Ducks are aquatic birds with strong natural drives to swim and bathe, yet most farmed ducks worldwide are denied access to open water, causing significant welfare deprivation.
Denying ducks access to open water represents a fundamental welfare failure for an aquatic species. Ducks that cannot submerge their heads develop serious health problems — eye and sinus infections from inability to clean their heads, plumage degradation, and skin conditions. The behavioral frustration of a water bird unable to swim is significant — studies show ducks value open water highly and will work hard to access it. Crowded indoor housing without water access also prevents expression of social bathing behaviors that are central to duck social life. Foie gras production additionally involves force-feeding that causes liver disease and physical pain. Improving duck welfare primarily requires providing open water access — a readily available intervention — yet it remains absent from most commercial duck production globally.