About down feathers

As a filling material for down products, down feathers are derived from the body surface of ducks and geese, and are by-products of the goose and duck meat food industry.

In China's total output of down, duck down accounts for about 90% and goose down accounts for 10%. Because there are many people in China who like to eat duck meat, the growth cycle of ducks is short, usually around 40 days, and they can be hatched every day and slaughtered every day, regardless of the season. The geese have a long growth cycle, which takes 5-6 months. They can only hatch once a year in spring, and there are few people who like to eat geese. Therefore, the output of ducks is much higher than that of geese.

a. Because ducks have a short growth cycle, developed large-scale breeding, and large yields, duck down prices are relatively low compared to goose down. Therefore, live plucking is impossible during duck breeding and slaughter;

b. "Live plucking" originated from the ancient custom of assisting goose moult during the dehairing period in Eastern European countries, and it only exists in very few goose populations. Since being introduced to my country in the last century, "live plucking" has not been widely adopted by the majority of goose farmers because of its violation of animal welfare protection and high production costs. Since 2009, with the attention and supervision of animal protection organizations and the call of the China Down Industry Association to "reject live poultry products" in the industry, the behavior of "live plucking" has been difficult to gain a foothold in China's down industry. Ground. Due to the rising labor cost and live plucking will cause the mortality rate of goose to rise, no one is willing to do the live plucking business anymore.

Down is a by-product of the poultry industry. It contains at least 80% protein and is a natural product that can be degraded naturally.

Since people's demand for goose and duck meat is long-term, and down is the most comfortable and warmest natural thermal material, down products have a stable market demand, so the production of down and feathers will be a permanent and sustainable development.

Linear fibers such as chemical fiber, cotton, wool, silk, etc. have poor compression resistance, are easy to compact, and the material degrades quickly; down because of its three-dimensional spherical shape and rich in non-flowing air, it will never compact after perennial use, which can maintain its long-term function like New. Generally, the service life of eiderdown quilt is 10-15 years, and the life of goose down quilt is 20-30 years.

Down is animal protein and will not burn at temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius, so down can pass the flammability test; but other materials, especially synthetic materials, need to be fireproofed to pass the same test; in California, the duvet The fire resistance is an exempt item.

The three-dimensional spherical structure of down determines that its surface area is large, so it will quickly dissipate after absorbing water. In addition, down itself contains a certain amount of grease, which has good moisture absorption and desorption.。

The warmth retention performance of feather down starts with the way of heat transfer. Generally speaking, heat is mainly transferred through conduction, convection and radiation. In the cold season, the body's heat is also radiated to the surrounding colder space through these three methods. But in the case of wearing clothes or covering the quilt, the heat dissipation is mainly conduction. This requires low thermal conductivity of thermal insulation materials. Feather down has the characteristics of low thermal conductivity.

High-quality down has a higher bulkiness, which is unmatched by any other warm material. The more fluffy the warming material, the larger the gaps between the fibers of the material and the more stagnant air it contains. Air is a poor conductor of heat, which can prevent heat from being conducted to the surroundings. Therefore, the higher the bulkiness, the better the warmth retention performance. If the difference in thermal conductivity between fabric fibers is not considered (in fact, the difference is very small), compared with ordinary fabrics of the same thickness, the thermal conductivity of down products is 20-50% lower, that is, the warmth retention is 1-4 times higher. The higher the density of the product filler, the greater the thermal conductivity and the greater the heat loss. Down with high down content has a higher bulkiness, so that its product has a lower density under the same thickness, so it has higher warmth retention. Therefore, the use of down with a higher down content can appropriately reduce the weight of the filler, which can not only obtain the same warmth retention, but also reduce the weight of the product. This is the reason why down products have the characteristics of "light, soft and warm".

The higher the down content, the higher the bulkiness of the down, the better the relative warmth retention and the more comfortable it is. The down content of down is not 100%, unless it is selected by hand. The maximum down content of machine sorting can reach 95%. Down filling material must contain a certain proportion of small hair pieces, because the hair pieces can play a role in rapid rebound. Therefore, determining the appropriate down content can reduce the amount of down filling and achieve the same warmth.

The main production areas are concentrated in Asia and Europe.

Asia is represented by China, the world’s largest feather producing area, as well as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan. At present, China is the world’s largest producer, exporter and consumer of down and feather products, and its export volume occupies the international market. More than 70% share; Europe is represented by Hungary, Poland, Germany, France; in addition, North America, Canada and other countries also produce feathers.

The country that consumes the most down and down is led by China, and Japan, the United States, and some European countries represented by Germany also have strong consumption power;

With the improvement of the national economy, the penetration rate of down garments in China has ranked among the top in the world, but the penetration rate of down bedding is still very low and it is in the market development stage.