The Pekin or Peking, also White Pekin, is an American
breed of domestic duck, reared principally for meat. It derives from birds brought to the United
States from China in the nineteenth century, and is now bred in many countries,
and in all continents. It is a distinct and separate breed from the German Pekin,
which derives from the same Chinese stock but has different breeding.
In 1872, at the request of a businessman named
McGrath, fifteen white ducks hatched in Peking (now called Beijing) were loaded
at Shanghai by James E. Palmer of Stonington, Connecticut, for shipment to the
United States. Nine birds – six ducks and three drakes – survived the voyage,
which took 124 days and reached New York City on 13 March 1873. Five of the
surviving birds were dispatched to McGrath, but were eaten before they reached
him. Palmer's four birds became the foundation stock of the American Pekin; by
July 1873, his three ducks had laid more than three hundred eggs.
In 1874, the Pekin was included in the first edition
of the Standard of Perfection published by the new American Poultry
Association. It was soon in widespread
production for slaughter. Until that time, a popular breed raised for meat had
been the Cayuga, which had the disadvantage of dark feathering, so that any
fluff remaining on the carcass was easily seen; the white-feathered Pekin was
preferable.
The American Pekin is large and solidly built. The
body is rectangular as seen from the side, and is held at about 40º to the
horizontal; the tail projects above the line of the back. The breast is smooth
and broad, and does not show a pronounced keel. The head is large and rounded,
and the neck is thick. The plumage is creamy white, the legs and feet are a
yellowish orange, and the beak is yellow; it is fairly short and almost
straight.
The American Pekin is reared almost exclusively for
meat. In the United States, more than half of all ducks raised for slaughter
are of this breed. Numbers in the United States alone are in the tens of
millions. The birds are large-framed, hardy and fast-growing – they may reach a
body-weight of more than 3.5 kg in seven weeks. They have a high feed
conversion ratio, are calm-tempered and fertile, and their eggs hatch well. The
white feathers make the carcass easy to clean.
