Monthly Archives: January 2013

Golden Pheasant Crest Feathers for Arts And Crafts at TheFeatheredEgg.com

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Golden Pheasant Feathers for Sale The Feathered Egg

These Golden Pheasant Feathers for arts and crafts are available over at www.TheFeatheredEgg.com, and they come from our own flock.

Golden Pheasant are one of the ornamental pheasant breeds that we raised in our flock that gave us our cruelty-free feathers for arts and crafts.

Their plumes and feathers are an exceptionally fun resource to use as feathers for crafts.

They are a charming and funny breed. Our two males spent most of their time dashing in front of every hen, no matter what kind of hen, and stopping them in their tracks for a dazzling feather display.

They would display for us as well, they were not exclusive in their attentions.

The Golden Pheasant joins a variety of Red-Gold, Yellow-Gold, and other mixes of this kind of pheasant… and breeders have a challenge sorting out the varieties and keeping them pure. Ours is probably more correctly named a Yellow-Golden Pheasant, but I’m sticking with the generalization of Golden Pheasant

The crest feathers are spectacular. They form a kind of helmet at the back of the Pheasant’s neck. These crest feathers are limited only to the neck, and I have them packaged in two sizes, medium and small. The tips are encrusted with special iridescent clusters of different feather texture, so they are kind of naturally bejeweled.

The bird is native to the forests of China, and it is hard to believe that their vivid coloration is consider camouflage, but they are hard to see in their home habitat.

Golden Pheasant are not difficult to raise and were not dangerous, even during mating season. That is not always the case with Pheasant. The Goldens were funny, gentle, and almost affectionate. But they also needed their hens – they would not have been happy alone or with only other males.

It was as important to be admired for their beautiful feathers as it was to have food and water. We continue to cherish the Golden Pheasant in having their feathers for arts and crafts,

Category: Feather Facts | Tags: ,

Lady Amherst Pheasant Feathers at www.TheFeatheredEgg.com

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Lady Amherst Pheasant Cruelty Free Feathers

These are the green crest feathers of the male Lady Amherst Pheasant. Our own pheasant, cherished for his whole life, is the source of these cruelty-free pheasant feathers.

The Lady Amherst Pheasant was THE pheasant that inspired me to order a batch of day old pheasant chicks from a hatchery and raise them myself.

The story of that adventure is available at www.TheWestchesterPress.com – and it is kind of hilarious.

When we ordered the chicks, we knew there was no guarantee we would get a Lady Amherst Pheasant, and if we did, it might not be a male.

But we got one. Exactly one. No hen, just this beautiful boy with green on green neck feathers, black edged crest feathers, crimson head feathers, and so much variety, iridescence, shape, and texture that there was no end to the wonder.

Lady Amherst was a British countess who spent some time in India and brought a breeding pair of these pheasant back to England. I saw my first Lady Amherst pheasant in a zoo.

The feathers in the photo are the green neck crest medallion feathers, and my stock is entirely cruelty-free. We cared for our boy throughout his life, and cherish his feathers today. We loved to watch his display behavior and his pride in his feathers.

These feathers are ideal for jewelry. The round end is about the size of a quarter, and the edges flash deep teal and green in bright light. Small to large, they are only found on the pheasant’s neck.

All of the Lady Amherst Pheasant images on www.NaturalFeathers.com and www.TheFeatheredEgg.com are from our one male, who we named, with great creativity, Mr. Lady Amherst Pheasant.

 

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Use Tiny Feathers As Doll Eyelashes!

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Silver pheasant feathers are graphically beautiful. They were part of our first flock at www.TheFeatheredEgg.com, and are amazing.

One of the most rewarding parts of having www.TheFeatheredEgg.com is learning what my customers do with the arts and crafts feathers that I sell.

I wasn’t totally sure what the smallest feathers would be used for, but they were so perfectly beautiful that I couldn’t resist collecting them when I had my flock of chickens, pheasant, partridge, quail, ducks, and geese.

These cruelty-free feathers were mostly from the shoulders and neck, and were tiny replications of the gorgeous patterns and shapes from the rest of the bird.

Then one day, I had an order from a lady in Maine who was making dolls. She told me that she was buying the feathers to use as doll eyelashes. I was amazed and delighted. I had learned something new about the uses for feathers, for arts and crafts, and for other things.

The care that crafters and artists put into their work makes it totally worth the niche market that I’ve found for my cruelty-free feathers. I don’t have large numbers of the feathers – because the mission I have for raising the birds and collecting the feathers doesn’t produce them in large quantity, but they are perfect for the purpose they serve.

And in this case, it was doll eyelashes – which I never would have thought of on my own!

 

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Feather Artist Spotlight… Chris Maynard

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Feather Art Natural Feathers

Chris Maynard’s feather art is simply amazing. Some of the kinds of feathers he uses are for sale here, but he goes much farther into the medium than I’ve ever seen before. I spent more than an hour at his amazing website.

The uses of feathers for arts and crafts is endlessly fascinating, and gives me many ideas for uses for my cruelty-free feathers.

Chris Maynard’s work on feathers came to my attention through a friend. I was amazed by Chris’s shadowbox feather art and spent hours cruising his website.

I learned there that Maynard creates his feather sculptures using eye surgery cutting tools. The birds cut out from the feathers are the birds that produced the feathers.

Some of his feathers are exotic, obtained legally from zoos and curators.

Maynard’s feather photography captures the elusive iridescence that I am so amazed by, and that I know is difficult to photograph.

There’s a hummingbird feather on a copper penny. That’s a must-see.

This feather art is inspirational. One of the best things about having a big inventory of feathers for arts and crafts is access to these amazing materials.

I’m very pleased to be able to view Chris Maynard’s feather art, and look forward to bringing more art to this blog about feathers of www.TheFeatheredEgg.com

 

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