This vital organ is as sensitive as human fingertips. Despite this, some duck farmers shorten the upper bill by burning or cutting it without painkillers. It is done to control feather pulling behavior caused by the unnatural environment. This mutilation can lead to constant pain and even makes normal eating difficult. Forcibly Starved Breeding stock, which supply the eggs for hatching, are forced into molting by being forcibly starved.
All feed is removed until they lose almost one third of their body weight.
About half will shed most of their primary feathers. Some will die. This cruelty is legal and is designed to produce an extra egg-laying cycle. Some farmers add a further twist by removing all water for 24 hours at a time. Every year, about one million ducks are conscious when their throats are cut.