Pekin ducks are fast growers and efficient layers and are the most popular commercial duck breed, and are particularly popular in China. Pekin ducks are highly sociable and are generally too heavy for flight. Pekin ducks are precocial birds (mature from birth) and therefore make ideal companion animals, and the relationship that can develop can rival that of humans and dogs, if not surrounded by other ducks. They are an intelligent breed of duck.
The adult Pekin duck can lay an average of 200 eggs per year if the duck is prevented from hatching them. Pekin ducks are less broody than other ducks and are therefore more likely to abandon the eggs before hatch, in which case, hens are an appropriate alternative to hatch the eggs. They will often lay their eggs where another duck has previously laid, which they consider to be a safe place. As a result of this characteristic, Pekin ducks can be deceived into laying eggs in a desired position by placing a small egg-shaped object (such as a golf ball) in that place.
Heavy
Deep cream or cream
Drake | 4.1 Kg |
Duck | 3.6 Kg |
Creamy white
PoultryHub Australia
CJ Hawkins Homestead, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351
The Poultry Hub Australia profoundly acknowledges and respects that its foundations, both people and facilities, are established on land rich in the history and traditions of the world’s oldest living culture. PHA values and respects Indigenous knowledge, understanding its importance in our shared history. We acknowledge the strength, resilience, and contributions of the Aboriginal community, we pay our tributes to the Aboriginal Elders – those who guided us in the past, those who lead us today, and those who will enlighten our paths in the future.