Pekin Chicken

Pekin chicken is a bantam breed which originated from Peking (now known as Beijing) in China. They are smaller in size and are true bantams. They have no large counterpart. Pekin chicken has been mistaken for a bantam Cochin due to some similarities and origins. But they had not relationship to the large Cochin chicken breed and looked quite different. Even, they come from a different place (Peking in China). So they were renamed as ‘Pekin Bantams’, after much debate over many years. Cochin Bantams and Pekin Bantams are similar in appearance but the breed standards of this two breed are slightly different. Peking chicken are short and often only 20-30 centimetres tall. They were first imported from China to the UK around 1830-1840 and were presented to Queen Victoria. Another story states that the first Pekins were stolen from a private collection held by the emperor of China in Peking around 1860s. Pekin chickens are known as Cochin Bantams in the United States and Canada.

CHARACTERISTICS

Pekin chicken is a true bantam miniature chicken breed which has no large counterpart. Their carriage tilts forward, and are rather round shaped. They have elaborate tail feathers and their head is slightly closer to the ground. The key characteristic of Pekin chicken is this tilt. The bird on the whole, though the tail especially, should be abundantly feathered, and well rounded. The cockerels of Pekin chicken breed often have longer feathers that protrude outwards from their feet. This chicken breed is gentle in nature and very docile. They make ideal pets through careful and regular handling. Pekin hens are not very productive egg layers but they are regularly broody and are known to be good sitters and attentive mothers. There are feathers in the foot and vent area. Care must be taken so that the Pekin’s foot feathering does not get soiled. Vent feathers may have to be trimmed in order to maximize fertility when breeding. With all their feathers they actually look larger than they really are. There are many color varieties available of this chicken breed and the list is continually growing. Barred, Birchen, Black, Blue, Buff, Cuckoo, Columbian, Lavender, Mottled, Partridge, Red Partridge, Silver Partridge, White, Wheaten etc. color varieties are in great demand. Frizzled Pekins are common. Many breeders spend much time perfecting new lines of colours in their birds. Pekin chicken has single comb. Hens lay white/cream color eggs. On an average, an adult Pekin cock weights about 680 grams and a hen weights about 570 grams. (Photo from WikiPedia).

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