A definition of fattening

Fattening is one feeding technique among many others, used for livestock tailored for human consumption of meat and other food products.

Through the fattening phase, stockbreeders simply reproduce a natural capacity of web-footed birds: stocking important quantities of lipids in their liver and in subcutaneous tissues.
This natural tendency of bulimia and the ability for birds to over-feed themselves in order to build up reserves is especially observed among wild birds before they start their migration trips.

Between 2 and 3 meals per day

Fattening is a human action that consists in feeding ducks between 2 to 3 times per day according to species, using a well-adapted material for a very short period of time;

Fattening simply consists in placing a mix of food and water into the animal’s crop. To do so, the breeder will use a tube, called an ‘embuc’, which is adapted to the animal’s physiology, especially in terms of the length of its oesophagus.

The fattening lasts on an average of about 10 seconds per animal, with the most commonly used materials.

     

Less than 2 weeks for a Mulard duck
    
For a Mulard duck, the fattening phase lasts a bit less than 2 weeks, which represents a total of 25 meals.

Fattening phases start when ducks are about 12 weeks old and when they are placed in shared or individual shelters.

For a Mulard duck, the distributed food quantities slowly increase according to the animal’s capacity: +20g / meal during 10 days and then resuming to fixed food quantities (400g).


About 18 days for a grey Southwest goose

The goose-fattening phase lasts about 18 days, including 3 meals per day (54 meals in total).

As geese are bigger animals, their distributed food quantities can increase by + 50g for each meal during 12 days before resuming to fixed food quantitie.