Aylesbury or Pekin? Pictures

[TwistedTayy]

I ordered 4 jumbo Pekin ducks from Metzer for the week of May 17 (almost 6 weeks now) and some of them look more Aylesbury than Pekin... I was hoping to get your opinions. They were bound for the freezer but if they have some interesting genetics i might hang on to a female to breed back to our WH drake for some meatier WH. One especially looks different from the rest. She’s a female and has a pink beak with more circular body shape.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are beautiful ducks. Usually pinkish bill means White layer here in the USA.

 

[TwistedTayy]

They are beautiful ducks. Usually pinkish bill means White layer here in the USA.

Well I’d be just as happy with that! She may just survive the chopping block...

 

[Miss Lydia]

@WannaBeHillBilly Has White Layer.
Nice breed of duck.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Metzer Farms keeps the "recipe" how they have created the White Layer a closely guarded secret, but i assume they do have some Pekin genes.
I'm not sure by the pictures, but the girl with the flesh-colored bill also looks a bit smaller than the rest of the flock, so there is a good chance that you've got a White Layer. Or a Pekin/WL hybrid.
If she stays smaller than the others you definitely have a White Layer.

 

[fredwck]

I had a lot of trouble trying to tell these 2 breeds apart too based on photos online, including this previous post. I think there are likely so many crosses out there that it is hard to find "pure" breed, whatever that means.

The consensus I reached was orange bill being a typical Pekin feature, and larger, more "fluffy" feathers in chest and neck with pink bill being more Aylesbury features. If yours are from the same hatch with orange and pink bills then maybe a cross.

I posted a couple of photos in the other post