Dürigen, Die Geflügelzucht, 1923, p368a, cropped

The German Pekin, german: , is a European

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

domestic duck The domestic duck or domestic mallard (''Anas platyrhynchos domesticus'') is a subspecies of mallard that has been domesticated by humans and raised for meat, eggs, and down feathers. A few are also kept for show, as pets, or for their ornamenta ...

. It is commonly called simply Pekin or White Pekin. It is a different breed from the

American Pekin The Pekin or White Pekin is an American breed of domestic duck, raised primarily for meat. It derives from birds brought to the United States from China in the nineteenth century, and is now bred in many parts of the world. It is often known as ...

, which is also commonly known by the same names. It was bred in Europe from birds originating in China and Japan and is distributed in many European countries.

History

The

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

was probably

domesticated Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...

in China before 1000 AD. Force-feeding of ducks is documented from the tenth century, under the

Five Dynasties The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

. Chinese people were sophisticated breeders of ducks. Among several breeds they created was one named ''shi-chin-ya-tze'', or roughly "ten-pound duck". In 1872 some birds of this type were imported to the United Kingdom by Walter Steward; others were taken to the United States by James E. Palmer, where they gave rise to the

breed. Some soon reached Germany from the UK, possibly via France. In Germany the Chinese ducks were

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

with upright white ducks brought from Japan by Dutch ships, resulting in birds with a steep body angle; those taken to the United States were crossed with

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

birds, which led to birds with a more horizontal stance. In Britain as in Germany, breeders in the early twentieth century tended to select for an upright body position. The modern British breed derives mostly from birds imported from Germany from about 1970. The German Pekin is listed as "seriously endangered" in the

Rote Liste The , full name , is a red list of threatened breeds of domestic animal published annually by the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen, the German national association for the conservation of historic and endangere ...

of the

Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen The or GEH is a German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered domestic animal breeds. History The GEH was founded on 5 December 1981 in the Rottal, in Lower Bavaria in southern Germany. It has about 2100 memb ...

, a German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered

domestic animal This page gives a list of domesticated animals, also including a list of animals which are or may be currently undergoing the process of domestication and animals that have an extensive relationship with humans beyond simple predation. This includ ...

breeds A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...

. In the United Kingdom it is considered "vulnerable".

Characteristics

The Pekin is heavily feathered; the plumage is creamy white with a yellowish tinge. The beak is short and orange-coloured. The body is broad and heavy, and is held almost vertical. In the United Kingdom, drakes weigh approximately and ducks about , while in Germany drakes weigh approximately and ducks about .

Use

The Pekin was intended to be a table bird, reared for its

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

. In Germany it has not been kept for agricultural production since about the time of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and is a show bird. Ducks lay about 80 eggs per year; the eggs weigh approximately

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:German Pekin Duck breeds Duck breeds originating in Germany