Domestic duck

For more on the other domesticated species, see Muscovy Duck.

Domesticated duck
Domesticated ducks
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Genus:	Anas / Cairina
Species:	Anas platyrhynchos; also Cairina moschata
Subspecies:	A. p. domestica [1]
Binomial name
Anas platyrhynchos domesticus Cairina moschata momelanotus (Domesticated Muscovy duck) Linnaeus, 1758

Domesticated ducks are ducks that are raised for meat, eggs and down. Many ducks are also kept for show, as pets or for their ornamental value. Almost all of the varieties of domesticated ducks are descended from the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), apart from the Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata).^[2][3]

Farming

A duck farm in Taiwan

Ducks have been farmed for thousands of years, possibly starting in Southeast Asia.^[4] They are not as popular as the chicken, because chickens have much more white lean meat and are easier to keep confined, making the total price much lower for chicken meat, whereas duck is comparatively expensive and, while popular in the haute cuisine, appears less frequently in mass market food industry and restaurants in the lower price range.

Ducks are farmed for their meat, eggs, and down. A minority of ducks are also kept for foie gras production. In Vietnam, their blood is used in a food called tiết canh. Their eggs are blue-green to white depending on the breed.

Ducks can be kept free range, in cages, in barns, or in batteries. To be healthy, ducks should be allowed access to water, though battery ducks are often denied this.^{[citation needed]} They should be fed a grain and insect diet. It is a popular misconception that ducks should be fed bread; bread has limited nutritional value and can be deadly when fed to developing ducklings. Ducks should be monitored for avian influenza, as they are especially prone to infection with the dangerous H5N1 strain.

The females of many breeds of domestic ducks are unreliable at sitting their eggs and raising their young. Notable exceptions include the Rouen Duck and especially the Muscovy Duck. It has been a custom on farms for centuries to put duck eggs under a broody hen for hatching; nowadays incubators are often used. However, young ducklings rely on their mother for a supply of preen oil to make them waterproof, and a chicken hen does not make as much preen oil as a female duck; and an incubator makes none. Once the duckling grows its own feathers it will produce preen oil from the sebaceous gland near the base of its tail.

Pets and ornamentals

Domestic duckling

Domesticated ducks can be kept as pets. They can be kept in a garden or backyard, and with special accessories, have also been known to be kept in the house. They will often eat insects and slugs. A pond or deep water dish is recommended. Without access to plentiful water, ducks will not thrive. If ducks are given access to a pond they will dabble in the mud, dredging out and eating wildlife and frogspawn, and swallow adult frogs and toads up to the size of the British common frog Rana temporaria, as they have been bred to be much bigger than wild ducks with a "hull length" (base of neck to base of tail) of up to a foot or more; the wild mallard's "hull length" is about 6 inches (150 mm). A coop should be provided for shelter from predators such as foxes, hawks, coyotes, and racoons, as many breeds of domestic ducks cannot fly.

Ducks are also kept for their ornamental value. Breeds have been developed with crests and tufts or striking plumage. Exhibition shows are held in which ducks, along with other breeds of poultry, are exhibited in competition. These shows can be "open" (meaning any exhibitor who pays the required entry fee can enter), or "closed" (accessible only to members of a given group). The most common of these is a 4-H poultry show.

See also

	Food portal
	Agriculture and Agronomy portal

• Poultry
• List of duck breeds
• Peking Duck
• Zhangcha duck

References

1. ^ Zipcode zoo.com
2. ^ Anas platyrhynchos, Domestic Duck; DigiMorph Staff - The University of Texas at Austin
3. ^ Mallard; Encyclopædia Britannica
4. ^ Kiple, Kenneth F.; Ornelas, Kriemhild Coneè (2000). The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052140214X. OCLC 44541840. 

External links