Down and ornamental feathers
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down.
Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as jackets, bedding, pillows and sleeping bags.
Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as jackets, bedding, pillows and sleeping bags.
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Down is the soft layer of feathers closest to birds' skin, primarily in the chest region. These feathers are highly valued because they do not have quills. While most down and feathers are removed from birds during slaughter, geese in breeding flocks and those raised for meat and foie gras may be plucked while they are alive.
Plucking causes geese considerable pain and distress. One study found that the blood glucose levels of some geese nearly doubled (a symptom of severe stress) during plucking.
Typically, ducks and geese are lifted by their necks, their legs are tied, and their feathers are ripped out. The struggling birds often sustain injuries during plucking. They are then returned to their cages until they are ready to be plucked again. This process begins when the animals are 10 weeks old and is repeated in six-week intervals until the birds are slaughtered.
The eider duck is a protected species, but its feathers are sought after for bedding and clothing. The females lay eggs and surround them with feathers plucked from their own breasts. Farmers in Iceland gather more than 6,500 pounds of eider duck feathers each year. By taking these feathers, farmers are removing important insulation that the eggs need to hatch. It takes feathers from at least 80 nests to fill just one comforter.
Plucking causes geese considerable pain and distress. One study found that the blood glucose levels of some geese nearly doubled (a symptom of severe stress) during plucking.
Typically, ducks and geese are lifted by their necks, their legs are tied, and their feathers are ripped out. The struggling birds often sustain injuries during plucking. They are then returned to their cages until they are ready to be plucked again. This process begins when the animals are 10 weeks old and is repeated in six-week intervals until the birds are slaughtered.
The eider duck is a protected species, but its feathers are sought after for bedding and clothing. The females lay eggs and surround them with feathers plucked from their own breasts. Farmers in Iceland gather more than 6,500 pounds of eider duck feathers each year. By taking these feathers, farmers are removing important insulation that the eggs need to hatch. It takes feathers from at least 80 nests to fill just one comforter.
Typically, geese and ducks are lifted by their necks, their legs are tied, and their feathers are pulled out in large chunks in a process that the industry refers to as "ripping".
The birds struggle and panic, sometimes even breaking limbs in an attempt to escape. A 2009 Swedish television program, Kalla Fakta, produced a two part documentary on the topic of live-plucking in Hungary which revealed:
... birds on their backs screaming and struggling to free themselves...as their down is ripped from their bodies at rapid speed. Afterwards, several birds are left paralyzed on the ground with large flesh wounds. The birds with big gaping wounds are then sewn back together with needle and thread on site by the workers themselves and without any anesthetic.
Upon viewing the footage, Swedish vet Dr. Johan Beck Friis described the live-plucking process as "nothing less than qualified torture.
In an interview with CBS 5 of San Francisco, SPCA veterinarian and bird expert Dr. Laurie Siperstein-Cook responded to the footage, stating that it must have been "horribly, horribly painful" and that "if you choose to buy a down product...you may be supporting torture." The news piece also visited Wal-Mart, NorthFace, and REI, none of whom could offer any information about whether their feather and down products came from live-plucked birds.
The birds are live-plucked for the first time at about ten weeks old, and are plucked again four to six times a year until they are sent to slaughter at about four years old. (Ducks and geese can live about 12 to 15 years.) Others go on to be force-fed for the production of foie gras.
The research done for Kalla Fakta estimated that 50-80% of the world's down is live-plucked. Industry groups responded by claiming that the actual percentage was much lower, but another investigation--this one conducted by Ikea--confirmed the high numbers.
That same year Ikea phased out Mysa, a Chinese brand of down bedding, citing welfare concerns about live-plucking.
The largest down-producing countries are Hungary, China, and Poland, and all three harvest feathers via live-plucking. 80% of the world's down and feathers come from China.
The industry considers feathers from live-plucked birds to be of better quality, and the process is also more economic, since the birds can be plucked again and again before being slaughtered. It takes the down of 75 birds to fill one comforter.
Not surprisingly, research backs up claims about the suffering of live-plucked birds. An article published in Research in Veterinary Science concluded that the feather-plucking process is painful for birds, stating that pain receptors had been indentified in the skin of avian species like ducks, geese, and chickens and that "the follicular wall of the feather is richly supplied with general somatic afferent (sensory) fibres, and nerves are present in the papilla, pulp and feather muscles...and the feather is firmly held in the follicle.”.
