VietNamNet Bridge – Every day, people of Trieu Khuc village, Hanoi, go to markets to collect chicken and duck feathers. Through the hands of Trieu Khuc villagers, that waste is exported and used to make brooms.


In the scorching heat of a summer noon, several people are drying feather on grounds
 inside the Gio Ga cemetery, Tan Trieu village.






Feather trading has been a traditional job of Trieu khuc village for hundreds of years. At present,
40-50 households in the village still do this job. Many other households produce feather brooms.






Each family collects rom 200-300kg of feathers a day.






Feathers are cleaned and classified. Large feathers are used to make badminton shuttlecocks.
Small feathers are exported to China. Trieu Khuc people pay VND25,000 ($1.2) per kilo of
 wet feathers and sell dry feather for VND40,000 ($2)/kg.







“Drying feathers is harder than drying rice. You have to pay special attention to weather.
You have to collect feather very quickly when you see signs of rain, otherwise feathers will
 be blown away or get wet,” says Ms. Oanh, 46.






After being dried under the sun, feathers are again dried in drying rooms and packed to
 sell to the biggest agent in the village. Feathers are then cleaned by chemicals to
 make blankets and jackets.






“I’ve done this job for the entire life. I’m so familiar with it so I do not feel
the bad smell of feathers,” says Ms. Hue, 62.






Making feather brooms is mainly the job of women because it requires great patience.






Ms. Tung, 80, says that she earns around VND80,000 ($4) a day.






Feathers are washed by detergent before it is used to produce brooms.





Brooms are priced from VND30,000 ($1.5) to VND100,000 ($5).













Feather brooms are dyed with different colors.






“My family has produced feather brooms for five generations. All 23 members
in my family do this job,” says Mr. De, 82.


VNE