. I was mostly just playing at it because I had seen some guinea feathers dyed purple and thought they were pretty. Since I had plenty of guinea feathers at the time, I thought, "why not?"

 

[sourland]

So my mom called and asked if she could by the girls a duck after a big no she said well they have Easter eggers can't I get those? of course I said yes so she asked how many because they only had 4 left so I said get all of them.Well she came by with this


That's right that is 6 dyed LEGHORNS! and on toP of that I think they are all roosters!

That is seriously funny. Dollars will get you doughnuts they are all cockerels.

 

[Bunnylady]

When someone was selling dyed chicks around here, they turned out to be Cornish Cross.

On the subject of dyeing feathers, the first step is washing them with soap. The preen oil with which the birds condition their feathers repels the dye mixture (which is usually water based). You'll also need a mordant, which is an agent that helps the dye penetrate and "fix" in the feathers - vinegar is a common one.

Here's one link I found interesting:

www.ronnlucassr.com%2Fdocs%2FDying%2520Feathers%2520101.pdf

 

[wolftracks]

When someone was selling dyed chicks around here, they turned out to be Cornish Cross.

On the subject of dyeing feathers, the first step is washing them with soap. The preen oil with which the birds condition their feathers repels the dye mixture (which is usually water based). You'll also need a mordant, which is an agent that helps the dye penetrate and "fix" in the feathers - vinegar is a common one.

Here's one link I found interesting:

www.ronnlucassr.com%2Fdocs%2FDying%2520Feathers%2520101.pdf

Ya beat me to it. Thatere are so many things you can do to alter a feather and very few people know that. Still won't forget back when my 2 oldest were little girls (37 & 35 now) and I was dying feathers for someone's regalia. I like to use natural dyes and had beet juice I was working with. I left to check my third daughter, a baby and walked back in to see Olivia and Veronica up to their elbows in beet juice. If I had the energy I had back then and thought I didn't have it, I'd have so much done now. I was very OCD and those girls were way to busy. I've only ever used vinegar on them. But I use venegar for everything.


As for the dyed chicks, it most cases it is eligel to sell them, but you can dye them in private or for closed events. I remember when I was a little girl and you could buy dyed chicks at Woolworth! Some of us did the injectable dye a while back. But you can color them with food coloring and even Kool-Aid.

 

[wolftracks]

Oh I forgot to mention that if the tip of a quill is cut and you set it in the coloring and vinegar, like upright and in a glass, the dye will travel up the quill and into the spiny sections of each feather. Like dying a rose or carnation.

 

[Bunnylady]

Near-perfect day here today. Clear skies, light breeze, temps in the 70's. The horses are all shedding, so I spent a good part of the afternoon brushing my minis. It doesn't get much better than that!

 

[sourland]

It was almost 'spring like' here. Not warm enough for the bees to be active, but warm enough that my dogs got panting after relatively short runs. I have 15 or so bird houses set up down at the beagle club, and today the first tree swallow arrived 'home'. He was circling HIS box and dived me as I walked by. By his apparent possessiveness, I am guessing that he is the resident from last year. Hope there's enough flying insects for him to feed on or that it warms up quickly so that they become active.

 

[bamachicks8]

It was plain hot here yesterday I do believe we completely skipped spring and have gone straight to summer.

 

[insanity]

It's snowing here,they say we could get 6 inches. It should blow over and be gone in a day or two.

 

[7 Biddies]

With all the AF brats on here, anyone live in Orlando (Pinecastle AFB) in the early 1950's; 1954-1955? How about Homestead AFB in 1955 to 1959? After coming home from Korea, my dad activated those 2 bases into SAC bases. Then, on to Griffiss AFB in Rome NY in 1959 - 1960. He retired when they said his next assignment was activating Minot.