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Disturbing footage prompts calls for duck farming changes

Updated June 19, 2012 21:30:00

Images from an intensive duck farming operation have prompted calls to end the poultry industry's self-regulation and a look at how the product is advertised.

Source: 7.30 | Duration: 7min 35sec

Topics: livestock-welfare, packaging, advertising, animal-welfare, laws, poultry-and-egg-production, australia


LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Many Australians choose to buy so-called "free range" produce out of concern for animal welfare and humane farming. But free range labelling is again being called in question. The consumer watchdog has already taken the poultry industry to court over misleading claims; now a duck producer is under investigation for allegations of cruelty and deceptive marketing. Bronwyn Herbert investigates.

BRONWYN HERBERT, REPORTER: What was a fledgling industry is now fast growing. More than nine million ducks are farmed across Australia, bringing in $100 million a year. The nation's biggest operator is Pepe's Ducks, based on the north-west fringe of Sydney. Ducks here are marketed as "grown nature's way", in packaging that features cartoon character ducks by ponds of water. Each week, Pepe's slaughters more than 80,000 bird, and most end up on the chopping block in city restaurants.

(to restaurant patron) How important is it to you, eating duck, that you know it's grown in a humane way?

RESTAURANT PATRON: That's probably a bad thing: I haven't really thought about it; I honestly haven't thought about where the ducks come from.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Pepe's Ducks claims its farms are world's best practice in duck production.

JOHN HOUSTON, PEPE'S DUCKS: Over that 40 years the business has grown from a cottage industry to Australia's leading producer, and that has come through growing the ducks the way they should be grown.

EMMA HURST, ANIMAL LIBERATION: If a duck cannot erect themselves and are not able to walk, they won't be able to get to food or water...

BRONWYN HERBERT: But, according to Animal Liberation, the reality of modern duck farming is far from "nature's way". This footage was taken covertly one night in March, in a shed owned by one of Pepe's contract farmers.

EMMA HURST: You can see how many ducks ther are in the shed; we're seeing falling on to their backs; ducks unable to walk and other welfare issues. We're seeing quite dirty ducks in some areas.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Ducks become trapped under metal grates; some bird can't bear their own weight; and their only access to water is through nipple feeders.

EMMA HURST: There are serious welfare concerns related to ths lack of water available to them. We see they can't clean themselves. We can see that some of them are struggling to stand.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Experienced veterinarian Mark Simpson has a particular interest in bird health.

MARK SIMPSON, VETERINARIAN: There is no doubt that particularly those segments of footage where the growing bird have their wings trapped in the grate - that's suffering... animals are suffering in that circumstance. Those wing stubs before they develop flight feathers, they are exposed; they're exceedingly sensitive.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Pepe's boss shows us one of its own farms near Windsor to show us how ducks are managed. There is plenty of food, sunlight and drinking water. John Houston says it was an unfortunate one-off at one of Pepe's 21 contract farms.

(to John Houston) Has the business good too big that you can't maintain the standard across the board?

JOHN HOUSTON: Definitely not. Definitely not. We have over half a million ducks. How many ducks did we see in that footage? You know, 10 or 15 ducks in the footage, out of over half a million. It is intensive livestock; unfortunately you're always going to have certain situations. But again, I don't endorse what I saw the other night.

BRONWYN HERBERT: The ACCC has already taken some of Australia's biggest chicken producers to the Federal Court, claiming ads that declare the bird are "free to roam" are misleading. Now the consumer watchdog is investigating Pepe's ducks claims that birds are grown "nature's way".

JOHN HOUSTON: We are in discussion with the ACCC and until such time that is concluded, we don't know where we sit.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Do you think the product, the way it is marketed, is being marketed honestly?

JOHN HOUSTON: We have old packaging; the old packaging is all gone, and what we see is what we've had in storage for the last two years - it has a two year shelf life - so it is slowly coming through the system.

BRONWYN HERBERT: This is the contract farm in Sydney's north where the footage was shot in March.

(to Greg Peebles) When they lie on their backs, how do you get them back up?

GREG PEEBLES, PEPE'S CONTRACT FARMER: You juts push them back up; they are like a tortoise.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Greg Peebles owns the property and has been supplying ducks to Pepe's for more than 20 years.

GREG PEEBLES: If they ever get spooked, they fall on their back.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Do you feel that you are under scrutiny, in a sense, to make sure that the animals are at an acceptable level of... that their welfare is actually...?

GREG PEEBLES: Yeah, will it is our living, we have to look after them.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Seeing that footage that was taken, go you think the ducks are in an okay standard?

GREG PEEBLES: Those ones probably weren't. That's a one-off situation.

BRONWYN HERBERT: The sheds where the footage was taken are now being replaced, but questions remain whether this is "natural", with more than 6,000 ducks raised in this shed alone.

GREG PEEBLES: There are no wire pits - all on wood shavings.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Ducks have no access to open water and only drink through nipple feeders. The RSPCA says practices like this aren't adequate.

GREG PEEBLES: I have used water troughs and for hygiene, you can't keep the water clean. And they waste it all.

BRONWYN HERBERT: How often would you have to change the water?

GREG PEEBLES: Oh, you'd have to do it a couple of times a day.

BRONWYN HERBERT: You can't do that?

GREG PEEBLES: No, not really. The sheds are just swept down.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Animal Liberation claims the conditions in the shed filmed were not a one-off.

EMMA HURST: We are seeing major welfare concerns within this one shed, and we're seeing the same concerns in March and we're seeing them in November. We have other footage from other sheds throughout Australia, and we are seeing similar conditions in every intensive sheds for duck farming in Australia.

BRONWYN HERBERT: It is a far different scene to that at Jumjum duck farm on the New South Wales Central Coast.

JAMES LUTWYCHE, JUMJUM FARM: You can see how much they enjoy bathing - they love to get in the water; they love to have a bit of a splash about; they need to be able to clean their mouths.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Here, only 1,000 ducks are sold each year, and the open range birds move freely between pastures and ponds.

JAMES LUTWYCHE: For us, it's peace of mind, we know the products are grown naturally; we know the birds have a good life. Our breeders have the ability to grow their own young and to mate and swim and to socialise as they would in the wild. I think that makes a significant difference.

MARK SIMPSON: I have much more respect for the farmers who are up front and honest about the way they farm the animals, and then allow the consumers to make informed choices. When it's not done honestly, the animals' welfare suffers.