Cath Huntley seems a bit featherbrained at times. I wonder too if vegans can have feathers. I suppose feathers are a by-product of slaughter so possibly not. One wouldn't just pluck feathers from a bird and let it live - and if one did that would be extremely cruel.
I remember from back in the day when QVC would regularly tout Northern Nights they would make a point of showing VT from the factory "hypercleaning" the feathers. I seem to recall they mentioned washing them up to 17 times until the water ran clear.
I personally don't like feathers. Stayed at a Hilton recently and I asked them to change the bedding to synthetic.
If its down then yes they are plucked alive , i always thought they were from dead birds but not so
https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/industry/