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glider-safe feathers #1332774
03/12/13 08:26 PM
03/12/13 08:26 PM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
Imbrium Offline OP
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Imbrium  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
there was a discussion maybe a month or so ago about feathers and store-bought feathers being treated with nasty chemicals that make them unsafe for gliders...

I'm getting ready to become a toy parts vendor and would like to be able to offer glider-safe feathers. I have a friend from the bunny forum I use who has 13 chickens and a rooster and she said she'd be happy to gather up feathers whenever one of her birds molts and send them to me (I offered to reimburse shipping when she sends me a batch and split whatever profits I make from them with her)... so now I have a few questions.

1) just to make sure - feathers from pet chickens, if properly cleaned/sanitized, *would* be glider-safe, correct?

2) how does one go about cleaning and sanitizing feathers?

3) she mentioned "I don't chemically treat them, but I do put diatomacious earth on them a few times a year. But that stuff is food grade and not harmful, but if it is to the gliders, let me know and I'll make sure I don't dust them before they molt." - is the possibility of food-grade DE on the feathers a concern? would it come off when they were cleaned or should I ask her not to dust the chickens?

4) what would people consider a fair price for glider-safe feathers and what size packages would appeal to potential buyers? I know they're super hard to come by if you don't have birds or a friend with birds... but I don't want to price gouge just because I have the opportunity. basically, I'd like to sell them for just enough to make it worth my friend's while to gather them up + shipping + my time spent cleaning them, but I don't want anyone to feel ripped off if they buy feathers from me tounge. I've honestly never paid attention to the going rates for store-bought (ie unsafe) feathers, though, so I can't even use that for a baseline until I go window-shopping for feathers.


Jennifer

http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com

Proud mommy to:

:grey: Hurricane
:leu: Lemmy
:wfb: Tabitha

and two bunnies - Nala (lionhead) and Gaz (Holland lop)
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1332801
03/12/13 10:26 PM
03/12/13 10:26 PM
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 28,219
Washington D.C. Metro Area
DCMuffin Offline
Glideritis Anonymous
DCMuffin  Offline
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I can't speak for the DE, I've never used it and I'm just not well versed enough on it. That said, it's a chemical and I, for one, would not purchase anything at all that had these feathers on them. Your friend may be 100% on the up and up, but it wouldn't be something I'd trust. JMO.

Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1332807
03/12/13 10:34 PM
03/12/13 10:34 PM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
Imbrium Offline OP
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Imbrium  Offline OP
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Texas
hypothetically, would you consider buying them if the chickens had NOT been dusted with DE?


Jennifer

http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com

Proud mommy to:

:grey: Hurricane
:leu: Lemmy
:wfb: Tabitha

and two bunnies - Nala (lionhead) and Gaz (Holland lop)
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1332828
03/13/13 03:30 AM
03/13/13 03:30 AM
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 7,748
New Jersey
JillMarie Offline
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JillMarie  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 7,748
New Jersey
1. Yes

2. As long as her chickens do not have any diseases or other health issues, then washing them in warm water and soap is fine in my opinion. BUT, and this is a huge but, they need to be free of any parasites/virus/etc. I had a friend who had pigeons, and found out they had a "brain parasite" and he THOUGHT is was not harmful to humans so didnt worry about it. It is. And I refused his beautiful feathers. Chicken poop can be very nasty and harbor bacteria. Best to gather the feathers ASAP after molting and only those from OUTSIDE the coup so the chances of them getting contaminated by poop is lessened.

3. She dusts them to keep lice and other bugs at bay. You may ant to reconsider using them if she is having a parasite problem. If she uses it for "preventive" maintenance, just washing the feathers in soap and water is fine. Food Grade DE is not a chemical really, it is ground up fossil matter.

4. Only you can decide that one. I have a hard time with pricing as well.


:grey: Bosom Buddy Creations:grey:
^website link wink

Remember that God Loves You!
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1332927
03/13/13 05:56 PM
03/13/13 05:56 PM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
Imbrium Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Imbrium  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
thank you for the great answers, JillMarie! I'll ask her about vet check-ups and such and talk to her about your recommendations for gathering the feathers smile.

I'd love a few more opinions about the DE... Aimee's opinion seems to be that it doesn't matter whether or not it's "safe"; she doesn't know enough about it personally to be comfortable with it. that's a very valid viewpoint (I think most of us are the "better safe than sorry" sorts!) and I'd like to know if others who don't know much about DE are liable to feel the same way. I'm leaning towards asking her not to dust prior to molts on the grounds that some people might not be comfortable with it smile. (she does dust with DE just as a preventative measure)

if anyone else has input, I'm up for hearing it... including any other questions people might ask (regarding her chickens, their care/health, how the feathers are collected, how they're cleaned/sanitized, etc.) before deciding for themselves whether they feel the feathers are safe.

