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Feathers & Down
How products made using feathers & down
impact animals
"Down is never ethical. It is either ripped from live birds or their carcasses."
~ Collective Fashion Justice
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The majority of down used worldwide is sourced from China, which has no laws prohibiting cruelty to animals. Down and feathers sourced from Australia typically comes from ducks farmed in intensive factory farm conditions. Animals farmed in Australia are exempt from the anti-cruelty legislation that protects domestic animals. As such, animals farmed in Australia can and are legally and routinely subjected to painful procedures and confinement that would not be legal if the subject was a dog or cat.
Fast Facts
Sources of Suffering
FEATHERS AND DOWN ARE SOURCED FROM PRODUCTION SYSTEMS WITH LITTLE TO NO ANIMAL PROTECTION LEGISLATION.
The majority of down used worldwide is sourced from China, which has no laws prohibiting cruelty to animals.
Down and feathers sourced from Australia typically come from ducks in intensive factory farming conditions.
Animals farmed in Australia are exempt from the anti-cruelty legislation that protects domestic animals.
As such, animals farmed in Australia can and are legally and routinely subjected to painful procedures and confinement that would not be legal if the subject was a dog or cat.
Breeder Birds
CONFINED, BRED, DISCARDED.
The parents of the birds used for meat and feathers are known as 'breeder birds'. Breeder birds are housed in barren sheds for their entire lives and kept under artificial lighting to increase their egg-laying rates.
Ducks become fertile at around six months of age. They are moved to breeder sheds, where they remain for a further 40 weeks. They are killed at this point as their egg production falls below a commercially viable threshold.
Fertile eggs produced by the breeder birds are taken to hatcheries and become the ducks used for meat and feathers.
Crowded and Confined
NO ACCESS TO OUTDOORS
Most ducks raised for their meat and feathers in Australia are housed on factory farms.
Kept in total confinement, ducks are housed in huge sheds with up to 18,000 other birds, without access to outdoors or water for bathing.
Stocking densities allow 1 square metre of space for up to 5 adult birds or 50 ducklings.
Ducks out of water
DENIAL OF NATURAL BEHAVIOURS
Ducks are waterbirds designed to spend much of their time floating in the water. Ducks farmed for meat and feathers in Australia are denied access to surface water for bathing, swimming and cleaning.
Today's ducks raised for meat and feathers have been selectively bred to grow much bigger and more quickly. Ducks have inherently weak legs, and when forced to bear weight as they are on modern duck farms, they often suffer painful leg injuries.
As ducks rely on water for bathing, and to clean their eyes and nostrils, farmed ducks frequently experience blocked nostrils and health issues from being unable to clean and groom themselves.
Process, not product illegal
FEATHERS FROM FOIE GRAS VICTIMS
Some down is sourced from ducks and geese used to produce Foie Gras.
Birds used for Foie Gras production have a metal tube inserted down their throats to allow force-feeding large quantities 2-3 times a day.
Overfeeding in this manner results in the birds developing a diseased, fatty liver, often six times the size of a normal liver.
This brutal process is illegal in Australia; however, the product, Foie Gras, is not, nor are down and feather products from birds who have endured this horrendous process.
Drop Down
Wear it kind
There is no ethical way to obtain down, but fortunately, we don't need to.
With today's innovation, we can keep warm in the coldest of climates without compromising our values.
Each year in Australia, 8 million ducks are confined to intensive farms before being killed for their meat, feathers and down. Each one was an individual who valued their life. In addition, up to 90% of feather products are sourced from China where millions more ducks and geese are either brutally plucked alive or killed then plucked. Create a more compassionate world, drop down and feather products, and you will no longer be contributing to their suffering.
Today there are a growing number of alternatives to down that are better for the environment and spare ducks and geese a life of suffering.
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Materials like FLWRDWN and Primaloft PURE are free from animal cruelty, and are produced with minimal environmental impact.
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Pictured: Flwrdwn by Pangaia
Kinder Options
Flwrdwn
A down-fill material made using a combination of wildflowers, a biopolymer and aerogel. Flwrdwn is warm, breathable and animal-friendly innovation is the first of its kind, used in our outerwear jackets, vests and accessories.
PrimaLoft P.U.R.E
Warmer than traditional down, and waterproof, this synthetic material is primarily crafted from recycled post-consumer plastics. PrimaLoft led the way, and now with PrimaLoft P.U.R.E, they've achieved an impressive 48% reduction in CO2 emissions during material production.