Feathers all over yard

[azduckranch]

Does anyone have any experience using a lawn sweeper to pick up feathers on grass lawns? Our back yard is full of them. I've used a leaf blower/vacuum but the inlet is only 4" in diameter and still does not get them all. A rake passes over a lot and needs multiple strokes to accomplish the job. I have seen push lawn sweepers from $90.00 to $400.00. Is it worth the purchase?

[Evy]

Why bother? They disappear eventually...wind, birds, disintegration. Run the lawn mower over them if you feel the need to do something. ( No one's fussier about their lawn than I am but I don't worry about feathers for the short time they're around.)

[goosedragon]

Does anyone have any experience using a lawn sweeper to pick up feathers on grass lawns? Our back yard is full of them. I've used a leaf blower/vacuum but the inlet is only 4" in diameter and still does not get them all. A rake passes over a lot and needs multiple strokes to accomplish the job. I have seen push lawn sweepers from $90.00 to $400.00. Is it worth the purchase? Haven't tried a lawn sweeper. I keep my lawn mower on 'mulch' and it seems to mix the feathers with grass and deposits feather-lawn meal down into the sod. Need I say that my lawn is more like rough than putting greens? I do the same to the minor leaf fall in the fall. Sorry I can't be more help. I used to hand pick the big goose flight feathers, sold to local craft shop, used to do faux graining in wood. Other large sized feathers picked up clean. saved for a Cub Scout den, no idea what they used them for but the den mother was always 'tickled' to get them. Once they got soiled I just mowed them under.

[azduckranch]

Thanks for the advise. My lawn is only about 2000 ft2. It is the flattened top of a hill. I use a push mower to cut it which doesn't have capability of mulching. The 6 ducks have free reign over it during the day. I put them in their pen at night. This lawn area is our only area for our own recreation (BBQ's, relaxing, etc.) It looks very messy with all the feathers around. I am going to order a lawn sweeper and let you know how it works out.

My other option is to fix up a semi-flat area lower on the property but then we couldn't keep our eyes on them from the house. Life is a compromise!

[Neil E. Grassbaugh]

Feathers are commonly burned in the broiler buildings in tropical regions.

The birds are marketed and with in two days the darkling beetles have invaded and move the litter around enough that the feathers work to the top.

Typically then they use one of these-

http://www.lbwhite.com/index.asp?menuID=140

to burn the feathers inside the building! Scarey!

They sometimes use this contraption-

http://www.flameengineering.com/Poultry_Sanitizer.html

It is a joke other than I have had to replace two buildings that burned down from a red dragon. Insurance work - made some money on those.

[goosedragon]

Feathers are commonly burned in the broiler buildings in tropical regions.

The birds are marketed and with in two days the darkling beetles have invaded and move the litter around enough that the feathers work to the top.

Typically then they use one of these-

http://www.lbwhite.com/index.asp?menuID=140

to burn the feathers inside the building! Scarey!

They sometimes use this contraption-

http://www.flameengineering.com/Poultry_Sanitizer.html

It is a joke other than I have had to replace two buildings that burned down from a red dragon. Insurance work - made some money on those.
Well I wasn't going to mention the time I tried a smaller version of of that first device to rid my yard of feathers after the geese had molted. Set the thatch layer of the lawn on fire which created a up draft which carried burning feathers into the pine woods. I called the local fire department and they called the Forest Service. I got a warning from the Forest Service, no more fires in the next 3 years or else! I retired the device which was sold as a weeding device. The de-thatched lawn grew much better and I bought the mulching mower that year. I was going to keep that dragon flame quiet.

[Neil E. Grassbaugh]

A FIRE BREATHING GOOSEDRAGON!

So is that how you got the name?


I once saw this on a placard-

“Do not trifle with dragons, for you are small and crunchy and taste good with ketchup”

[goosedragon]

A FIRE BREATHING GOOSEDRAGON!

So is that how you got the name? Nope got it at work, the dragon part that is, I was older and more serious then the young academics that were my co-workers, I was brought in to instill quality control principals on a biotech startup, we already had a “wizard of oz” and a ‘wicked witch’ I got tagged as the dragon and it stuck. When I started using the internet to get info on raising geese the username dragon was often already claimed so I added goose to it.


I once saw this on a placard-

“Do not trifle with dragons, for you are small and crunchy and taste good with ketchup” Yep, used to have the bumper sticker on my pickup truck!

[prairiechicken]

My oh my,
We long ago came to realize we wouldn't have those beautiful green post card picture lawns with poultry running loose. Either the birds have to be penned up, or the yard is covered with feathers. Oh, it's a disaster in the spring of the year before the grass starts growing. I keep a hatching flock of about sixty ducks and twenty some geese. Our yard is fairly sprinkled with feathers. We keep them out of the house yard with a fence, but the wind delivers a few feathers through the fence and all our birds have lots of feathers to line their nests with.

[goosedragon]

My oh my,
We long ago came to realize we wouldn't have those beautiful green post card picture lawns with poultry running loose. Either the birds have to be penned up, or the yard is covered with feathers. Oh, it's a disaster in the spring of the year before the grass starts growing. I keep a hatching flock of about sixty ducks and twenty some geese. Our yard is fairly sprinkled with feathers. We keep them out of the house yard with a fence, but the wind delivers a few feathers through the fence and all our birds have lots of feathers to line their nests with.What no wind there? I used to pick up the big flight feathers from the geese when they molted. The guy at the hobby shop would pay me $0.50 each for them. Later found he bundled them up and sold them to wholesalers who sold for around $1 each to people who wanted to make goose quill pens and they are are also used by craftmen who do faux wood graining. they had to be clean and in good condition for him to buy. Also Cub scouts to make feather headresses (like native americans)

[3dogs]

I believe they may also be used to make arrows.

[richbar]

Feathers are mostly protein so if you could mulch them in via a mower, you would be providing a natural organic fertilizer to the lawn, not to mention the manure they are dropping as well. The big problem would be if you have too many birds for the area. Then you might have a negative environmental impact.

You see guys, this pro-technology, chemical using professor does have a green side.

[goosedragon]

I believe they may also be used to make arrows.Of course they could, but goose fletching is fairly expensive and has pretty much been replaced by synethic materials.

[goosedragon]

Feathers are mostly protein so if you could mulch them in via a mower, you would be providing a natural organic fertilizer to the lawn, not to mention the manure they are dropping as well. The big problem would be if you have too many birds for the area. Then you might have a negative environmental impact.

You see guys, this pro-technology, chemical using professor does have a green side. Green is a new religion, a lot of the old ways were common sense or the best available at that time. the extreme element is the one to watch and mostly based on fear and lack of understanding.