In ancient Egypt, ducks were captured in nets and then bred in captivity. November 14, 2014 at 8:51 am. We free range our ducks too! ; Ducks have been domesticated as pets and farm animals for more than 500 years, and all domestic ducks are descended from either the mallard or the Muscovy duck. This has been conclusively disproved through different scientific acoustic tests, and was even featured as "busted" on an episode of the Discovery Channel show Mythbusters. Duck is the common name for numerous species in the waterfowl family Anatidae which also includes swans and geese.Ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the family Anatidae; they do not represent a monophyletic group (the group of all descendants of a single common ancestral species) but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered ducks. It is a myth that a duck's quack won't echo. If you let them free range you have to be able to accept the risk something is going to come by for the chance at a free meal. With chickens and ducks around, you have pretty much painted a bulls-eye on your house for the local predators. Forever mounted with exceptional elegance, much like this perfectly balacned medium wine with its red brick hue and intensity of cherry fruits flavours. During the Ming Dynasty, the Peking duck—mallards force-fed on grains, making them larger— was known to have good genetic characteristics. Duck housing needs to be secure from predators, but other than that, ducks are extremely cold-hardy so any structure you provide for them doesn’t need to be completely enclosed (as long as it is inside a secure run/pen) and won’t need any type of heat in the winter. Domestic ducks are even more vulnerable to predators than chickens, so we like to err on the side of caution – for their sake. Mallard ducks were first domesticated in Southeast Asia at least 4000 years ago, during the Neolithic Age, and were also farmed by the Romans in Europe, and the Malays in Asia. Tamed from wild beast atop the Mornington to taking pride of place on the wall. Behold the Domesticated Duck. Erin Blegen says. They love it, we love it, they’re safe and we’re happy about that. Duck houses can sit directly on the ground but should have a wooden or cement floor so predators can’t dig underneath to gain access. A piece of inexpensive vinyl flooring over the floor makes for easy clean-up, and also prevents the floor from getting wet if you leave water in the house overnight for your ducks.