Down
Every year, billions of ducks and millions of geese endure repeated cruel treatment and poor living conditions to supply down feathers to the fashion and textile industries
Valued for its softness and insulating properties, down is often used in outdoor apparel, and in bedding items such as blankets that are designed to keep people warm. However, down comes from ducks and geese raised for meat who are often also subjected to cruel practices such as live plucking and force-feeding for foie gras.1
Did You Know?
More than 2 billion ducks and 600 million geese are raised and slaughtered globally on industrial farms each year.¹ Between 70 and 90 percent of down production comes from China² where there is currently no animal welfare legislation.³ Millions of kilograms of down feathers are produced by geese and ducks annually, but most brands sourcing down have minimal knowledge of their welfare, with only 4.1% of all down certified to meet an animal welfare standard.¹ In addition, the certifications currently available do not certify the entire down supply chain, but generally leave out the grand parent farms where live plucking is a high risk.
Live plucking is incredibly painful and distressing for birds who are restrained whilst their feathers are ripped directly from their skin whilst they are still alive. Live plucking is carried out without any pain relief, often resulting in wounds which are re-opened time and time again from repeated plucking.
Force-feeding can take place as often as three times per day and involves a metal pipe being pushed down the bird’s throats to administer a fatty mixture.4 The birds are unable to properly process this excessive fat, causing their livers to grow up to ten times their normal size.5
In addition to these cruel practices, ducks and geese on factory farms are housed in close confinement and subjected to other painful procedures such as beak trimming. Birds are then eventually transported and slaughtered under stressful conditions, often without adequate stunning.
Animal welfare issues
Live Plucking
- Parent birds are at high risk of repeated live plucking as they may be kept for up to five years before being slaughtered for meat.6
- Rough handling and restraining of birds during live plucking can cause distress and injury such as broken bones or dislocated joints, and even suffocation.6
- Live plucking may be repeated as often as every six weeks6, when new down and feathers are torn out and existing wounds ripped open. Each time the down grows back finer. Brands that request particularly fine down with a high filling power are fuelling the problem of live plucking.7
Force Feeding
- Birds are up to 20 times more likely to die during force-feeding than birds on other farms due to injuries to their throat, excessive liver growth and subsequent failure and heat stress.5,8
- Ducks can be particularly fearful and nervous of their handlers and show aversive behaviours towards their force-feeder.5
Innapropriate Living Conditions
- Most birds are kept in barren cages that restrict their movement, cause painful injuries and prevent them from expressing their natural behaviour.8
- Ducks and geese are aquatic birds but on factory farms they do not have access to water to carry out natural behaviours such as bathing and foraging.9
- Intensively farmed birds are housed at high stocking densities which often results in aggressive behaviour between birds causing stress and injury, and in some cases, even cannibalism.9
Painful Mutilations
- In addition to live feather plucking and force feeding, ducks and geese may be subjected to other painful procedures such as bill (beak) trimming to prevent them from pecking each other.
- A hot blade is the most common method for beak trimming and is highly invasive, causing severe stress and pain to the birds.10 Beak trimming can be compared to human fingertips and the amputation means loss of ability to cope with the environment, conspecifics and e.g. comfort behaviour.
- Here you can find more information about mutilations of waterfowl.
Transport & Slaughter
- Every year 1.5 billion poultry are transported across borders over long distances. They are often transported for several hours in disastrous conditions, leading to enormous fear, stress, injuries and even death.
- The conventional method of slaughter for ducks and geese is extremely distressing for the birds as it involves immersing their heads in an electrified water bath whilst they are hung upside down by the legs in moving shackles, followed by a cut to their neck.11
- Electrical stunning is not a reliable or effective method of stunning ducks and geese, and many regain consciousness before slaughter or require re-stunning.11
- Shackling is also incredibly stressful as birds must endure being hung upside down whilst fully conscious.11
FOUR PAWS calls for:
- Ban on live feather plucking and harvesting
- Ban on foie gras and force feeding
- Ban on painful mutilations
- Higher standards during transport and slaughter
- Better management of animals and fulfilment of their basic needs
What we are doing
In 2024, we launched the Wear it Kind Directory which highlights how and whether a brand is taking action to mitigate issues such as live plucking in their supply chains.
FOUR PAWS is committed to exposing the truth behind animal use in fashion, we are contributing to the strengthening of animal welfare certification initiatives, highlighting alternatives, and we are supporting brands to help them to make the changes needed to stop animals suffering in the name of fashion.
We will continue to expose the truth behind fashion and to speak out for animals. Sustainable change is only possible when we unite and make it known that we expect better for animals.
What you can do
To make kinder fashion choices, you can avoid down and shop for animal-friendly alternatives such as recycled materials or plant-based alternatives such as Kapok fibre. You could consider buying second-hand clothing, and if you are buying brand-new, there are several sustainable alternatives. You can find out more in our animal-friendly shopping guide.
- Use our Wear it Kind Brand Directory to find brands taking meaningful action against animal cruelty in down supply chains and use our Wear it Kind Shopping Guide covering how you can show kindness via the clothes you wear. Take the Wear it Kind pledge and show the world you want fashion free from animal suffering.
- If you do want to purchase down, ensure it is Responsible Down Standards (RDS) certified. While this provides some assurance, it often does not ensure the entire supply chain is live plucking free, and with so many animal-free alternatives available today, it’s never been easier to shop cruelty free!
Source
2. ALLIED FEATHER + DOWN. ALLIED Feather + Down. [accessed 2024 Nov 19]. https://alliedfeather.com
3. How Long Will China’s Animal Cruelty Laws Have to Wait? Princeton Legal Journal. 2022 Apr 30 [accessed 2024 Nov 19]. https://legaljournal.princeton.edu/how-long-will-chinas-animal-cruelty-laws-have-to-wait/
4. Forced feeding An inquiry into the welfare of ducks and geese kept for the production of foie gras. [accessed 2024 Nov 19]. https://edepot.wur.nl/159465
5. Rochlitz I, Broom DM. The welfare of ducks during foie gras production. Animal Welfare. 2017;26(2):135–149. https://doi.org/10.7120/09627286.26.2.135
6. EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW). Scientific Opinion on the practice of harvesting (collecting) feathers from live geese for down production. EFSA Journal. 2010;8(11):1886. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1886
7. Chapter 10. FEATHER AND DOWN PRODUCTION. [accessed 2024 Nov 19]. https://www.fao.org/4/y4359e/y4359e0c.htm
8. Duncan I. The Scientific Case Against Foie Gras.
9. EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW Panel) et al. Welfare of ducks, geese and quail on farm. EFSA Journal. 2023 [accessed 2024 Nov 19];21(5). https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7992. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7992
10. Mohammed A, Matouq S, Negm E, Darwish M. Impact of Bill Trimming on Duck Health and Welfare - A Review. Indiana Journal of Agriculture and Life Sciences. 2022;2(5):17–26. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7139301
11. Hindle VA et al. Animal welfare concerns during the use of the water bath for stunning broilers, hens, and ducks. Poultry Science. 2010;89(3):401–412. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2009-00297