THE STORY of the SHEEP-GOOSE
Is there such a thing as a goose-sheep? Don't smirk, we're not insane. It really exists! It has a special history, a story of very high quality; it seems like a fable but is instead a beautiful reality. The geese of Békés in Hungary live freely in the open air; they are a select breed, not from stock farming, and attentive feeding makes them superb, with a white, very high quality plumage. Not wrongly, they are considered the "merinos" of geese. Natural moulting takes place in the period from spring to late autumn, when the temperature rises and the mildness of the climate renders the warmth of the down superfluous. Only then do the skilled hands of the farmers gather just the down, from the breast and under the wings of the mature geese. A bit like what happens for the shearing of sheep, this operation is absolutely harmless for the animals. In fact, in comparison with the sheep, geese have the advantage of not being entirely "shorn" because only 25-30 grams of very precious down out of 300 grams of total plumage are collected with each moulting. Just think: a flake of down "weighs" from 1 to 2 milligrams, and therefore 500 to 1,000 are needed to have just one gram of this filling! The down's natural ability to hold back the air among its microscopic keratin channels makes it the best thermal insulator, the softest, most comfortable, elastic and resistant material for padding... but this is another beautiful and incredible story.
A TRANSOCEANIC DUVET!
The Duvet Des Andes, a true example from overseas, contains within it all the exceptional characteristics of the bird from which it is gathered, but to describe how volatile it is, is not at all easy! In order to understand its origins we need to go back to far-off 1600, when the Sun King augmented his collection of thoroughbred geese and ducks from around the world with a very beautiful and "bizarre" example that then also became known as the "Canard de l'Empereur". As agile, fast and "springy" as a wild duck but coated with a mantle of very warm feathers and white down like a goose, and hence resistant to the cold, it loves to live on the snow and was thus conferred with the name of "Canard de Neige" by the skilled skiers and mountain climbers. This species of the high Andes, lives primarily in the province of Huanuco but as a great traveller moves from the Centre-South of Peru, across the Eastern Bolivia to Chile and Argentina, to the Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn. A great adventurer and strong breed, it doesn't follow traditional itineraries, facing difficult weather conditions; the males defend their families and territory with aggressiveness and vigour and sometimes have two females that nest together. An expert swimmer, it fully submerges in the water, and its call is as mighty as an eagle's. It flies very high up and in a "V" formation and for long journeys, launching into its characteristic cry, "AAHG-AAHG-HUNG", like the sound of a klaxon, louder and more "metallic" than other waterfowl. Like an enthusiastic explorer it adapts to living anywhere, from the arctic tundra to forests, from the seas to mountain lakes. Now it also lives and reproduces in Brittany and Normandy, in France, thanks to the interest of Louis XIV in these fine animals that, as the legend goes, crossed South America and the ocean, following the French ships that had gathered their nests, to reach, incredibly, France. Due to all this, the Des Andes duvet, constitutes a filling of particular resistance and versatility, a down that will produce the characteristics most appropriate to the situation in any corner of the world.
EIDER: THE ROLLS ROYCE OF FEATHERS
The common eider ducks (Somateria mollissima) are at home in the Nordic regions. Already by the time this zone was colonised, which happened over 1,100 years ago, the eider feathers were being gathered in Iceland. Such collecting is a centuries-old custom and is absolutely harmless for these animals. The eider duck is a wild bird, but becomes domesticated in the brooding place where it looked after. The eider ducks have been protected by law in Iceland since the mid-XIX century. Iceland accommodates one of the world's biggest brooding zones for eider ducks. The economic exploitation of the down is quite singular and not does not result in any damage to the eider duck population. The eider ducks nest on islands but also on the coasts of the Icelandic mainland. They look for nourishment in the low waters of the sea around the whole Icelandic coast. In spring they return to their brooding places. They nest in colonies where there is peace and tranquillity. The Icelandic farmers know how to attract the eider ducks into such places. Some hundreds of farmers are able to gain from the breeding of eider ducks. It is in their interest to care for both the birds and their brooding places. The interests of these farmers are represented by the Icelandic Association of Eider-duck Farmers. The balanced exploitation of the eider ducks is based on a sensible co-existence between Man and Nature in a healthy and uncontaminated environment. The eider ducks return every spring to their brooding places. The farmers lend the birds protection and look out for this environment. The eider ducks know to appreciate the farmers' assistance and every year return to the same place for brooding. Before beginning to brood, the bird examines the site where it will lay its eggs; everything has to be in order. The eider duck lays from 4 to 6 eggs and pads its nest with its feathers that detach by themselves only after the eggs have been laid. The eider duck arranges the feathers around the eggs in such a way as to protect them from the cold. The brooding may last up to four weeks and then the eider duck abandons the nest and moves towards the sea with the chicks. The nests complete with feathers remain deserted. If the feathers were not harvested, they would be at the mercy of the wind and bad weather. After the gathering, the feathers are at once submitted to drying at 110°C to disinfect them and facilitate their cleaning. The feathers are cleaned by using special machines for this kind of operation that are based on the traditional methods of cleaning. The cleaning is done without the addition of chemical additives; the natural properties of the feathers remain intact. After the mechanical cleaning the feathers are again checked manually so as to eliminate any lumps or nodes. Only after the feathers have been carefully checked and officially weighed can they be exported. The down of the eider ducks, like the feathers, is made of a horny substance. From the centre of each feather, thin threads branch out in all directions, which in their complex rather resemble a tangle of threads. The individual threads are covered by hook-like structures that are invisible to the naked eye. These microscopic hooks confer adhesiveness to the down. The good heat insulation, lightness, adhesiveness and properties of the feathers confer them with an extraordinary quality that makes them better suitable than any other product for the filling of bedcovers, pillows, sleeping bags, jackets and other garments. The down is a natural product that derives from a healthy and uncontaminated environment without the addition of chemical additives. No other natural product gathers within itself as many properties as does the down from an eider duck.