Why can’t they just be used to stuff pillows?
Chicken Processing Industry Chicken processors are very efficient businesses, finding ways to automate most of the procedures for getting chickens from farm to market. They have also reduced the amount of water used during processing. But when all is said and done, they are still left with a lot of feathers. Goose down is used to stuff very comfortable and expensive pillows. Though chicken feathers are used in some inexpensive pillows, they don’t offer quite the same qualities. Chicken feathers are shorter, with more prickly quills, and are not as fluffy as goose down feathers. While these attributes limit their market value in making pillows, chicken feathers remain very appropriate for other commercial applications. From Plastics to Paper to Flowerpots In 1993, Schmidt found that feather fiber—alone or in combination with wood pulp—can be made into paper. That discovery led to decorative paper, filter paper, filters, and absorbents. Schmidt and his colleagues developed the technology
