Farmed ducks and geese are aquatic birds whose welfare needs — particularly access to open water — are routinely denied in intensive systems, causing significant physical and behavioural deprivation.
Duck welfare in intensive systems is fundamentally compromised by denial of water access. Ducks that cannot bathe develop eye infections, feather damage and skin irritation. The inability to perform natural water-based behaviours causes frustration and stereotypic behaviours. Foie gras production additionally involves force-feeding that causes physical distress and liver disease by design. Even free-range duck systems vary enormously in the quality of water access provided — a trough is far less welfare-beneficial than a pond or stream. The welfare case for water access requirements in duck farming is scientifically robust and has been accepted by UK and EU law, making non-compliance a legal as well as ethical issue.