Domesticated duck

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Breeds
2 Gender differences
3 Farming
4 As pets and ornamentals
5 See also
6 Gallery
7 External links

Domesticated ducks

Domesticated ducks are raised for meat, eggs and down. Many ducks are also kept for show, as pets or for their ornamental value. Most domesticated ducks originated from the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos).

There are many existing breeds with more being created today. Most domesticated breeds are descendants from the wild Mallard with exception of the Muscovy. Breeds are sorted into size classes. Below are breeds accepted by the American Poultry Association.

Bantam	Lightweight	Mediumweight	Heavyweight
Call East Indie Duck Mallard Australian Spotted	Bali Indian Runner Duck Khaki Campbell Welsh Harlequin Duck Magpie Duck	Ancona Duck Cayuga Duck Crested Duck (domestic breed) Buff Orpington Duck Blue Swedish duck	Appleyard Duck Aylesbury Duck Muscovy Duck Pekin Duck Rouen duck Saxony Duck Gressingham Duck (Wild Mallard crossed with Pekin)

There are several ways to tell if a duck is a female or a drake. They can be sexed by voice when their voice changes at 4 to 5 weeks old. Females have a loud quack which ducks are known for. Drakes, however, have a raspy quiet quack. Depending on the breed and variety, drakes have different plumage than females. Day-old ducklings can be sexed by looking inside their vents, but if this is done incorrectly it can hurt or possibly kill the duckling.

Sometimes drakes have curly tail feathers and female ducks have straight tail feathers.

Ducks have been farmed for hundreds of years. They are not as popular as the chicken, because chickens have much more white lean meat and are easier to keep confined. Nevertheless, the duck is a popular and well known farm bird.

Ducks are farmed for their meat, eggs, and down. In Vietnam their blood is used in a food called tiết canh. Their eggs are bluey green to white depending on the breed.

Ducks can be kept free range, in cages, or in batteries. To be healthy, ducks should be allowed access to water, though battery ducks are often denied this. 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 most breeds of domestic duck are very unreliable at sitting their eggs and raising their young, and it has been the custom on farms for centuries to put duck eggs under a broody hen for hatching; nowadays incubators are usually used. However, young ducklings rely on their mother for a supply of preen oil to make them waterproof, and a hen does not make as much preen oil as a duck; and an incubator makes none.

Domesticated ducks can be kept as pets. They can be kept in a garden or backyard and will often eat insects and slugs. A pond or water dish is recommended although they will probably dredge out and eat any wildlife and frogspawn in a pond, and even swallow adult frogs and toads, 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. A coop should be provided for shelter, and for safety at night from predators such as foxes, as their size makes them unable to fly properly.

Ducks are also kept for their ornamental value. Breeds have been developed with crests and tufts or striking plumage. Shows are held in which ducks can be displayed.