The Process

The first eider ducks start coming on land to establish their nests on Eholmen - our main eider colony - around the end of May. Before that, they will have been around in the ocean for quite a while, making sure there is no signs of predators on the island. The more birds are already on land, the more secure it will feel for the other ones to build their nests around the same place. The female eiders will have remembered Eholmen from the previous years and will want to establish themselves here again. Males come on land as well, but leave the females behind after about one week. During this period, there is a lot happening on the island and the special sounds of the eider males will fill the air. It is however also a time during which the birds are extremely unsure and vulnerable which is why we like to give them peace and quiet until they have built up a strong relation to their nests and the surroundings. We move around as little and as calmly as possible while we try to look out for signs of polar bears or Arctic foxes. Over the last years, more and more eiders have been establishing nests close to our little cabin on Eholmen, showing that they feel more secure around us and trust us to protect them.

Here on Svalbard, we have many additional challenges to the ones traditional eider farmers in Norway and Iceland are facing. The polar bear is a constant threat to the breeding chances of the eider ducks. Especially female bears who have developed a taste for eggs can take out many hundred nests in just one hour. This is why we patrol the whole island every few hours to check for signs of bears and have our dog Yuki live on the beach to warn us in case of a bear sighting. Arctic foxes are relentless egg thieves and knowing so, many eiders give up their nests as soon as they spot a fox. There are a large amount of skuas and glaucous gulls who feast on both eggs and ducklings. As humans, we do however also have to respect the basic laws of nature and a certain degree of predation is both healthy for the environment and the natural circle of life. The weather plays a big factor on Svalbard. Winds can be extremely cold and strong and last for weeks and the summer can bring everything from rain to snow. Living up here means being flexible and adaptable at all times. Additionally - since the area is protected - there is no possibilty to set up shelters or protective fences on Eholmen (like the practice is both in Iceland and mainland Norway). Every single one of our approximately 4.000 eider ducks is laying their eggs in nature - they often find some kind of natural shelter from both weather and predators like a big rock - and it is our responsibilty to find them all on a big island and keep them relatively safe. To get one kilo of cleaned down here on Svalbard, we usually need to harvest 100-120 nests

When all the eiders have established their nests and most male eiders have moved out into the ocean surrounding Eholmen, we begin to search the island systematically for nests. Every single nest gets marked by us by a small orange wooden stick to guarantee that we can find them again later on. This also helps us with counting the current population of our colony. By this time, most of them will have laid 3 to 4 eggs and be very attached to their nest. At this point, the tradition in Iceland is to remove all down from the nests and replace it with hay. We now harvest some of the down in the nests and cover the eggs again with the remaining eiderdown while marking them at the same time. Here, the goal is for the ducks to be left with enough insulating down in each nest to keep the eggs safe and warm at all times. The females have gotten used to seeing us by now and will come straight back to their nest as soon as we are done. It is important to be very calm, gentle and respectful so the eiders feel safe around us as they are very sensitive to change, sounds and colours. Eholmen is a large island and we work in certain corridors so that the same bird will usually not be disturbed again before they leave their nests for good.

Around the beginning of July, the first ducklings will have begun to hatch from the eggs. Their mother keeps them in the warming and insulating eiderdown until they are dry enough to make it to the ocean. Now, their first journey will take them straight into the ice￾cold Arctic Ocean where their mother teaches them to dive for food in the calm waters surrounding Eholmen. They never return to their nests again. Slowly, the island becomes more silent with only a few birds remaining, but the view of the ducklings in the water is a tribute to all the hard work we have done over the past few weeks. As a last gift, the eiders leave us with the remaining down in their nests. At this point, the orange sticks come into play again as it would be almost impossible to find all the nests again without any ducks on them. All eiderdown is now collected and dried naturally along our beach on handmade wooden frames - it is important for the quality of the down to have absolutely no moisture in it.

After an intense bird protecting and down collecting season, the long cleaning process begins. At this point, the eiderdown is full of feathers, vegetation, dust and whatever the wind brings along. Only approximately 10% of the volume remains after we have finished all the steps of the cleaning process. This is usually a work for the long autumn and winter days and nights as we focus on other hunting and trapping endeavours while there is still daylight. The first step is to run all the down through a custom tumbling machine that filters out all the dirt, little rocks and some of the vegetation. To eliminate germs, the down is then heated up to 120 degrees Celsius in a heating chamber over a minimum of 12 hours. A second machine will remove even more dirt, while a third machine filters out nearly all the feathers. These machines are all powered by a generator, a solar panel and a small windmill since we do not have any typical form of electricity at our trapper stations. Afterwards, every inch of down will have to be checked and cleaned meticulously by hand. This is an extremely time-consuming process and it will take one person a few days to hand-clean enough eiderdown for just one of our duvets. Finally, our eiderdown is handwashed with luke-warm water and a small amount of organic down soap. It is important to us that the whole process is as environmentally friendly and local as possible.

After the long cleaning process, the eiderdown is ready to be filled into one of our exclusive and handmade duvet covers made of the finest ecological Giza cotton. If you are interested in our bedding, you will find more information in our shop.