Tanning Hides/skins

[farmerdrea]

Jack -- what do you suggest I do with the approximately 100 bunny skins I have now because something went wrong when they were sitting it their brine?

Background: I'd kept piling pelts up in the freezer (skin side in, rolled up, placed in airtight bags. Any that looked like they had freezer burn got given to the dogs to play with.) We needed room in the freezer to put in a beast that was due for homekill, so got out all the hides and put them in a 25% brine solution (or pretty much till saturation point) and left them. My husband put an oak wooden spool (the kind electrical wire come on, large size - about the size of the lid of the 44 gallon drum) on top to keep everything immersed. Could it have been the oak that made the hair slip?

The bunny skins are all from 4-6 month old rex rabbits, which were at prime pelt stage when killed, so a sad loss of such nice pelts, but the leather feels thick and soft (when wet).

Any suggestions gratefully accepted!

Cheers
Andrea
NZ