# It's official...I am really strange



## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

I started messing around with some "taxidermy" in November, where I took the wings off a goose I butchered and salted them to death. They're finally dried and mountable, so I'd call it a success (I also did a hawk wing I found on a fence).

Well, the people I got the goose from decided I must REALLY like this (and I appreciate it a lot). I butchered out a stillborn calf for them a couple of months ago, but I'm scared to death to try and tan it myself, so I have plans on taking it to a local taxidermist and having them show me how (I want it soft-tanned, hair-on).

Well, now here's where I can officially be declared weird. This morning they offered me two more hides (one they've skinned themselves, the other I have to do myself), both from the stillborn foals born last week. They're a gorgeous dark bay color, and they're soft as kidskin. I just can't believe I'm actually going out and dressing out a horse. Never ever thought I'd be doing that.

Of course, they're keeping the meat and bones for their LGDs, same as they did with the calf, and the goat that died recently. Talk about self-sustaining.


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

lol well......you are making use of everything! :hug: 

I don't know if I could do that myself but hats off to you--better to use the parts of the poor babies rather than just dispose of them for no good. You are stong and can make wonderful things from the misfortune. So I say--go ahead and feel proud of what you can do-not everyone can and your neighbors sure to seem to appreciate it.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh my...I guess that is strange... :shocked:


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I would like to know more about how you are curing the hides. There isn't much info out there about it. (I don't think you are strange. It seems like a lot of hard work, though.)

Jan


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I tanned 3 deer hides a few years ago...the big thing with keeping the hair on them is to get them fleshed and heavily salted as fast as possible, the longer the hide goes without being salted, the hair starts to fall out, I did have this happen with one of the hides that were left on my porch by a neighbor....the areas around the bullet holes are now bald because of the blood that collected and I didn't get to it for quite a few hours.

How I cured them....I tacked them up on the side of my shed...on the east side, rubbed regular non iodized table salt over every inch, left it to dry, scraped them down the next day with a dull blade and continued the process for almost 2 weeks, then I massaged Neats foot oil into them and worked them to soften them....then I soaked them in warm water and worked and rubbed them even harder, massaged more oil into them and now have them hanging on my wall....Hair intact and if I ever get adventuresome, I'd like to be able to make something with them.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

That actually sounds like a good idea. Right now the calf hide is heavily salted and in the deep freeze (I heard they can last up to and over 6 months that way before you have to do something with them), it's not been fleshed, I was waiting to do that until I started tanning it. No clue what she's done with one of the foals, the other one's already been processed and it's sitting in the fridge now.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Liz are you salting the flesh side and not the fur side?


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## potentialfarm (Apr 11, 2011)

I don't think you're strange at all! Lol...you wouldn't believe the hours I have spent researching how to do exactly what you are doing. We put a red angus steer in the freezer last fall. He had an absolutely beautiful coat, and we wanted to tan it. It would have cost over $1,000! If you get good at this you can make $$$! 
Okay, so some people might think you have an odd hobby, but a lot more will think it's very cool! :wink: 
Let us know how your "projects" turn out.


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## ohiogoatgirl (Jan 31, 2010)

OH i'm so jealous!!!!!
i am into brain-tan although mine didnt come out the best *blush* i am so jealuos!!!


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

potentialfarm said:


> I don't think you're strange at all! Lol...you wouldn't believe the hours I have spent researching how to do exactly what you are doing. We put a red angus steer in the freezer last fall. He had an absolutely beautiful coat, and we wanted to tan it. It would have cost over $1,000! If you get good at this you can make $$$!
> Okay, so some people might think you have an odd hobby, but a lot more will think it's very cool! :wink:
> Let us know how your "projects" turn out.


I just thought it was strange that I was doing foals, not so much the collecting bit. I've got bits and pieces everywhere. I've got a dog skull, a goat skull (from one who died last year from a dog attack), a rabbit skull, two deer legs and a nearly complete skeleton, multiple rabbit hides (bought to make kid coats), the wings and now the hides I get to do myself.

I will say, the best thing about all 3 hides is that because they were stillborn, there's no wear and tear and absolutely no sunbleaching. The calf hide is super-thick and inky black. I'm going out Friday to pick up the other two hides, I'll try to get pictures since I'm probably going to try at least the calf hide with the foot oil trick.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

To soften the hide after I had salted and cured it...it takes alot of work and sweat! You need to "break" the bonds of the leather fibers to make it supple.
I used a rounded post sunk in the ground and see sawed the hides by pulling it back and forth around the post....once it was no longer stiff feeling, I did the warm water bath and neats foot oil and did it again....It took a good while to get them to the point of crumpling when dropped instead of just keeping the stiff shape. I watched a show( Dirty Jobs) that was a leather processing plant and it showed how they had these machines that tugged and rubbed the tanned hides to soften....tough work but it can be done by hand.

I've read about the brain tanning too....it's really neat how you can use another part of the animal to tan it's hide.


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## potentialfarm (Apr 11, 2011)

Okay, the fact that it's foals is a little odd, but I think it's great!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

freedomstarfarm said:


> Liz are you salting the flesh side and not the fur side?


I only salt the flesh side....theres no need to salt the fur side. I'm sure there are ways to do it differently to preserve the fur but this has worked for me with deer, groundhog, squirrel and **** hides.

Trick is to get them salted before the enzymes from decomp starts, you'll know if you got to it "just in time" because once you start to scrape and work the hide, the hair will start to fall off the edges of it as well as any bullet holes, if you had waited any longer...you'd end up with a hairless hide.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Thanks! Interested in trying this one day.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

Well, one of the foal hides was salted and frozen, the other one's still sitting in the fridge 10 days later, so I don't think it's going to be any good by Friday (and she said it's already starting to smell....), so it looks like I only get the bigger hide, which is fine by me. The filly was only the size of a miniature horse foal anyways, so the hide would have been a bit bigger than rabbit hides.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Sorry...but I do think you are right about the one that wasn't salted. What a shame, I bet it would have turned out really nice.

The frozen one should be ok though....just when you thaw it, be aware that the salt will have caused moisture...once thawed completely, shake it out as you would a blanket and blot it with paper towels, then heavily salt it after you have it tacked up...really rub it in.


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Not odd to me.. My brother does taxidermy as a hobby (mostly birds), and my mom and I frequently tan hides. We've done conventional chemical tanning but I've also done natural tanning with an alkaline ash/water mix. Rabbit, ****, & ****. Hoping to finally do a goat hide in the future. The deerskins all go to a friend though.
For those interested I'd recommend the books Deerskins Into Buckskins (love this book!) and The Ultimate Guide to Skinning and Tanning.


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## bleatinghearts (Feb 26, 2010)

Sweat! I thought I was wierd for still holding onto my steers head in the freezer so I could do somwthing with his horns later. Now that I think about it, I still feel a bit strange.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

Well, no go on either hide. The colt's hide wasn't salted NEARLY enough, and with it having been in the fridge untouched for almost a week before they did anything with it, it was too far gone as well, so we didn't get either hide (what a smell....blech!). Ah well. I got to play with the other foals, and I'm starting on the calf hide tomorrow.


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## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

Freeze hides until you are ready to use them.

Check out this site: http://www.braintan.com/


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## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

I soak my hides in lye then hand scrape them. I brain tan or egg tan all of my hides.


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