The duvet quality changes a lot from one region of the world to another. Climate is not the same in China, in France, in Canada… so the quality of the duvet the animals produce is not the same depending on the country of origin. The main difference is the loft/fill power. Earth birds such as chicken do not produce down. The best down is produced by flying water birds such as ducks and geese.
The loft/fill power indicates the cubic inches per oz of down. The higher the loft/fill power is, the better duvet quality you have. A high loft/fill power ensures the best down, the one produced by big mature animals. The older, the better. Its density/warmth value is extraordinary. This down will be very light, incredibly warm and will last for decades. A low loft/fill power will tend to sag rapidly because its fibres are to fragile. The loft/fill power goes between 375 and 800 Cu in./oz.
Chinese down, low density
Canadian down, big density
The Chinese duvet
In 1995, china was producing approx. 50% of the down of the world.
Chinese duvets are usually presented with silk covers. Generally, the sewing are of good quality but the down is of very poor quality. Actually, the down comes from ducks bred in order to become Peking duck. For this reason, ducks are killed when they are 6 month/1 year old. Their meat is then very tender but they did not have enough time to produce a big down. The older, the better. It takes time to produce a good down.
The Chinese loft/fill power goes from300 and 475.
The European duvet
The European duvet is extremely large in the way it is manufactured and in its down. The European down remains of a lower quality than the Canadian down. In Europe, ducks and geese live in a warmer climate than in Canada (it is not often people notice -40 degrees in Europe). Besides, the down mostly comes from geese or ducks that had been bred in order to produce "foie gras". Downs are usually of good quality however it is a shame that animals have to be killed too young to produce a down of a very good quality.
The European loft/fill power usually goes between 475 and 675.
The Canadian duvet
The Canadian duvet is famous for it great quality. Some downs are only produced in Canada. It is the case of the eider down. Eider is a duck who has an extremely light and warm down. There is no better quality than the one produced by this duck. Once hunted for its down, eider is now a protected species. It is forbidden to kill an eider, so the down is handily taken from the nests, without being dangerous for the birds.
Apart from eider, geese and duck do produce an excellent down. Actually, weather conditions (down to -50 degrees) and the age of the animals (between 2 and 3 years old) are extremely good factors.
The Canadian loft/fill power goes between 535 and 800.
