The Poultry Keeper

stephen · Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:06 pm Post subject: Pekins

Thread for Pekins

lilly the pink · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 78 Location: Wiltshire

I started keeping pekins earlier in the year. Initially we bought a few as pets for the children but they are so appealing they have quickly become addictive!!!

They are extremely docile and easy to handle but at the same time they have bags of character and are very rewarding. They are very easy to keep and very robust when you consider how ornamental they look. I thought they would be hard to look after and weak and finicky, but not at all.

I think they would be an ideal first sortie into poultry keeping and I have sold a lot to families with small children. They lay quite reliably too and have been excellent broodies.

We have decided to keep and breed blues (splash/black/blue combinations), mottled and blue mottled and the children are going to breed from their buff trio next year.

Fangs · Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:26 pm Post subject:

Estith, buff pekin pullet

Pretzel, throwback cockerel form partridge

Luna Sparkelo, blue pekin hen

Pekins originate from China. They are a true bantam, and are hard feathers. They come in a huge variety of colours including:
Blue
Black
Mottled
Cuckoo
Barred
Birchen
Buff
And More

Also Non Standard Colorus Including:
Millefleur
Lemon Cuckoo
Lemon Barred
Lavender Cuckoo
Splash
Red
And More

They make the dieal pet as they are generally very calm, tame birds, which are easy for children to handle. They are also a good bird for showing, as there are so many colorus to pick from. The hardest part of perfecting a pekin, is egtting the type correct, which states that the bird should be round, with the tail higher than the head. This often proves most tricky for serious breeders, though in pet birds this isn't required.

Non sho birds can be picked up from around £10-£15, show birds naturally cost more. If they are only wanted as pets it is ebst to go for pet standard birds, as there charectiristics are exactly the same, and quite often they are hatched in fewer numbers as the breeder is not trying to hatch birds for shwos such as the national, where he will keep the best, then poss sell or cull the reamaining birds. These non show standard birds, being hatched in smaller numbers, often benefit from more handling, which generally makes for a tamer bird.

Their feathered feet, round appearance, and generally stunnnig look, make them a popular chicken for the garden. They are sometimes considered to be 'living ornaments' which when put in a nicely presented garden can look stunning. Though this isn't advised really as like all chickens they enjoy a scratch about. Though I've had no problem with mine.

Fangs

Alasia · Joined: 05 Oct 2005 Posts: 24 Location: South Staffs

There are quite a few 'rare' colours of Pekin in the UK, and there are more breeders becoming involved in breeding the rarer colours such as silver wheaton, buff columbian, lemon cuckoo and millefleur.

Ideally, pekins should have a fluffy, rounded appearance, with the head being held slightly lower than the tail. The cushion (the fluffy part of the back, just in front of the tail) should be very full. You shouldn't be able to see any daylight between a pekins' legs.

Onyx, a mottled cockerel:

Matilda - mottled pekin hen:

Amber, a buff pekin hen (bred with a lemon cuckoo cockerel, to improve the colouring):

Amber (background) pictured with Carrot, a lemon cuckoo cockerel:

Lily, a lavender pekin hen:

Lavender pekin cockerel:

Young, nicely coloured silver wheaton pullet:

Bernie · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 13 Location: Lincolnshire

What lovely pics of your Pekins, i have 9 Lavenders and three maran pekins and that are fun fun fun, the two male Lavenders tread my cream legbars every morning. Luckily right now it is not incabtion time. I wander what they would look like Shocked

NannyP · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:53 pm Post subject:

I just love this Cockerel, from Feathersite.com, it belongs/ed to Mary Askew, who I have seen on PekinBantams.

NannyP · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:58 pm Post subject:

This is either Lightening or Thunderbolt at 24 hours old.
Buff Pekin Very Happy

And again, but only a few hours old

debcat · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 9:01 pm Post subject:

I first got pekins when the girls wanted to have their own hens.
Now I wouldn't be without them.
they are really friendly, easy for children to handle, loads of gorgeous colours and lay decent sized eggs for the size of the birds.

beadysam · Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Posts: 5

Does anyone have any crele/creole Pekins? I have a boy that I hatched from an eBay egg but I have never seen any more. I have seen 2 piccys on the PekinBantams site but that's all. Does anyone know anything about this colour?
SAM x

Fangs · Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:08 pm Post subject:

My creole pekin hen Maureen

Fangs

beadysam · Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Posts: 5

Maureens loooooverly! Aren't we lucky to have such beautiful chooks?...
SAM xxx

Fangs · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 9:00 pm Post subject:

yeh we are really lucky to have them Very Happy

Fangs

gail · Joined: 19 Nov 2005 Posts: 2 Location: lancashire

I have been reading all your information, getting very excited. I am just starting out. I have decided on partridge pekins, but they are proving very illusive. Has anybody got any suggestions on a good book to start off reading, there seems a good range to choose from. I am definately going for a trio of pekins, although like I have already said, it may not be my first choice of partridge. I need loads of help of my options so please feel free to share your wealth of info with me. Thanks Gail. Smile

Aussie Chick · Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:15 pm Post subject:

HI Gail and Welcome,

Can I suggest you start a new thread with this request. A some people might not read it here.

AC Laughing

merlin · Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 114 Location: Hertfordshire

Gail, try a small holder magazine, that's where I found my partridge pekins, and yes they were hard to get hold of, apparently they aren't a fashionable colour. They are worth the effort as they are so beautiful.
Good luck Isobel