Duck farming involves welfare challenges across the entire production cycle. Understanding the key issues helps consumers and advocates identify the most impactful reform targets.
Farmed duck welfare spans multiple critical issues across the production cycle. Hatchery practices — routine sexing, transport of day-old ducklings — involve handling stress. Rearing without water access denies fundamental behavioral needs throughout grow-out. Commercial duck housing is often adapted from chicken facilities without addressing ducks' different biology and needs — wet litter from water spillage, inadequate space for wing-flapping, and lack of open water are endemic problems. Slaughter of ducks involves the same welfare challenges as other poultry: catching and transport stress, stunning efficacy issues, and lairage conditions. The foie gras segment, though representing a fraction of global duck production, involves arguably the most severe welfare compromise — force-feeding causes pain, digestive distress, and liver disease in affected birds.