Duck welfare in commercial production involves specific challenges including the fundamental need for water access and the controversial practice of force-feeding for foie gras production.
Duck welfare is defined by the tension between commercial production economics and the fundamental behavioural needs of waterfowl. A duck without access to water for bathing and preening cannot perform the behaviours essential to feather maintenance, thermoregulation, and psychological wellbeing. Commercial duck production on this scale routinely denies this fundamental need. Foie gras represents the most extreme welfare violation in duck production, involving repeated force-feeding causing pain and organ pathology, and is increasingly recognised as legally indefensible in many jurisdictions. Consumer choices have significant impact in this sector because duck and foie gras markets are concentrated in specific retail channels where consumer pressure is effective.