i've had good luck using borax. you'll find it in the laundry section at the store. i place the tip of the beard in a small amount of borax until it is nice and dry. i also remove as much flesh from the tail as possible. i scrap it down to the feather quills then put a bunch of borax on it and staple it spread out on my back board. haven't had any problems with flys or maggots and they seem to dry very quickly. for the spurs, i string them on some plastic duck decoy line and hang them on a sunny side of a fence or building and let them dry. takes a while but works well. good luck