Conservation status | |
---|---|
Other names |
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Country of origin | China |
Distribution | Europe |
Use | meat |
Traits | |
Weight |
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Egg colour | white or tinted |
Classification | |
EE | yes [2] |
PCGB | heavy [3] |
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The German Pekin, German : Deutsche Pekingente, is a European breed of domestic duck. It is commonly called simply Pekin or White Pekin. [4] [5] It is a different breed from the American Pekin, 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. [2] [4]
The mallard was probably domesticated in China before 1000 AD. [6] : 92 Force-feeding of ducks is documented from the tenth century, under the Five Dynasties. [7] : 593 Chinese people were sophisticated breeders of ducks. [6] : 92 Among several breeds they created was one named shi-chin-ya-tze, or roughly "ten-pound duck". [8]
In 1872 some birds of this type were imported to the United Kingdom by Walter Steward; [8] others were taken to the United States by James E. Palmer, where they gave rise to the American Pekin breed. [6] : 92 Some soon reached Germany from the UK, possibly via France. [9] [10]
In Germany the Chinese ducks were cross-bred 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 birds, which led to birds with a more horizontal stance. [8] 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. [10]
The German Pekin is listed as "seriously endangered" in the Rote Liste of the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen, a German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered domestic animal breeds. [11] In the United Kingdom it is considered "vulnerable". [12]
The Pekin is heavily feathered; the plumage is creamy white with a yellowish tinge. [8] [10] The beak is short and orange-coloured. [10] The body is broad and heavy, and is held almost vertical. In the United Kingdom, drakes weigh approximately 4.1 kg and ducks about 3.6 kg, [13] : 438 while in Germany drakes weigh approximately 3.5 kg and ducks about 3 kg. [14]
The Pekin was intended to be a table bird, reared for its meat. In Germany it has not been kept for agricultural production since about the time of the Second World War, and is a show bird. [9] Ducks lay about 80 eggs per year; the eggs weigh approximately 80 g. [14]
The Dülmener or Dülmen is a German breed of small feral horse. It was formerly known as the Merfelderbrücher. A herd of approximately 300 head lives in feral conditions in an area of about 3.5 km2 in the Merfelder Bruch, near the town of Dülmen in the Kreis of Coesfeld in north-western Nordrhein-Westfalen, in north-western Germany.
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 the American Pekin to distinguish it from the German Pekin, a distinct and separate breed which derives from the same Chinese stock but has different breeding. Many of these ducks were reared on Long Island, New York, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from which the breed derived its name Long Island Duck.
The Swedish Blue or Blue Swedish is a Swedish breed of domestic duck. It originated in the former dominion of Swedish Pomerania – now in north-west Poland and north-east Germany – and is documented there from 1835. It is closely similar to the Pomeranian Duck from the same general area, differing mainly in its white primary feathers.
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The Rhenish German Coldblood, German: Rheinisch Deutsches Kaltblut, is a breed of heavy draught horse from the Rhineland area of western Germany. It was bred in second part of the nineteenth century, principally at the Prussian state stud at Schloss Wickrath in Wickrathberg, now part of Mönchengladbach in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Lakenvelder or Lakenfelder is a breed of domestic chicken from the Nordrhein-Westfalen area of Germany and neighbouring areas of the Netherlands. It was first recorded in 1727.
The Saxony is a German breed of domestic duck. It was bred in Saxony in the 1930s, but because of the Second World War was recognised only in 1957.
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The Arenberg-Nordkirchen or Arenberg-Nordkirchner is a breed of small riding horse from north-west Germany. It was believed extinct in 1985, but in 1995 a small number were discovered, and since 1999 the population has remained stable at about 20–25 head. The Arenberg-Nordkirchen is in the highest-risk category of the Rote Liste of the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen, the German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered domestic animal breeds.
The Bergische Kräher is a German breed of domestic chicken from the Bergisches Land, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. It is named for its unusually long crow, up to five times as long as that of other breeds, and belongs to the group of long-crowing chicken breeds, which are found from south-east Europe to the Far East.
The Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen or GEH is a German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered domestic animal breeds.
The Rotes Höhenvieh is a breed of red cattle from the Central Uplands of Germany. It was created in 1985 as a merger of the few remaining examples of a number of closely similar regional breeds of upland red cattle. Reconstruction of the breed was made possible by the discovery of a stock of semen in a sperm bank. The name means "red upland cattle".
The Rote Liste, full name Rote Liste der bedrohten Nutztierrassen im Bundesgebiet, 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 endangered domestic animal breeds.
The Bielefelder Kennhuhn or Bielefelder is a German breed of domestic chicken. It was developed in the area of Bielefeld in the 1970s by Gerd Roth, who cross-bred birds of Malines and Welsumer stock with American Barred Rocks to create the breed. Like other breeds with Barred Rock parentage, it is auto-sexing – chicks of different sexes can be distinguished by their colour. There is a bantam version, the Bielefelder Zwerg-Kennhuhn.
The Bergische Schlotterkamm is an old and endangered German breed of domestic chicken. It originates from the Bergisches Land, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany, and is one of three chicken breeds from that area, the others being the Bergische Kräher and the German creeper ("Krüper").
The Augsburger is an endangered German breed of domestic chicken. It originates from the area of the city of Augsburg, in the Swabian region of the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany. It was bred in the nineteenth century, and derives mostly from the French La Flèche breed. It is the only chicken breed of Bavarian origin.
The Krüper is a German breed of creeper chicken. It originates in the former Duchy of Berg, now the Bergisches Land in western Germany, and is one of three chicken breeds from that area, the others being the Bergische Kräher and the Bergische Schlotterkamm. It belongs to the group of original European creeper breeds. The breed has normal-sized and bantam varieties.
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