Jefferson poultry breeder Sarah Merrill holds the youngest of her rare German Pekin ducks, named Flower, on Goose Hill Road the morning of Monday, Dec. 2. Merrill credited her grandmother, Jane Eddington-Freeman, with giving her a love of ducks and showing birds at poultry shows. (Molly Rains photo)
A flock of eight ducks on Jefferson’s Goose Hill Road are among the only representatives of their kind in the region, according to legacy poultry breeder Sarah Merrill, who is striving to keep their lineage alive.
Merrill’s flock of German Pekin ducks are direct descendents from animals her grandmother, Jane Eddington-Freeman, imported in 2000, she said. Eddington-Freeman is a fellow duck breeder who has judged show ducks internationally and who instilled her love of the practice in Merrill.
“I’m a legacy duck breeder, whether that matters to anyone else or not. This is in my blood, and this love for it is something that my grandmother has successfully passed down,” Merrill said.
The German Pekins, also called European Pekins, caught Eddington-Freeman’s eye in the late 1990s, said Merrill. The breed is large, averaging between eight and nine pounds each. They have plumage that ranges from creamy white to canary yellow and is very thick, giving the ducks characteristically chubby cheeks, one of the features Merrill said poultry judges explicitly look for at shows.
After Pekins were brought to Europe and America from China, different breeding practices on either sides of the Atlantic led two different lineages to develop, according to the website of the British Waterfowl Association.
Today, the American Pekin has been crossed with other breeds to create an even larger bird that is raised for meat.
The German Pekin, which is smaller and is not a meat bird, has fallen out of favor, and their population has declined. The breed is currently listed as endangered by the German Society for the Preservation of Old and Endangered Domestic Animal Breeds.
Since her childhood, Merrill has been involved in poultry breeding and showing, she said. She got her first German Pekin, who she named Amos, at the age of 16 and brought him to school with her for the next two years. To transport him to and from class, Merrill put Amos in a bucket.
“I think he technically graduated,” Merrill joked.
Today, Merrill has a flock of eight German Pekin ducks, the biggest group she knows of in the Maine and 2pmNew Hampshire and possibly the largest flock in New England, she said.
Merrill hatches broods every year and tries to give chicks to other duck breeders, who she hopes will help keep the German Pekin lineage alive. In this way, Merrill hopes to continue her grandmother’s legacy and inspire others to take up poultry breeding and showing, a craft she said is declining.
“This way of life, of doing this, of being proud of what you’re breeding, is dying off, and it’s really unfortunate,” she said.
Maintaining rare breeds like the German Pekin is important to conserve genetic diversity and agricultural history, said Merrill. Raising poultry is also rewarding, both through eggs and through the challenge of trying to optimize the birds’ appearance, compared to the breed standard, from generation to generation, she said.
“We have a standard of perfection we’re striving for in breeding, the best of the best,” Merrill said. “I’m striving to show the bird that is the standard of perfection, essentially… I think that is really important.”
German Pekins in particular are not necessarily a duck breed for beginners, said Merril. Due to their size, the ducks can be hard to hatch, sometimes becoming cramped inside their egg. If unaddressed, this can cause a developing chick to lose access to oxygen.
After they hatch, however, Merrill said the ducks can be raised just like other breeds.
Merrill described her ducks as “fun” and “laid back.” During the warmer months, the flock traverses her garden and is great for slug control, she added. She continues her family’s tradition of showing birds and knows each duck by name.
Above all, said Merrill, she hopes to see younger generations take up the craft of poultry breeding.
“I’d love to see younger people getting more involved in showing ducks and chickens again,” she said. “We don’t want to lose the history and the heritage and the legacy of it.”
