“Raw” chicken feathers directly from a processing plant were washed with detergent and dried. Cleaned feathers were mechanically worked to separate fibrous material from the quills and ultimately classified into two components: a fibrous material suitable for further textile processing, and a residue containing large feathers and pieces of quill. The chicken feather fiber was blended with binder fiber (sheath/core construction) and made into nonwoven batting. The battings show effective insulating properties when compared with other battings made from goose down and polyester fiber.
References
1.
WhittJ. S., “Poultry Feathers as a Textile Fiber Source and Subsequent Economic Impacts at the Complex and Industry Level,” Master of Science Thesis, Auburn University, 1997.
2.
SchmidtW. F., and LineM.J., “Physical and chemical structures of poultry feather fractions in fiber process development,”Tappi Nonwoven Conferences Proceedings, pp 135–141, 1996.
3.
WhittJ.S., HessJ.B., BilgiliS.F., and BroughtonR. M., “An economic evaluation of using poultry feathers as a textile fiber source,”Poultry Science, 76: 11, 1997.
4.
LucasA. M., and StettenheimP. R., “Structures of feather,”Avian Anatomy Integument, 1: 235–274, 1972.
5.
American Society for Testing & Materials, ASTM Designation C518: “Steady-State Thermal Transmission Properties by Means of the Heat Flow Meter.”
6.
Schmidt, Walter, Personal Communication, USDA, Beltsville, MD.
7.
BroughtonR., HallD., BradyP., ShanleyL., “The Use of a New Carbonaceous Fiber in Thermal Insulative Battings,”INDA Journal of Nonwovens Research5(4), 38–42 (1993)
