All quills flake a little.  The translucent, mostly hollow butt of the feather, not so much.

"Back in the day" a turkey shoot featured a real bird in a wooden crate with just his head sticking out of the top of the box!!

Ken, update on the peacock quills: They flake a little when used, leaving a kind of gorilla dandruff situation on the fret board. I'm guessing that is what you were referring to when you wrote that they are not particularly strong? Oh well, I'll have to go to the next local turkey shoot and git me some quills. 

P.S. for those of you not familiar with a turkey shoot, real turkeys are not shot, just targets. At least in the NC where I live... 

Let us know how you like playing with the peacock feathers. Hope you find them fun to play with.

AH! thanks for that Ken!

Just don't get caught with an eagle feather.  Technically it's illeagle (yep -- sick bird) to own real eagle feathers.

I picked a variety of sizes because I wasn't sure what size I will like. Now that it's on my mind, maybe I will spot a turkey feather on the ground. Although now that I think about it, we have a lot of bald eagles out at the lake. It would be cool to find one of their feathers!

I just pick up quills (that look to be of the sizes I like) when out walking.  though most of them have, likely, been attached to a turkey, I think not all I collect are turkey feathers.  And I'm not too particular. :)

It cost me a buck for five, so I’ll chalk it up to an experiment, and let you know how it works out for me.

Peacock quills sure are pretty, but they aren't particularly strong, and may not last long as a plectrum.  Let us know how they work.

Cool, Sheryl!  A quill makes a really nice sound on strings. 

Picked up some peacock feathers at the flea market today . I plan to try them instead of a pick. I even got a pic of the "source" of the feathers, the lady's pet peacock.