That's sad Joe. Do they have to be killed to get the down? I guess so since, even if they only removed it, the geese would not be warm anymore and die of exposure. Why aren't the animal activists all over this? Bar-Headed Goose
Bar-headed geese are not native to Britain, but I've seen one or two in the south of England. I suspect they were escapees from some collection or other. Meanwhile, I was looking at some photos that I took on a visit to Iceland. I'm not quite sure how I got this close to a whooper swan, but here it is.
I decided to answer my own question thanks to google "Geese aren't sheep. Their feathers are plucked only after the goose has been slaughtered, harvested for its liver and meat. Down insulation is simply an efficient use of a byproduct, one that is no more likely to raise the bile of PETA than the making of bologna."
Yeah,Lara, it is not a pretty picture, and I didn't have the heart to post the link. Live gathering injures the geese, and eventually the geese are killed, for the final gathering, before they are processed.
Jean Redpath sings The Wild Geese from the album A Fine Song For Singing which features Abby Newton on cello and Jay Ungar on fiddle. Set to music by the late Jim Reid, this was originally written as a poem by Violet Jacob in 1915. The song is also known under the alternative title Norland Wind.