Geese are farmed for meat, down, and feathers worldwide, with welfare practices varying enormously between countries. Their intelligent, social nature makes confinement and live plucking particularly significant welfare concerns.
Farmed geese face welfare challenges throughout their lives in intensive systems. Live plucking inflicts acute pain, and the repeated nature of the procedure — typically every 6–7 weeks — means it is not a one-time event but a cycle of suffering. The absence of bathing water in many intensive goose systems prevents the expression of species-specific behaviour and leads to eye and nasal problems. High stocking densities cause aggression, stress, and litter-related foot problems. The high intelligence and social bonding capacity of geese means that disruption of social groups and loss of bonding partners causes distress analogous to mammalian social separation. Slaughter welfare — stun validity, shackle stress, and transport conditions — is a final concern shared with other poultry species.