Farmed ducks face significant welfare challenges at slaughter, particularly because standard poultry stunning systems are poorly adapted to waterfowl physiology. Improving slaughter welfare for ducks requires species-specific approaches.
Farmed ducks are among the most overlooked farmed animals in welfare policy discussions, yet they are slaughtered in vast numbers under conditions that frequently result in inadequate stunning and painful pre-slaughter handling. The welfare gap between regulatory intent and actual practice in duck slaughter is substantial. Waterfowl are neurologically different from land poultry, and the direct application of chicken stunning parameters to ducks is scientifically unjustified. Organisations working on farmed animal welfare have identified duck slaughter as a priority area requiring species-specific standards, better monitoring, and transition to higher-welfare controlled atmosphere systems.