This invention relates to the field of down detection technology, and provides a device and method for determining the microbial content of down, including a pretreatment mechanism, a culture mechanism, and a counting mechanism. The pretreatment mechanism includes a container, a down-pulling component for moving the down in the container, and an air-injection component for injecting air into the container. The down-pulling component includes a cylinder that can move up and down and multiple sets of down-touching components evenly distributed on the cylinder. The down-touching components include multiple circumferentially distributed down-touching rods that can move synchronously radially. The down-pulling component moves the down in the container to loosen the clumps of down, and the air-injection component injects air into the container to agitate the eluent, further loosening the already loosened down and achieving a dispersion effect. This effectively solves the problem of down clumping, promotes gentle down dispersion, and achieves full dispersion of down in the eluent, allowing the microorganisms in the down to be fully separated and dispersed in the eluent.