I want to be able to offer feathers that both live up to my own standards (as far as feeling that they're safe to use with my personal gliders) AND which live up to whatever standards potential buyers might have - there may be questions or concerns that I've overlooked. if there's ANY reason her feathers might not be safe to use with gliders, I want to know *before* I offer them for sale so that I can either work with her to address/remedy the concern or conclude that I shouldn't sell them after all.


Jennifer

http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com

Proud mommy to:

:grey: Hurricane
:leu: Lemmy
:wfb: Tabitha

and two bunnies - Nala (lionhead) and Gaz (Holland lop)
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333014
03/14/13 03:16 AM
03/14/13 03:16 AM
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 7,748
New Jersey
JillMarie Offline
Serious Glideritis
JillMarie  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 7,748
New Jersey
http://diatomaceousearth.net/?gclid=CJzg3_rW-7UCFYWo4AodYHQAnA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

http://www.diatomaceousearthfoodgrade.com/

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html

It is ground fossils.
NO chemicals.
It is used on both animals and humans.
Used internally and externally.
The only issue I see is it would be an eye irritant to gliders. But washing in soapy water should remove most of it from the feathers.

On another note...I would be willing to buy some of her feathers for making jewelry. As far as pricing...again...I have no idea, and as far as what I am willing to pay depends on the type and size feathers (when shopping for jewelry I also have to consider cost/resale prices)


:grey: Bosom Buddy Creations:grey:
^website link wink

Remember that God Loves You!
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333023
03/14/13 04:40 AM
03/14/13 04:40 AM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
Imbrium Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Imbrium  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
it's been a LONG time since I've seen a chicken, so I'm not 100% sure what size their feathers mostly are... I'm thinking I might go by weight (I've got a joey scale that can measure to the tenth of a gram); either way, I anticipate pricing them in a way that's comparable to craft-store feather prices (certainly no more than that). depending on how many feathers she supplies me with, though, there's a very good chance that I'll limit the amount that each person can buy unless demand is pretty low since glider-safe feathers are so hard to come by and I'd rather limit the quantity than set prices that discourage buying large amounts tounge.

I'll let you know once I actually have some feathers from her... if that's all you're buying from me, they're crazy light weight so I'm thinking padded envelope/first class mail would be a great way to go. for example, 6 oz (including envelope weight) would only be around 2.5 bucks plus the cost of the envelope.


Jennifer

http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com

Proud mommy to:

:grey: Hurricane
:leu: Lemmy
:wfb: Tabitha

and two bunnies - Nala (lionhead) and Gaz (Holland lop)
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333078
03/14/13 12:05 PM
03/14/13 12:05 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
CandyOtte Offline
Serious Glideritis
CandyOtte  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
Quote:
6 oz (including envelope weight)


You may be overly optimistic in the amount of feathers your friend can gather from 14 birds. Only the larger feathers would be useful for gliders to play with and there are probably no more than 6 oz of large feathers PER Chicken and they are not shed all at one time.

http://www.smileyme.com/lprod.asp?lookup=4251


Candy Otte
& the Glider Kids
Sassy, Corky, Mehitabel & Missy
Wacco, Yacco, & Dot
Mindy, Kanobles, Elmo, & Chipper

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CandyOtte@aol.com
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333080
03/14/13 12:30 PM
03/14/13 12:30 PM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
Imbrium Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Imbrium  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
it's more that I was erring on the side of "worst case scenario" shipping charges... and totally overestimated the weight of a padded envelope too - I just weighed a really big one and it only came out to .8 oz. now that I know what the envelope weighs, I'm thinking a decent sized order of feathers packaged in an envelope would be more like 2-3 oz, which would only be around $2 shipping tounge

on the plus side, she's apparently starting up a hatchery, so there may end up being more chickens to collect from :D

Last edited by Imbrium; 03/14/13 12:31 PM.

