# Processing hides



## Vay (Jan 28, 2019)

My daughters and I fleshed a hide last night.

I THINK we did it right - there doesn't seem to be any "meat & fat" left... but there are still little strips of what looks like membrane, but it's not.coming.off. without pretty much taking off the last layer of "skin" and exposing the pores...?

Anyway, we got into doing something else...and kind of half forgot about it - it's tacked to a board, and kind of stiff...not rock solid, but stiff... we planned to use the egg tanning method on it.

Now that's it's so stiff, can we just apply the egg mix on it, leave it overnight, then stretch it?

Do we have to rinse it after we put on the egg mixture? I've been searching online all morning, but can't find any information that's clear...

As far as stretching it goes, I get that it must be slightly damp and not totally stiff... found a good video that shows consistency... 

does anyone have a good step-by-step for egg tanning a hide?

So far, it's been cleaned with some mild detergent... salted... fleshed... washed again... and dried.

I'm ok with doing some trial and error, but would like to avoid the error as much as possible!


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## Latestarter (Jan 30, 2019)

I don't know for certain but you might have better success searching out this info on a hunting or trapping forum...   Hope you get it figured out with minimal error.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jan 30, 2019)

@HomesteaderWife has experience with hides.  Maybe she can help.


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## HomesteaderWife (Feb 2, 2019)

Hey sorry I just got here, thanks for tagging me @frustratedearthmother!

@Vay - Have you gotten to tanning it yet? I referenced back to a book on tanning I had, but unfortunately doesn't mention the use of eggs. I've heard of using eggs to tan small hides though, so you should be just fine if you look up multiple resources on it.

I LOVE Lehman's and their products- I dug up a post in their blog about tanning rabbit hides with eggs. It says not to wash the egg out, just squeeze the excess out: https://www.lehmans.com/blog/rabbitry-part-2-tanning-hides/
 I have personally never tried it though, as I usually have large amounts I tan with alum instead. However, I wouldn't waste alum or any other expensive chemicals in trying it for you just yet. Rabbit hides are very very picky with that membrane, and if you aren't careful in trying to remove it, the hide may actually tear. Getting all that meat off is your biggest need, so it doesn't spoil and rot the hide. Also, immediate care helps the hair not slip.

If you are ever in doubt of your next step _after_ fleshing, make sure to tack the hide to a board and cover it in a layer of non-iodized salt (walmart sells a 1 lb 10 oz container for 55 cents or so?). Lay the board propped on one end, because that salt will suck the moisture out of the hide and drain off. Put some cardboard or a bag under it if you're worried about it getting on anything, and make sure to keep in a cool place away from flies. This helps it not spoil before you get to it. Wash the salt off with mildly warm water after, then proceed from there.

If you still have that membrane left on after tanning and stretching, find yourself a little fine grit hand sanding pad and scrub lightly to help remove it. Some folks suggest tossing it in sawdust (we have a little sawmill, so I usually use a bit of pine sawdust) then brushing it out to give that hair a nice shine.

IF you do ever decide to use alum, or any other chemicals, make sure to use gloves. Also- don't fret if it turns out not the way you want! Practice and note-taking are so important- I've been tanning deer hides for three years and I still make notes of what I was not pleased with, and how to fix it. If I can be of any other help, please ask!


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## frustratedearthmother (Feb 2, 2019)

That's such great info @HomesteaderWife.  It's something I'd love to try some day!


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## HomesteaderWife (Feb 2, 2019)

@frustratedearthmother -  You should try it! Rabbits would be an easy start, even squirrels. They are smaller, and have less fat to deal with. If you ever get into trapping, raccoons have alot more fat. We don't fool with possums. Deer are alot of work- they can take 2 to 3 hours just to flesh a large one well. Practice practice!

As to my earlier note, I want to comment again the *importance* *of time* in fleshing hides in case this is read in the future. We picked up a barrel of deer hides yesterday that ended in nothing but possible coyote scraps. They had not been skinned that day, but possibly two days prior. They were turning green and already no good. (fresh hides are referred to as _green_, but they should not be that color!)


