Feathered lapel pins

Comments on Feathered lapel pins

1. I have a friend that does work with feathers. She’s VERY talented. http://www.whimseywear.com/

2. I totally have a peacock feather bouquet! and a feather cake topper. I’m trying not to add too many feather accessories but the lapel sounds awesome.

3. What about the animals that are killed to get the feathers? Why not carry a mink bouquet?

4. Yes, I don’t want to be a downer, but I agree with Vera. I am a vegetarian and I’ve always wondered if the birds are killed to get the feathers. And if not killed, certainly plucked; it’s not like someone’s picking them up off the ground, right? It’s a fine line, as I do wear wool so maybe I shouldn’t talk, but I guess I feel like shaving wool doesn’t hurt like plucking would (like, it doesn’t hurt to get my hair cut, but it does hurt if someone yanks a hair out of my head…). Does anyone know if there are fake feather alternatives? I like the look but worry about the animal cruelty factor.

5. I’m not sure about other kinds of feathers but most peacock feathers come from their natural, annual molt. I’m not sure if comparing them to a mink skin is the most appropriate.

6. From some quick searching, Scunshine, is correct that most peacock feathers are harvested from their annual molting. As with any animal product, the care of the animals throughout the rest of the year is a consideration, but I would assume that in general, to get pretty feathers, the birds would need to be well cared for.

   Other feathers may require plucking. I know that goose down does. I’m not sure about ostrich feathers.

7. So someone actually does pick the feathers up off the ground! I find that incredibly cool and endearing.

   However, another quick search for ostrich feathers shows some less happy possibilities, including plucking them as well as killing them for meat, leather, and soap.

   Has anyone ever heard of fake feathers? Maybe I should figure out how to make them and go into business!

8. yes, ostriches do get killed for both meat and feathers, some family friends I knew when I was young had a farm. but for them, meat was a primary concern, not selling the feathers. I don’t know if the farm would differ any if they were trying to sell feathers.

9. Yay for peacock themed weddings! I’m having one in honor of my fiance’s last name: “Paunovich” means “son of peacock” in serbian!

   I found an ebay seller who sells humanely harvested peacock feathers from his own farm. Do a search for “humane feathers” on ebay and you will find him. He is a rabbi from Minnesota.

10. I’m having a peacock themed wedding. All the feather’s that I bought so far are from peacock farms and the feathers are only collected during molts. Aside from that, the peacock colors are going to be carried into my dress (purple and peacock teal), into the invitations, and into carious other aspects of decor.

11. We used peacock feathers as aisle markers and I used a few in my hat veil as well. I wanted to mark the aisle a touch but didn’t want to pay for a big slab of material to get walked all over.

12. I guess this is the first post to this thread in 6 months, but I just came across this page today…

    Thanks for the info on the peacocks! I was about ready to go beg a petting zoo owner to let me have feathers dropped by an ostrich so I wouldn’t be supporting the ranches!

    I”ll probably spend all night reading this site. The Knot was starting to make me gag.

13. Found these postings by googling peacock feathers as I have two mail peacocks and I DO collect the feathers at the end of every summer when they molt. The feathers are everywhere and range in size from an inch to about 5 feet long, so far, as my oldest is about 3 years old. I had one female, but I think the two males chased her away.

    Occasionally, we will go outside to find a visitor! We have no idea where he comes from, but he visits about once or twice a year, then returns to his own home … I presume.

    They are gorgeous birds and I have boxes full of feathers that I'm trying to figure out how to use, so glad I came across this article.

    • I would be happy to buy peacock feathers from you for my wedding. Please email me if you would be willing to discuss this further with me.

    • If you have any feathers for sale I’m completely interested in purchasing some!

    • Hi Rosie!

      I was wondering if you still have your boxes of peacock feathers? I have been searching for cruelty free peacock feathers to use and came across your post. I was wondering if you would possibly have 36 feathers that you would be interested in selling?

