what do you do with molted feathers?

[Melky]

feathers readily compost and are about 40% nitrogen, but of course are mostly air, so don't add up that much. honestly I don't really see them pile up that much, the chickens eat the stray feathers or turn them into the deep litter and then once or twice a year I cycle the excess litter through our insulated tumbler composter and spread it on our fruit tress, bushes and garden. its better than anything I can buy!

I am so glad we had this discussion because I have been picking the feathers out of my compost pile and placing in garbage. I hate this job and I am no longer taking out the feathers. Now this is stress free living.

 

[aart]

I used a few to make inked holiday cards last year

Can you show us an example?
A bit confused on how you used the feathers....cut them into writing instrument(quills)?

 

[Melky]

Can you show us an example?
A bit confused on how you used the feathers....cut them into writing instrument(quills)?

Probably not big enough at tips for quills but could be wrong. Mine do not look big enough but good idea. I would also like to see cards with instructions. What a great idea. At the risk of being off topic my mother had a bunch of wild turkeys in her yard. I took a photo and used it for my evite Thanksgiving invitation. I use the free version of evite to invite family and friends to party.

 

[Mrs. K]

A couple clean feathers will really clean out the dust and fluff from a sewing machine.

 

[Melky]

A couple clean feathers will really clean out the dust and fluff from a sewing machine.

That would work if I sew. Maybe the computer keyboard?

 

[NewFlockOnTheBlock]

Can you show us an example?
A bit confused on how you used the feathers....cut them into writing instrument(quills)?

Photo of the cards below. Bought a bottle of ink and an ink roller, poured some ink onto a shallow plate, coated the feather with the ink, placed feather on blank card, put piece of newspaper on top and went over it with the roller. Voila!

 

[Melky]

Photo of the cards below. Bought a bottle of ink and an ink roller, poured some ink onto a shallow plate, coated the feather with the ink, placed feather on blank card, put piece of newspaper on top and went over it with the roller. Voila!

View attachment 1541836

Oh those are so beautiful! I have used gold embossing ink for stamped patterns but this is beautiful. I may have to try this. Thks for sharing!

 

[oregonkat]

@NewFlockOnTheBlock your cards are lovely! What a great idea. I have been looking for new ways to do some wrapping paper, bookmarks etc. I like this!!

 

[NewFlockOnTheBlock]

Aw, thank you! It was a fun project and just the right difficulty level for someone who hadn't done any crafts for at least 25 years prior to the last holiday season A lot of the recipients were really impressed and I felt like I was cheating them because truly this is something a 5 year old could easily pull off

 

[Melky]

Aw, thank you! It was a fun project and just the right difficulty level for someone who hadn't done any crafts for at least 25 years prior to the last holiday season A lot of the recipients were really impressed and I felt like I was cheating them because truly this is something a 5 year old could easily pull off

Your too modest. It’s hard to press evenly and add the right amount of paint to adequately show the feather. I can’t wait to try.