Slaughter

Last updated 17 September 2020

When ducks reach slaughter weight, workers come to ‘depopulate’ sheds and cram ducks into small crates to truck them to the slaughterhouse. Ducks are often handled very roughly by workers, commonly suffering broken and dislocated bones before they even reach the slaughterhouse. It is also not uncommon for ducks’ legs and heads to become stuck between crates and metal bars on the slaughter truck.

Upon arrival at the slaughterhouse, ducks are shackled upside down by their delicate feet and their heads are pulled through an electrified body of water known as a stun bath. The stun bath is intended to render ducks unconscious before their throats are cut and they are bled out, but investigation has revealed that ducks commonly lift their heads, missing the stun bath and are consequently slaughtered whilst fully conscious.

Other legally acceptable methods of killing ducks are decapitation, transection of the spinal cord, and cervical dislocation.