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## Carla D (Feb 6, 2019)

Following. Are there any particularly good places to read about or learn about processing hides. Right now I’m pondering the possibility of rabbit and goat hides. But I’d like to not waste an deer, cattle, possibly pig hides as well. I have hopes of not wasting any or anymore of parts of our livestock as necessary. I’m only in the infancy stage of many of my ideas. I’m even thinking about lard and I’m looking into whether ther is anything that can be done with chicken feathers, rabbits feet and tales. I don’t want to waste anything at all if there is a use for it.


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## Baymule (Feb 6, 2019)

Carla D said:


> Following. Are there any particularly good places to read about or learn about processing hides.
> 
> Stake them out, scrape the fat off. Spread salt on them to dry and cure. Softening them up-never did that, but I did use the hides for chair seats.
> 
> ...


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## HomesteaderWife (Feb 7, 2019)

@Carla D - I used "The Ultimate Guide to Skinning and Tanning" by Monte Burch to get started and highly recommend it. I am an extreme fan of not letting anything go to waste including hides. Pig is MESSY MESSY work- the fat on the hides is sometimes difficult to remove. But cattle/deer- you can do well to craft something for yourself with it or others. Make a nice rug with a cow hide, or a vest with two deer hides?

I will tell you that chicken feathers can make good dream-catcher decorations, or even sometimes centerpieces. Rabbit's feet- people will occasionally buy as necklaces. Even the tails- I had a lady buy them for cat toys once! BUT, those who do buy random things like that are rare at sales. I've had someone come through and randomly buy every squirrel hide/tail I had one day, but every other time people would frown and wonder why in the world I had them. (people occasionally use squirrel tails for fishing fly lures)


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## HomesteaderWife (Feb 7, 2019)

@Carla D - I used "The Ultimate Guide to Skinning and Tanning" by Monte Burch to get started and highly recommend it. I am an extreme fan of not letting anything go to waste including hides. Pig is MESSY MESSY work- the fat on the hides is sometimes difficult to remove. But cattle/deer- you can do well to craft something for yourself with it or others. Make a nice rug with a cow hide, or a vest with two deer hides?

I will tell you that chicken feathers can make good dream-catcher decorations, or even sometimes centerpieces. Rabbit's feet- people will occasionally buy as necklaces. Even the tails- I had a lady buy them for cat toys once! BUT, those who do buy random things like that are rare at sales. I've had someone come through and randomly buy every squirrel hide/tail I had one day, but every other time people would frown and wonder why in the world I had them. (people occasionally use squirrel tails for fishing fly lures)


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## Carla D (Feb 7, 2019)

HomesteaderWife said:


> @Carla D - I used "The Ultimate Guide to Skinning and Tanning" by Monte Burch to get started and highly recommend it. I am an extreme fan of not letting anything go to waste including hides. Pig is MESSY MESSY work- the fat on the hides is sometimes difficult to remove. But cattle/deer- you can do well to craft something for yourself with it or others. Make a nice rug with a cow hide, or a vest with two deer hides?
> 
> I will tell you that chicken feathers can make good dream-catcher decorations, or even sometimes centerpieces. Rabbit's feet- people will occasionally buy as necklaces. Even the tails- I had a lady buy them for cat toys once! BUT, those who do buy random things like that are rare at sales. I've had someone come through and randomly buy every squirrel hide/tail I had one day, but every other time people would frown and wonder why in the world I had them. (people occasionally use squirrel tails for fishing fly lures)


Thank you. I’ll look for that book. I love the idea of not letting anything go to waste. Rabbit feet and tails, goat tails, and pigs ears are all things that I could do stuff with. We have indoor and barn cats, there are several dogs in our family. And if I got super brave, I could try some pig hides. That could always be dog treats for our own use. We cut up a fresh road kill buck a couple of months ago. We didn’t toss out any of the bad meat. We cut it up, made small bags of meat and froze that. We have been feeding that to our barn cats for the last couple of months. We try to find uses for every part of what we kill and clean.


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## HomesteaderWife (Feb 10, 2019)

@Carla D - I made a thread on tanning if you're interested!


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## Carla D (Feb 10, 2019)

HomesteaderWife said:


> @Carla D - I made a thread on tanning if you're interested!


Most definitely be checking that out out. Thank you so much.


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