# Where do they get Goose Down? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787 "2005-07-09T22:29:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/1 "2005-07-09T22:29:42Z")
I know it comes from a goose, but before I buy a new down sleeping bag, I’d like to know how they get so much of it. Do they kill millions of geese just to support the down industry? We dont eat them, so there arent millions of dead ones anyway. I have a hunch it comes from something they are doing in Asia that I dont want to know about… ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/2 "2005-07-09T22:34:02Z")
> [@Soylent Gene](#): > > Do they kill millions of geese just to support the down industry? We dont eat them, so there arent millions of dead ones anyway. Geese aren’t eaten as commonly as, say, chicken, but I’m pretty sure people do eat them. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/3 "2005-07-09T22:35:57Z")
Goose is eaten in many places in the world. I’m certain they aren’t just harvesting down and tossing the geese away. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/4 "2005-07-09T22:40:30Z")
Here’s an anti-down site: [http://www.poultry.org/down\_article.htm](http://www.poultry.org/down_article.htm) It opposes oppression of poultry in general, but vents its spleen here at the unthinking hordes who wear down jackets. They’re not too keen on pate de foi gras either. ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/5 "2005-07-09T22:40:48Z")
Foie gras is goose liver, so there are loads of geese required for that. Goose itself is really good, too, and eaten in many places in the world, as has been said. I know that eider geese are supposed to be the best geese for down, but I’m sure feathers from eating geese can used and correctly labelled as such. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/6 "2005-07-09T22:47:12Z")
> [@Dublin11](#): > > I know that eider geese are supposed to be the best geese for down, but I’m sure feathers from eating geese can used and correctly labelled as such. Eider down is obtained by gathering down from the nests, which is why it is so expensive. The female lines the nest with her own down to insulate the eggs and chicks. If the down is removed before laying, the female will reline the nest before laying. Rather annoying to the birds I’m sure, but rather less so than being killed and plucked. [http://www.spaceforspecies.ca/todays\_challenge/you\_asked\_us/](http://www.spaceforspecies.ca/todays_challenge/you_asked_us/) ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/7 "2005-07-09T22:48:38Z")
Is that so? I never knew that. Thanks,\*\* Colibri\*\* All hail the SDMB! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/8 "2005-07-09T22:55:22Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Here’s an anti-down site: [http://www.poultry.org/down\_article.htm](http://www.poultry.org/down_article.htm) > > It opposes oppression of poultry in general, but vents its spleen here at the unthinking hordes who wear down jackets. > > They’re not too keen on pate de foi gras either. You’d think that a group called [poultry.org](http://poultry.org) would have less of a PETA slant. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/9 "2005-07-10T00:27:34Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > You’d think that a group called [poultry.org](http://poultry.org) would have less of a PETA slant. Nah, it didn’t surprise me. Now, if it had been [poultry.com](http://poultry.com), _then_ I’d expect a pro-poultry production/consumption slant. I can’t find an actual [poultry.com](http://poultry.com), or a poultry.edu website. I’m afraid to try poultry.xxx ---
**Author:** ![bilbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@bilbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bilbo1)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/10 "2005-07-10T10:32:11Z")
Small point but Eiders are ducks not geese. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/11 "2005-07-10T13:34:49Z")
My grandmother plucked the goosedown from the geese’s breasts without killing them. I have goosedown comforters that contain goosedown that dates from the 1930’s. PETA reports that this is a cruel practice but you have to consider the source. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/12 "2005-07-10T14:42:32Z")
Much of the world’s down supply come from China where they eat a great deal of poultry. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-goose-down/311787/13 "2005-07-10T17:20:16Z")
Uh, we eat geese in the USA. They’re yummy. People actually hunt these things, and they’re a bit meatier than, say, quail (which we also eat and are yummy).