Breeds and characteristics of ducks

According to the economic use, duck breeds can be divided into two types: meat type and egg type.

Meat ducks are large in size, broad in body, plump in muscle, delicious in meat, gentle in temperament and slow in action. It grows fast in the early stage and is easy to fatten. Representative are Beijing duck, Cherry Valley duck, French Muscovy duck, Oberstar duck and so on. At present, French muscovy duck and Oberstar duck are more suitable for the market, which are characterized by good meat quality, high lean meat rate, low feed-to-meat ratio and strong disease resistance. For example, the meat of French muscovy duck has wild fowl flavor; chest and leg muscles account for 27% of the carcass; under extensive conditions, the brooding rate and survival rate are as high as 95%.

Egg-type ducks are small in size, slender in body, compact in feathers, flexible in action, early in sexual maturity and high in egg production, but the egg shape is small and the meat quality is slightly poor. The more representative ones are Jinding duck, Shaoxing duck, Gaoyou duck and so on. Jinding duck in Fujian lays 260-300 eggs a year and weighs 60-80 grams, followed by Shaoxing duck in Zhejiang and Gaoyou duck in Jiangsu, which also lays about 250 eggs.