Down Feather Pillow?

[charmedbyekkie]

Has anyone made a pillow out of their parrots' down feathers? We've started collecting the feathers that come off of Cairo (no vaned feathers yet - those might be given to our milliner friend or used for dreamcatchers). With his down feathers just collecting in a box, we're wondering what to do with them, apart from tossing. I know, it might be a bit weird, but my partner knows I'm a rather sentimental person and he's quite frugal/practical ("hey, we can fluff up our duvet with his feathers" hahah).

What might be the concerns with making a pillow out of Cairo's down feathers? Hygiene? Processing?

I tried searching, but couldn't find anything covering this yet.

 

[ChristaNL]

Since loose feathers lying around can/will atract moths (the same ones that eat clothes and furnishings made of wool and those other natural fibers like silk) I keep the large ones in an airtight container and chuck the rest.


That is why down and feathers for pillows, jackets and feather beds are thourougly cleaned before further use.


On the other hand...just one pillow probably will be okay

but I just had to mention it -- nature has several ways of cleaning up left-over feathers; moths and mites are just a few of them.

 

[SailBoat]

Interesting project!
Not sure if it is a practice undertaking as Parrot downy feathers tend not to return to size once compressed. But hey, why not try. Not really worry about Hygiene as long as your Parrot does not have mites (see above), or you are not plucking the feather off a poo pile.