Farmed ducks are aquatic birds whose most fundamental behavioral needs — swimming, diving, and water-based foraging — are denied in typical commercial production systems.
Ducks are among the most welfare-compromised of all farmed species because they are aquatic birds raised in systems that are fundamentally incompatible with their nature. The inability to swim, dive, and engage in water-based behaviors that occupy a substantial portion of the natural behavioral budget represents chronic deprivation. Eye disease from inability to flush eyes with open water is a direct physical health consequence. The relative invisibility of duck welfare in public discourse compared to chickens and pigs reflects a lack of welfare research and advocacy specific to this species — a gap that needs to be addressed given the billions of ducks involved.