Ducks are uniquely adapted to aquatic environments, and denial of water for bathing and swimming causes significant behavioral frustration and welfare harm in captive settings.
Ducks are so highly motivated to access water that they will work harder for bath water than for food in preference tests. The drive to wet plumage, submerge the head, and preen in water is a core component of duck behavioral welfare. Farms providing only drinking nipples or troughs deny ducks the ability to perform central natural behaviors for their entire lives. The welfare cost of water deprivation is real but economically inconvenient, making regulatory enforcement critical.