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, apart from the Muscovy Duck.

Ducks have been farmed for thousands of years, possibly starting in Southeast Asia. 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, 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. Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_duck

Domestic geese re domesticated Grey geese kept as poultry for their meat, eggs, and down feathers since
ancient times. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_goose

Foie gras is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening
is typically achieved through gavage (force-feeding) corn.

Gavage-based foie gras production is controversial, due to the force feeding procedure and the possible health
consequences of an enlarged liver that could be faced by the duck or goose. A number of countries and other
jurisdictions have laws against force feeding or the sale of foie gras.

Gavage-based foie gras production is controversial, due to the force feeding procedure, and the possible health
consequences of an enlarged liver. A number of countries and other jurisdictions have laws against force
feeding or the sale of foie gras due to how it is traditionally produced. In modern gavage-based foie gras
production, force feeding takes place 12−18 days before slaughter. The duck or goose is typically fed a
controlled amount of corn mash through a tube inserted in the animal's cuticle-lined esophagus. Foie gras
production has been banned in nations such as some members of the European Union, Turkey, and Israel
because of the force-feeding process. Foie gras producers maintain that force feeding ducks and geese is not
uncomfortable for the animals nor is it hazardous to their health.
The city of Chicago banned the production and selling of foie gras from 2006 until 2008. Animal rights and
welfare groups such as PETA, and the Humane Society of the United States contend that foie gras production
methods, and force feeding in particular, constitute cruel and inhumane treatment of animals. Specific
complaints include livers swollen to many times their normal size, impaired liver function, expansion of the
abdomen making it difficult for birds to breathe, death if the force feeding is continued, and scarring of the
esophagus. PETA claims that the insertion and removal of the feeding tube scratch the throat and the
esophagus, causing irritations and wounds and thus exposing the animal to risk of mortal infections.

A recent study demonstrated oral amyloid-A fibril transmissibility which raised food safety issues with
consumption of foie gras over "concerns that products such as pate de foie gras may activate a reactive
systemic amyloidosis in susceptible consumers". However, a correlation between foie gras consumption and
these diseases has not been confirmed. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras