I need more help with feathers, please

[dshull]

I had a bunch of turkey feathers, key word is HAD. They all look like something has been eatin on then, What did I do wrong,and has something beenmaking lunch out of my feathers

[Pat B]

There is a mite(I believe)that eats feathers. I keep mine in the basement frig but you can use moth balls or cedar chips to help keep the bugs out.

[Dave Dellinger]

I think wool clothes moths eat feathers too. I have my tiny stash kept in the freezer to kill any bug larvae and prevent any new ones.

[Pappy]

I have had that happen several years ago.I think it is Mites.I now keep them sealed in an ammo box and fog it with permanon as I layer them in. Thats a bummer.
   Pappy

[TRACY]

Probably mites but could be mice also. Had it happen once but it was my black lab that was the culprit

[sailordad]

i keep most my turkey feathers in the freezer in a plastic bag
however i do have some in the house just sitting on display kinda.feathers that i find while i am
walking state land end up in this little clay pot i bought at pipestone one year.
we have moths in the house and never had a feather eaten up yet.heck i have t-shirts that just devlope holes when hey are hung in the closet.
but my feathers never got chewed on yet.

[JackCrafty]

Under the right conditions, mites will eat up your feathers.  Fortunately, most feathers don't have mites.  Looks like you got a contaminated batch. 

I store mine the same way many people store wool blankets (and such)....inside a plastic bag with a couple moth "packets" thrown in.  Don't used the old mothballs: they leave a gooey residue.

The freezer idea is a good one but I would need about three entire freezers to store all the feathers I have.

[Dave Dellinger]

I have some old commercial POC arrows from the 70's in my garage, and most of the feathers are gone now. They were fine until about 5 years ago, so I was sure it was moths. They ate two horsehair buggy tassles from my great,great grandpa too. There was dust in the missing areas, so I know it wasn't rodents.

I envy you guys with feathers!

[sailordad]

       jackcrafty,
i have a 3 cubic ft freezer that is all but empty,why dont you send me a bunch of them feathers and i will
keep them on ice for ya so the moths dont eat them up

i got about  a dozen old wooden arrows(probably from the 70's)with feather fletching on them from a buddy of mine.they had belonged to his father in law,whom used to shoot trad
years ago. all the feathers are in tact,or atleast they were until i started shooting them, thru the fence

[JackCrafty]

 

Sailordad, you need some meat in that freezer, feathers are a little crunchy and might taste pretty good with BBQ sauce, but they're not very fillin'.

[sailordad]

ya but this freezer is strictly for turkeys,feathers,whole wings,sinew,roadkill and other things the wife wont let me put in her freezer

[JackCrafty]

Gotcha 

[ricktrojanowski]

I am a feather horder.    The way I store is to seperate L and R then put them in those plastic storage bins with the tight closing lids with a bunch of moth balls.  So far I have not had any problems.

[stickbender]

     Like they said, Moths, and mites. 
We have what we call dust moths down here in Fla. they make a little cocoon, and crawl around, and then when they become little moths, they eat just about anything.  I had a nice old felt cowboy hat, that they almost ate the brim off of.  I have since dedicated my time to using my electric fly swatter to fry them when I see them.  I keep my feathers in in large plastic bags, in the chest freezer. 
 
                                                                       Wayne

[nicksnacks]

I boil some water with some green cedar fronds in it and wipe the feathers with the water after its cooled or run your fletchings over the pot in the steam and it will straighten out matted or distorted flethings. I leave out feathers that have been treated this way and they don't get eatin. I understand that cloves in a bag with feathers keep the mites away also