Feathers

I am often asked where I source my feathers and it is a hard question to answer. The first bird responsible for my journey into all of this was a rosella killed by a cat and too beautiful not to do something with. After that originally many of the birds I used were road kill spotted as we drove along. Apologies if you were ever behind us as we screeched to a halt to lift a pukeko or duck from the road before it became too mangled.
As I began to need more and a greater range of feathers I have tried to source them commercially ( I still can't bring myself to be responsible for hunting my own ) with mixed results. Often once people know I use feathers they too will pick up any bird they find they think may be useful, it is not unusual to find a corpse on the doorstep!
My uncle who lives in the backblocks outside Gisborne will often send down birds culled from the farm and has been my main source of feathers ( and lots of weird stuff like possum teeth, pig tusks and deer skin) up until now - Thanks Uncle Star -x.

In the last month I have made contact with a commercial pheasant farming operation called Rathmoy Game Preserve just out of Hunterville. They breed and raise pheasants for commercial shoots.
http://www.rathmoy.co.nz/

It was quite conflicting to see such beautiful birds shot in such huge numbers (indeed at all) but to have access to the fifty cock pheasants I took away to pluck at the end of the day was pure gold.
While I found the whole English gentry type atmosphere quite surreal I couldn't help but admire the way the dogs worked finding the fallen birds or the beauty of the surroundings and the whole occasion.
Thanks Mark - check out the web link if this is your thing.

I now have enough feathers to try alot of new things without being being nervous about the scarcity of them and can now also indulge in some larger pieces.

I am, however, still grateful for any plastic bags left on my door step and still stop the car with very little warning!