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Farming Today: Duck Farming, Grey Squirrel Eradication, Mink

03/03/2015

Duck Farming, Grey Squirrel Eradication, Mink

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Duck Farming, Grey Squirrel Eradication, Mink

How much water do farmed ducks need? Anna Hill talks to a duck farmer and the RSPCA.

A new report from the RSPCA claims that farmed ducks should have access to enough water to stand and splash in. Anna Hill asks a large-scale duck farmer why his birds do not.

The RPSCA has published a report about duck welfare, which says that ducks need not only drinking water, but the opportunity to get into water. They're calling for what they call "full body access" to water for farmed ducks - not necessarily enough to swim in, but enough at least to stand up and preen in. Anna Hill talks to the charity's duck welfare expert, and also to a duck farmer who says the welfare of his birds is actually better without it.

A project which aims to eradicate grey squirrels from the UK has succeeded in removing them from the island of Anglesey in North Wales. Red squirrels have been largely pushed out by greys, which are an invasive species brought over from North America in the mid 19th century. Now the European Squirrel Initiative seems to be beginning to turn the tide in favour of the native red.

Continuing our week-long look at the impact of predators, both on farmed and wild animal populations, we hear about the threat posed to water voles by mink, and the efforts being made by conservationists to control them.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell.

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