Pekin Ducks, Regular and Giant Sizes Information

[Chicken7777]

Hello and good evening everyone and happy new year,

I have raised pekin ducks in the past for layer use and I am interested in starting a meat flock for future breeding and consumption. Even though I am much aware of the pekin breed and have raised them for a while now, I started my current flock from a pair purchased from a lady near me and kept their offspring, but what I am looking forward to know is if there is a real difference between regular Pekin Ducks and Giant Pekin ducks?

The reason why I ask is because of them being marketed different through hatcherys and want to know if their larger size is legitimate or just a marketing scheme. If they are much larger than the regular pekin ducks, then I would be interested in buying them but would like to know exactly how much larger they are and if they are worth it.

If anyone knows of this variety or have had an experience with them I would appreciate the information.

Thank you very much.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I've got Pekins and to be perfectly honest, I am not sure what "Jumbo Pekins" are.

If you get a good meat strain of Pekin duck (regular Pekin), you will be very happy with the feed conversion, size, and age to butcher. My Pekins dress out just a hair under five pounds, not including innards or neck, and I butcher at 8 weeks. They don't eat enormous amounts of feed to get to that size.

Size isn't everything in a meat bird. The amount of feed they eat to put on their size is a huge factor because it determines how much it costs you to put meat on your family's table. So, if you get an enormous bird that takes twice as long to get to butcher size and eats huge amounts of feed to get there, it isn't such a good deal, even if the bird is large.

I recommend that if you are planning a meat flock, that you purchase initial breeding stock that comes from a flock that has been developed as meat producers. Also, look for calm natured birds. Calm birds grow better than high strung birds.