14. I had a peacock wedding last year and used Peacock Invitations on etsy for my stationary and Emici Bridal on etsy for facinators and sashes. The centerpieces were birch with feathers and crystals and my bouquet had feathers along with spider mums. Everything was fabulous.

15. Does anyone have any places to buy cruelty free peacock feathers from? Online would be best.

    I’m very skeptical of the sites that sell 100 feathers in a pack.

    In India, the government is cracking down on peacock feather usage because it is very common to poach peacocks and smuggle the feathers abroad.

    Feathers from a peacock farm in that US that are cruelty free would be ideal for me. Any ideas?

    • Hi there, stumbled across this while doing a little research! Just a little info for everyone, from somebody who raises peacocks as a hobby. I currently have 24 birds, and I do collect and sell my feathers on ebay each year. We are completely cruelty free and try to provide the best quality of life we can for our birds. I upload tons of photos w/ my listings so everyone can see the birds from 1 year to the next. Do beware of any peacock feathers that are sold in 100 pc. packs and also any that are trimmed. Most people who sell bulk peacock feathers are getting the feathers from China, where Peacocks are raised in factory farms and slaughtered for human consumption. The tails are cut off after slaughter. A naturally shed feather tapers to a point and has a tiny hole in the center of the shaft where the blood vessel used to be. This blood vessel actually recedes back into the body as the bird nears it’s annual molt, without blood flow the feather basically dies and is then shed by the bird, a few weeks later a brand new feather starts to grow in it’s place. With 24 birds I get approx. 1000 sellable tail feathers each year, so I obviously could not supply very many packs of 100! I have supplied several weddings, and love to get pics from the newlyweds so I can show everyone where my feathers go! I am far from the only Cruelty Free seller on ebay, so humane feathers are available, but keep in mind they are seasonal. I pretty much sell out by this time of year, and if you can find a supplier you trust, I’d advise making arrangements ahead of time. Guess thats all!

      • Hi Mindy, I saw this post while searching for cruelty free peacock feathers for my friend’s wedding. She has been searching for a website that sells peacock feathers but doesn’t want them if the peacock had to be killed for their feathers. Do you happen to have any for sale now or know of another seller? thanks!

        • Hi Jen,

          There’s Letsgetsfeathered on etsy whom I recommend since I bought feathers from her in the past. She’s very nice and has several other bird feathers besides peacocks. You can check her out here: http://www.etsy.com/people/LetsGetFeathered?ref=ls_profile

          • Thanks so much! My friend will be so happy!!

16. Hi! Just came across this article doing some research on cruelty-free ostrich feathers for a wedding! If anyone knows of anyone who can do this for me, that would be great! Love the look, but I am a Vegetarian, and very big into animal rights. I want to do a black and white Old Hollywood theme and those big white ostrich feathers would be perfect centerpieces ONLY if I could get them cruelty free!!

17. Hi Mindy,
    Would you mind posting your e-bay name. I would like to make feather earrings for resell, and maybe find a few other feather crafts. I can check your store to see when they become available Thanks so much!
    Debbie

18. Hi Debbie! I’d be happy to give you my ebay name, just so everybody realizes I didn’t post here to drum up business! 🙂 I did this because it seems people have alot of misconceptions about Cruelty Free feathers, and how & where to get them. On ebay I am theroost-2008 and my store is Peacock Hill Farm. I have also been trying to establish relationships and network with, some of the other cruelty free sellers. That way if one of us doesn’t have something we can comfortably refer people to other sellers who might. I can tell you prime time for availability of cruelty free Peacock feathers is Aug. – Nov., this is generally when the birds molt, but it can vary a little depending on the climate where the birds live. Thank you for supporting Cruelty Free and good luck with your earrings! Mindy

19. Thanks so much Mindy! We all appreciate you being so considerate! But thanks for posting your eBay site :). That is a really nice idea to cross-promote for others as well! I’ll check your eBay store during those times!

    Thanks again!
    Debbie

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