Ducks and Geese:
- Ducks and geese are farmed in Ireland for meat, eggs and down.
- The highest grade of down, used to make bedding, involves a practice called live-plucking. The feathers and undercoating of geese and ducks are pulled off their skin while the waterfowl are still alive. (Source: CBS)
- Behind the Walls of Irish Duck Farming – Wake Investigations
- While the production of foie gras (ie. duck or goose liver) is banned in Ireland, it is still legal for restaurants to use it here.
- The pain and suffering behind foie gras – Animal Save Movement
Turkeys:
- Approximately 4 million turkeys are bred and killed each year in Ireland.
- Female turkeys are made pregnant by artificial insemination.
- Turkeys have been bred to grow very large in a short space of time. They can suffer from a range of illnesses such as lameness, broken legs, ulcers, diseases and pain resulting from debeaking. (See: Compassion in World Farming: Turkeys).
- Turkeys are slaughtered at around 6 months. Their natural lifespan is around 10-12 years.
- Turkeys are intelligent, sensitive creatures.
- In the wild they run, fly, dust-bathe, care for their young and communicate using a sophisticated range of vocalisations. Crowded together indoors in intensive farms, they are unable to carry out their natural behaviours.
- More about the treatment of turkeys on farms from United Poultry Concerns.
