Geese are intelligent, long-lived birds with strong pair bonds. Commercial goose production including foie gras raises significant welfare concerns around confinement, force-feeding, and handling.
Foie gras production involves the most severe routine welfare harm in domestic poultry production. Force-feeding via tube insertion causes oesophageal damage, liver pathology, and respiratory distress as the enlarged liver compresses the lungs. Animals show reluctance and resistance to the feeding tube that handlers must overcome — evidence of aversion. The swollen liver causes chronic discomfort during the weeks of force-feeding before slaughter. Beyond foie gras, commercial goose production confines intelligent, social animals in barren systems far from the outdoor environments they thrive in. Live-plucking for down — pulling feathers from conscious geese — causes acute pain and distress. Consumer choices and legislative bans are the most effective levers for reducing goose welfare harms in commercial production.