RE: preserving a fan
Borax all the way. It only takes a week or two to dry, depending on how much meat and fat you were able to remove. Remove as much as you can without separating the base of the tail feathers. You only need about four pins to hold the fan down to dry. If you need more than that, then you probably didn't remove enough meat and fat. Common sense, the more you remove, the quicker it will dry.