Drying Bird Feet and Wings

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen

A few months ago, I was looking up something on chicken feet and realized how much of a lack of information there is on how to dry them so you can make crafts out of them.

So today, I'll share how to do it


How to Dry Bird Feet and Wings
What you will need:+ Something to dry such as a chickens foot
+ Plastic Container that you don't care about (Make sure it can hold the item you are trying to dry comfortably, without having to squish it or bend it.
+ Table salt
+ Scissors
+ Tweezers
+ Gloves
+ Rubbing Alcohol
+ Paper Towels
Please do not kill or harm an animal to use my tutorials. I am completely against killing animals for preserving their body parts. 

1.) Preparation
First we need to get these babies able to be preserved.
Put gloves on and make sure you have cut the foot or wing off the dead specimen you are doing this for.

For feet, you can cut them at the hip or slightly farther down the leg, depending on personal preference.  If you are doing something like a chickens foot, make sure to pull out the tendon in the foot with tweezers.  PLEASE MAKE SURE TO BE WEARING GLOVES WHILE DOING THIS, YOU DONT KNOW IF THESE ANIMALS HAD ANY DISEASES.

For wings, cut at the base where the wing attaches to the body, and try to get as close as possible. Also watch out for feathers so be sure to be careful and take your time. Make sure to shake the wing and to get all the dirt out from it. Birds are very messy and sometimes roll around in dirt. So make sure you run your fingers through the feathers and kinda shake them around as you do so.
 MAKE SURE YOU ARE WEARING GLOVES BECAUSE ANIMALS CARRY DISEASES AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE TOUCHING THEIR CARCASS WITHOUT GLOVES.

When cut off, put these on a paper towel.

2.) Getting ReadyIn preparation, take your plastic container and make sure it can house the item without bending, or manipulating it to fit. Something like a cottage cheese container, whipped topping, or sour cream container are perfect. You want to be able to fit the foot or wing in here with salt being able to completely cover around it.

Now take your scissors and carefully poke a few holes on the top...not that the foot or wing is going to come alive or anything.

Also prepare to have a lot of salt, make sure to have enough to fill the container, or at least for the item to be completely submerged in it.

3.) Saltin'Fill the container you chose, about halfway with salt and put your item in it. Now take and cover it completely with salt and put the lid on top of the container.

4.) Patience Makes PerfectNow here is where it sucks, waiting. Depending on where you live and your climate, let this baby dry for about 1-2 weeks. You can easily tell when it's dry, and if it doesn't look it....than well it probably isn't/

After it's dried, feel free to get creative. You could leave it natural, spray paint it, adorn it, or whatever your little heart desires! Google images, Etsy, eBay, and Pintrest are great places to look for inspiration!

xoxo
Kitten