Farmed Goose Welfare: Foie Gras and Beyond

Geese raised for food face significant welfare challenges, from foie gras force-feeding to intensive confinement. Understanding their natural behaviours is key to improving their lives.

Key Facts

Geese are highly social birds that form strong pair bonds and family groups in the wild.
Force-feeding (gavage) for foie gras production can cause liver enlargement up to 10 times normal size.
Foie gras production is banned in over 20 countries and several US states due to animal welfare concerns.
Geese naturally graze for up to 12 hours per day and are adapted to large open spaces.
Plucking live geese for down feathers, once common, is now banned in many countries but still occurs.
Geese have excellent long-term memory and can recognise individual humans and other animals.
Commercial goose production has expanded significantly in China, which produces over 80% of the world supply.

Welfare Considerations

Farmed geese suffer most acutely under foie gras production, where force-feeding causes painful liver disease, difficulty breathing, and inability to walk. Even outside foie gras, intensively farmed geese may lack access to water for bathing and swimming, which is essential to their natural behaviour and feather condition. Geese deprived of social companions or adequate space show stress behaviours including feather pecking and aggression. The long-term solution requires both regulatory prohibition of the most harmful practices and positive standards that allow geese to express natural behaviours including grazing, swimming, and social bonding.

What You Can Do

Avoid purchasing foie gras and products made with it.
Choose down-alternative bedding and clothing, or look for certified responsible down (RDS) standards.
Support campaigns calling for national bans on foie gras production in countries where it remains legal.
Ask retailers and restaurants to commit to foie gras-free sourcing policies.
Support organisations working on farmed bird welfare improvements.