just a note to everyone..learn from my mistakes..if you plan on saving the spurs of a turkey preserve them and get them all ready ASAP..i killed a bird in the spring and had the fan beard and spurs in salt and borax....forgot about it till now....been to busy to get to mounting them....well i got to the fan and beard..but the fan wasnt dry and smelled up the house the first time i brought it in lol..so it went back out...the beard is hot glued in the shell brass i killed him with...so its good...but the spurs...i cut them off above and below the spur to put on lace...well i let the skin and meat on with salt and borax on it...and let them go.....went to mount them the other day and the spur cap came off with the skin...it all dried out as a whole...and came right off....i couldnt believe it...my biggest set of spurs and i cant even mount them...im still going to try...and glue the spur cap back on or something....but just a note to all....learn from my mess up.....and get to them ASAP......i know its going to be part of my cleaning ritual now...cleaning the spurs right away...im sure its easier before it dries out too....i just didnt have time till now...

Mas, Some tend to do that (spurs) glue will work. It is better to cut the spur from the leg clean it and then put it in Borrax. I'm sure you'll be fine with a little more work...BT

I just remove the legs and let them dry for a couple of months until they get "Rock hard". Then I use a Bandsaw to cut very close on either side of the spur. Using a Q-tip, I then clean out any bone marrow, and I place them right into a spur display. I neve had a single problem with any spurs done that way.

i have never kept the fan and tried to cure it,but have kept the beard and spurs for the last 12-14 years.i have not cut any of the spurs like you described,but just dried them several months to prevent the odor problem.

Loner, nice collection of legs!! Now find yourself a buddy who owns a bandsaw and then cut those spurs off each leg. Try to mate them up into pairs if you can.

Yep,very nice loner!!!I preserve my spurs exactly as Maytom here but I also brush a few coats of clear fingernail polish to the entire peice which puts not only a good protective coating all around your spur but shines it up real prreeettttyyy too!!!!

Very Nice Loner!!

Say I even buff mine a bit on a buffing wheel. Makes 'em look purty! Then also coat with clear nail poilsih.

JW

ever since i read you guy's suggestions on cutting the spurs and running a string through them with the beard in the middle,i had decided to do it last summer.yes,i kept putting it off and did not get it done,but i will.

I never put borax on the legs -- just let them air dry.

I made a spur necklace the other day, using spurs from birds killed as far back as 1999. The only spur cap that came off was from a bird killed this spring whose legs my wife had put in a zip-loc bag, preventing it from drying well.

Hal