Another study found that blood glucose levels of geese nearly doubled during plucking, a sign of extreme stress.
The birds struggle and panic, sometimes even breaking limbs in an attempt to escape. A 2009 Swedish television program, Kalla Fakta, produced a two part documentary on the topic of live-plucking in Hungary which revealed:
... birds on their backs screaming and struggling to free themselves...as their down is ripped from their bodies at rapid speed. Afterwards, several birds are left paralyzed on the ground with large flesh wounds. The birds with big gaping wounds are then sewn back together with needle and thread on site by the workers themselves and without any anesthetic.
Upon viewing the footage, Swedish vet Dr. Johan Beck Friis described the live-plucking process as "nothing less than qualified torture.
In an interview with CBS 5 of San Francisco, SPCA veterinarian and bird expert Dr. Laurie Siperstein-Cook responded to the footage, stating that it must have been "horribly, horribly painful" and that "if you choose to buy a down product...you may be supporting torture." The news piece also visited Wal-Mart, NorthFace, and REI, none of whom could offer any information about whether their feather and down products came from live-plucked birds.
The birds are live-plucked for the first time at about ten weeks old, and are plucked again four to six times a year until they are sent to slaughter at about four years old. (Ducks and geese can live about 12 to 15 years.) Others go on to be force-fed for the production of foie gras.
The research done for Kalla Fakta estimated that 50-80% of the world's down is live-plucked. Industry groups responded by claiming that the actual percentage was much lower, but another investigation--this one conducted by Ikea--confirmed the high numbers.
That same year Ikea phased out Mysa, a Chinese brand of down bedding, citing welfare concerns about live-plucking.
The largest down-producing countries are Hungary, China, and Poland, and all three harvest feathers via live-plucking. 80% of the world's down and feathers come from China.
The industry considers feathers from live-plucked birds to be of better quality, and the process is also more economic, since the birds can be plucked again and again before being slaughtered. It takes the down of 75 birds to fill one comforter.
Not surprisingly, research backs up claims about the suffering of live-plucked birds. An article published in Research in Veterinary Science concluded that the feather-plucking process is painful for birds, stating that pain receptors had been indentified in the skin of avian species like ducks, geese, and chickens and that "the follicular wall of the feather is richly supplied with general somatic afferent (sensory) fibres, and nerves are present in the papilla, pulp and feather muscles...and the feather is firmly held in the follicle.”.
Another study found that blood glucose levels of geese nearly doubled during plucking, a sign of extreme stress.
Ornamental feathers
Of course, ducks and geese are not the only birds that experience the pain of live-plucking. Others include fancy roosters, bred specifically for their feathers, and ostriches.
Ostriches, who are raised by the thousands on large farms, are also plucked. Some farms exist solely for feather harvesting; others raise the ostriches for meat and leather as well. Despite the fact that ostriches can live to between 40 and 70 years, those destined to be meat or leather are slaughtered around one year of age.
There are two methods of removing feathers from live ostriches, clipping and plucking. Both require the bird to be restrained, either in a "plucking box" or a paddock so small that he cannot kick or turn around. Often the bird has a black hood put over his head. Younger birds are plucked once they reach the age of "adult feathers" at about the age of 16 months. Every 7 or 8 months after that, their large feathers are pulled from their skin. Live-plucking is also considered good when it comes to producing "quality" ostrich leather; the characteristic circular marks in the leather are actually scars from the feathers being pulled out while the bird is still alive.
Clipping is different but similarly inhumane: the birds are restrained as workers cut feathers off with hedge trimmers or pruning shears at about two inches above the bird's skin; any closer can cause hemorrhage and feather regeneration damage, since blood vessels and nerves run through the centre of feathers. There is no doubt that this process is painful for the birds, and up to 50 feathers can be clipped from one adult male ostrich at one time. The next step is "quilling", where workers pull out the quills of the feathers that were intentionally left in the follicle during the clipping process. This is done with pliers or by hand, and its purpose is to prevent hemorrhaging and to maintain the commercial quality of future feathers.
Roosters are also raised and genetically bred for their long, colourful feathers. These are used for jewelry, hair styling, and as baits for fly fishers, among other things. These roosters live for about a year, while their feathers grow to a maximum length, and then they are slaughtered.
These feathers have become very fashionable recently, which means more suffering for more birds.
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