Breeds such as White Pekin are raised for meat, while the prolific Indian Runner can produce over 300 eggs per year.

In culture, ducks feature in children's stories such as The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, and in Sergei Prokofiev's musical composition Peter and the Wolf; they have appeared in art since the time of ancient Egypt, where they served as a fertility symbol.

They were probably domesticated in Southern China around 2000 BC[1][2] – by the rice paddy-farming ancestors of modern Southeast Asians – and spread outwards from that region.

[1] Wild ducks were hunted extensively in Egypt and other parts of the world in ancient times, but were not domesticated.

[7][8] Despite these differences, domestic ducks frequently mate with wild mallard, producing fully fertile hybrid offspring.

[13]: 258  Duck husbandry is simplified by aspects of their behaviour, including reliable flocking and the ability to forage effectively for themselves in wetlands and water bodies.

It has been a custom on farms for centuries to put duck eggs under broody hens for hatching; nowadays this role is often played by an incubator.

Once the duckling grows its own feathers, it produces preen oil from the sebaceous gland near the base of its tail.

A high parasitic load can result in a substantial reduction in the ducks' growth rate.

[30] It is the story of how Jemima, a domestic duck, is saved from a cunning fox who plans to kill her, when she tries to find a safe place for her eggs to hatch.

[31] The Story About Ping is a 1933 American children's book by Marjorie Flack, illustrated by Kurt Wiese, about a domestic duck lost on the Yangtze River.

[32] Make Way for Ducklings, a 1941 children's picture book by Robert McCloskey, tells the story of a pair of mallards who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden.

[34] The domestic duck features in the musical composition Peter and the Wolf, written by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in 1936.