THE
park of
geese
and ducks
Who are they?
The species
Origins . They are part of the Anatidae family (like swans and other web-footed birds). Their common ancestors lived alongside dinosaurs before the latter's mass extinction 66 million years ago. The domestication of ducks began 4,000 years ago in China and Southwest Asia for their eggs, meat, and feathers. As for geese, their domestication began 3,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent in Asia for the same reasons.
Characteristics . There are about 90 species of ducks and about 30 species of geese. Originally, a duck has a lifespan of 15 to 20 years. Geese can live 35 to 40 years. However, for farmed ducks and geese, their lifespan does not exceed 3 to 4 months.
Character . Since these birds will never know their parents, this deprives them of the transmission of their species' codes. Relations between them are often strained. Contact with humans is rare. Their motto: to live happily, live hidden.
Who are our protégés?
The ducks come from foie gras farms. As for the geese, they are often entrusted by individuals who can no longer care for them.
Commercial exploitation
Their current exploitation is the result of genetic selection to produce a 'fat palmiped'. These birds have the particularity of being very voracious and gaining weight quickly. Furthermore, they are flightless and sterile from birth.
The Muscovy duck is the main breed used for meat duck production. For foie gras, the Mulard duck is particularly prized—a hybrid of a Muscovy male and a common female duck (Peking or Rouen). Geese are also used, particularly the Landes goose, for foie gras, meat, and fat—although to a lesser extent.
The numbers
👉 Every year in France, more than 40 million ducks and geese are slaughtered for human consumption. Half of these birds are force-fed.
👉 Force-feeding ducks and geese is widely banned worldwide, except in a few countries like France.
The production of foie gras…
Farmed ducks and geese are raised exclusively from artificially incubated eggs. Their lifespan is predetermined: they will only live 10 to 16 weeks.
Incubation lasts one month. Upon hatching, the ducklings are sent to breeders where they undergo three production phases of four weeks each—starting, growing, and preparing for force-feeding—where protein levels increase rapidly. They then move to force-feeding facilities where, for two weeks, they are force-fed 450g to 1kg of rich feed, two to three times a day.
The other exploitation…
These birds are also exploited for their down and feathers, to make quilts, pillows, and clothing. The plucking is done live, causing great suffering to the birds. Duck and goose meat also enters the food chain of pets, as well as humans in the form of dietary fat.
Is it necessary to exploit them?
Foie gras is not essential to the human diet. It is considered a festive delicacy, a cultural phenomenon for barely fifty years. As for down and feathers, manufacturers offer much less expensive alternatives to keep us warm and produce comfortable pillows. The suffering inflicted on millions of animals who have done nothing wrong is unjustifiable.
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Did you know?
👉 Foie gras is a male product. Duck livers are more veined and turn black when cooked, which is less aesthetically pleasing. Ducks are therefore either ground up alive at birth or exported for their meat.
👉 In France, a million mallard ducks are raised and released into the wild for the pleasure of hunters.
👉 Force-feeding a duck or goose for 'foie gras' is, in human digestion terms, the equivalent of ingesting 14 kilos of spaghetti a day.
👉 Force-feeding exploits their predisposition to fatty liver disease. Their enlarged livers can reach ten times their normal size. These birds suffer terribly during their final days (diarrhea, hyperventilation, pulmonary and locomotor disorders). This period of force-feeding causes mortality 7 to 20 times higher than in non-force-fed birds.