Duck farming encompasses a range of systems from high-welfare outdoor access to the controversial foie gras production, with water access being the defining welfare issue across all systems.
Duck welfare is dominated by one central issue: water access. The strength of ducks' motivation to bathe and swim is so well-evidenced that denying it in commercial production constitutes a serious welfare compromise regardless of other management quality. Ducks unable to bathe cannot maintain feather condition, clean their eyes and nasal passages, or engage in fundamental water-related behaviours. This is welfare impoverishment at a basic biological level. Foie gras production adds forced eating to this picture, creating acute welfare abuse that justifies its prohibition wherever it has occurred. Consumer choices favouring duck products from systems with mandated water access, combined with advocacy for water access requirements in duck welfare legislation, are the most direct routes to improving welfare for these commonly overlooked farm animals.