Chicken Question

OK, I am now living on my parent's little farm. They have about 60 to 70 chickens running around loose, which keeps me from gardening, and I have gotten tired of pleading with Dad to confine the hens and butcher the roosters, so I am going to do it myself. The hens are going into a chicken tractor and the roosters into the stock pot. There are about 40 of them, all different breeds, and some of them have gorgeous tails and hackles. I want to preserve those feathers somehow, to use when I start making hats this winter. Any ideas? I am planning on skinning the chickens I butcher, they are too tough to do anything with them but make stock, as I don't have a pressure cooker.
Hopefully someone will have an idea, as I have been searching the 'net with no luck.

Thank you !

Cedar