Species : Ducks

Welfare of ducks, geese and quail on farm

EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW Panel), Søren Saxmose Nielsen, Julio Alvarez, Dominique Joseph Bicout, Paolo Calistri, Elisabetta Canali, Julian Ashley Drewe, Bruno Garin-Bastuji, Jose Luis Gonzales Rojas, Christian Gortázar Schmidt, Mette Herskin, Virginie Michel, Miguel Ángel Miranda Chueca, Barbara Padalino, Paolo Pasquali, Helen Clare Roberts, Hans Spoolder, Karl Stahl, Antonio Velarde, Arvo Viltrop and Christoph Winckler

Published in 2023

Scientific opinion identifying the most common farming systems in the European Union for each species and category of animal. It describes and assesses the welfare consequences for each species of the following factors: restriction of movement, injury, group stress, inability to adopt comfort behavior, inability to adopt exploratory or foraging behavior and inability to express maternal behavior. It provides recommendations on how to predict negative welfare consequences using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements,Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Consciousness, Pain, Risk management, Welfare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Mutilation, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Livestock farming system

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French National Assembly: written answer to Question no. 4180: Broyage et gazage des poussins 

Question: Nicolas Thierry (Ecologist - Nupes - Gironde) Answer: French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty

Published in 2023

Written answer to a question concerning exemptions to the law prohibiting the culling  of male chicks. These relate to chicks intended for animal feed, and permit an alternative to the use of ovosexing for white eggs intended for processing. Additionally, female ducklings are exempted from the law.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Abuse

White paper - Chick and duckling killing: achieving an EU-wide prohibition

Alice Di Concetto, Olivier Morice, Matthias Corion, Simão Santos

Published in 2023

White paper setting out slaughter methods, figures for the killing of day-old male chicks and female ducklings in the European Union, current alternatives (in ovo sexing, use of dual lines), and describing the European initiatives, both citizen and institution-led, to put an end to the grinding of chicks and ducklings.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Livestock farming system

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Welfare of domestic birds and rabbits transported in containers

EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW): Søren Saxmose Nielsen, Julio Alvarez, Dominique Joseph Bicout, Paolo Calistri, Elisabetta Canali, Julian Ashley Drewe, Bruno Garin-Bastuji, Jose Luis Gonzales Rojas, Christian Gortázar Schmidt, Mette Herskin, Virginie Michel, Miguel Ángel Miranda Chueca, Barbara Padalino, Paolo Pasquali, Helen Clare Roberts, Hans Spoolder, Karl Stahl, Antonio Velarde, Arvo Viltrop, Christoph Winckler

Published in 2022

EFSA scientific opinion on the protection of domestic birds and rabbits during transport. The main welfare consequences during loading and unloading are handling stress, injury, restriction of movement and sensory hyperstimulation; those while travelling and on arrival are injury, restriction of movement, sensory hyperstimulation, movement stress, heat, cold, prolonged hunger and prolonged thirst. These welfare consequences and the indicators measured on the animals are described. The hazards that cause them, and recommendations on how to avoid such hazards and to correct or mitigate their effects on welfare  are presented.

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Pain, Risk management, Welfare indicators, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Transport

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French Senate: Réponse écrite à la question n° 26098 : Difficultés liées à la vente de foie gras

Question: Patrick Chauvet (Seine Maritime - UC). Answer: French Ministry of Agriculture and Food

Published in 2022

Answer to a question on the measures that the French Minister of Agriculture and Food intends to take to bring an end to the denigration to which the senator believes the foie gras industry is subjected.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Force-feeding, Human-animal relationships,Societal issues

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Setting research driven duck-welfare standards: a systematic review of Beijing duck welfare research

Maja M. Makagon, Anja B. Ribe

Published in 2021

Scientific review of the existing scientific data on the welfare of Peking ducks in farming, and the need for research on the subject, in order to be able to propose welfare standards for this species, which is farmed extensively throughout the world.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measures, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Livestock farming system

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Effects of Ultraviolet Light Supplementation on Beijing Duck Production, Behavior, and Welfare

Gabrielle M. House, Eric B. Sobotik, Jill R. Nelson, Gregory S. Archer

Published in 2020

Study to determine the effects of supplementary UV light on Peking duck production parameters, eye development, stress and fear.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Enrichment, Living environment, Fear, Stress, Livestock farming system

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French Assemblée Nationale: written answer to question n°25371 : Révélations de L214 sur des maltraitances animales en Dordogne

Question: Julien Dive (Les Républicains, Aisne); Answer: French Ministry of Agriculture and Food

Published in 2020

Question concerning measures to avoid shocking practices such as those exposed by L214 at the Domaine de Lapeyrouse production laboratories, and call for an increase in unannounced inspections of these production laboratories.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Societal issues

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European Parliament: written answer to Question P-000126/2020: Import of frozen fatty livers used for foie gras production

Question: Anja Hazekamp, Petras Auštrevičius. Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission.

Published in 2020

Question on the import of frozen livers for foie gras from the Ukraine to member countries

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Societal issues, Force-feeding

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European Parliament: written answer to Question E-000179/2020 : Foie gras and clinical pathology in animals

Question: Sylwia Spurek. Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2020

Question on the pathological and anti-welfare nature of force-feeding

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Pain, Societal issues, Force-feeding, Livestock farming system

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