Jennifer

http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com

Proud mommy to:

:grey: Hurricane
:leu: Lemmy
:wfb: Tabitha

and two bunnies - Nala (lionhead) and Gaz (Holland lop)
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333115
03/14/13 05:37 PM
03/14/13 05:37 PM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
Imbrium Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Imbrium  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
my friend says "I only dust as a preventative. They don't have mites or anything else, I've checked and checked.
They're all about to be tested for pullorum/typhoid and avian flu. I'm pretty sure they're clean, but I'll wait to send any feathers until I get negative results from all those diseases. I don't know if they're glider communicable but I want to make sure they're clean and safe."

she takes care of her chickens like they were pampered house pets - they're *very* well cared for and get frequent vet check-ups. in fact, they're about to be spoiled as hell today - she mentioned considering mealies as an occasional treat for her chickens, so I priority mailed her a little container with about a cup of mealies/bedding out of my 3,000 pack of vita-mealies and they arrived this afternoon. impressively, despite being at least a month into their "up to three months" storage life and getting sent through the mail for the second time in their lives, there was only ONE dead mealie out of probably 200-300+! vita-mealies are such hearty little things.

she's also a total animal lover and cares just as much as we do about making sure the feathers she sends me are 100% glider safe. she's even insisting on washing them for me even though I keep telling her I'd be happy to do that tounge

speaking of washing, is there a particular kind of soap to use? for some reason I'm thinking dawn, just because I know it's totally animal safe...


Jennifer

http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com

Proud mommy to:

:grey: Hurricane
:leu: Lemmy
:wfb: Tabitha

and two bunnies - Nala (lionhead) and Gaz (Holland lop)
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333124
03/14/13 07:36 PM
03/14/13 07:36 PM
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,511
Texas
Jackie_Chans_Mom Offline
Glider Addict
Jackie_Chans_Mom  Offline
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Texas
I have not had to investigate this for many years due to the steady supply here at my own home..... but, are glider safe feathers really that hard to come by? (I'm starting to feel like I'm sitting on a gold mine here. LOL).


~~ Val B ~~ 806-803-0318
Daily giving the abused, unloved, unwanted and neglected SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN

PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR SUGAR GROUP SURVEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Jackie_Chans_Mom] #1333126
03/14/13 08:00 PM
03/14/13 08:00 PM
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 3,039
Finally in the Mountains!
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Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333129
03/14/13 08:03 PM
03/14/13 08:03 PM
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 928
Concord, NH
cathy1229 Offline
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Concord, NH
I think I may save my sun conures feathers when he molts and clean them for my gliders!


Cathy

Wife to a very special man &

Proud Mommy of:
1 aussie/bordercollie/husky/plotthound Wimpy
1 Sun Conure Cisco
3 Amazing fuzzbutts Akiah (my little princess) & her brother Acoose,Princess 'Tudie, and Tochee
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Jackie_Chans_Mom] #1333146
03/14/13 08:49 PM
03/14/13 08:49 PM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
Imbrium Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Imbrium  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 826
Texas
Originally Posted By: Jackie_Chans_Mom
I have not had to investigate this for many years due to the steady supply here at my own home..... but, are glider safe feathers really that hard to come by? (I'm starting to feel like I'm sitting on a gold mine here. LOL).


for non-bird owners, it certainly seems that way! if you've got a lot of birds, I think it would be worth trying to sell their feathers smile


Jennifer

http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com

Proud mommy to:

:grey: Hurricane
:leu: Lemmy
:wfb: Tabitha

and two bunnies - Nala (lionhead) and Gaz (Holland lop)
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333204
03/15/13 09:22 AM
03/15/13 09:22 AM
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,511
Texas
Jackie_Chans_Mom Offline
Glider Addict
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,511
Texas
I don't sell them, I just give them away. LOL. Been giving them away to my customers and friends and at SUGAR Group events for years. Except the long tail feathers. I do sell some of those to crafters and such.

And, Cathy, if it is your pet bird, you don't have to clean the feathers (unless you let them sit and they get pooped on ). Just give them to your gliders. smile

Last edited by Jackie_Chans_Mom; 03/15/13 09:24 AM.

~~ Val B ~~ 806-803-0318
Daily giving the abused, unloved, unwanted and neglected SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN

PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR SUGAR GROUP SURVEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: glider-safe feathers [Re: Imbrium] #1333205
03/15/13 09:31 AM
03/15/13 09:31 AM
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 928
Concord, NH
cathy1229 Offline
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cathy1229  Offline
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Posts: 928
Concord, NH
Yes he is my pet bird Val, so that is great to know!


Cathy

Wife to a very special man &

Proud Mommy of:
1 aussie/bordercollie/husky/plotthound Wimpy
1 Sun Conure Cisco
3 Amazing fuzzbutts Akiah (my little princess) & her brother Acoose,Princess 'Tudie, and Tochee

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