Ducks

The life of ducks in agriculture

When you're eating duck on Christmas Eve, have you ever wondered what that duck's life has been like? How are ducks actually raised and do ducks have good animal welfare? Read below and get an insight into the life of ducks in agriculture.

Large flock sizes and too little space

In the wild, ducks live in large flocks. They are very social animals and communicate with each other, both with sounds and body language. They live harmoniously with each other and rarely get into fights. In Denmark, around 1 million ducks are reared for slaughter each year. In conventional farming, ducks live in flocks of up to 11,500 individuals. They are allowed to grow for 8 or 14 weeks and are slaughtered when they reach a weight of around 3-4 kg. Free-range ducks live in flocks of up to 4,000, and organic ducks - which account for about 7% of total production and are most often exported abroad - live in flocks of 3,600.

Feather plucking and cannibalism

So many individuals gathered in one place means a lack of space - especially when you consider how much space the ducks could have had in the wild. Scientific studies have shown that large flock sizes and too little space harm the ducks and lead to welfare problems familiar to broiler farming, such as feather plucking and cannibalism. Cannibalism is thought to be caused by several different environmental deficiencies in the ducks' environment which combine to cause the abnormal behaviour. In an attempt to stop cannibalism, the lights in the pens are sometimes turned off for several hours, which stops cannibalism but destroys the ducks' ability to perform natural behaviours.

Walking problems

Ducks in the slaughter industry often have leg problems. One study found that about 21% of the ducks they examined had moderate or severe gait problems. Other studies have shown that about 88% of the ducks studied had foot ulcers, caused by the amount of manure and ammonia on the floors.

Stunning in flowing water and bleeding

When the ducks are slaughtered, they are hung alive by their legs, which strain their bodies because of their heavy weight. The ducks are driven through a system via a conveyor belt. When they are stunned, they are passed over a vat of water which is electrically conductive. The ducks' heads are lowered and an electric shock is administered to leave them unconscious. Then the conveyor belt carries them to a machine which cuts the carotid arteries and the ducks die of haemorrhage. The stunning method does not work optimally as some of the ducks lift their heads and are therefore fully conscious when their throats are cut. The slaughter method is standard practice and applies to conventional, organic and free-range ducks.

Social and valuable animals

Ducks are social animals that form relationships with each other in the flock. They love to swim and have evolved to spend a lot of time in the water, which they do not have the opportunity to do in conventional farming. They can eat, swim, clean their feathers, play and relax in water. Ducks are precious and deserve to live a free life.