Where the Pekin comes from
Records of the Pekin go back to China in the 1300s, and the breed reached Great Britain and then the United States in the 1870s [2]. It is now the main commercial meat duck in the US: Kentucky Extension puts about 90 percent of American duck meat down to Pekins [3]. That history matters if you are buying one as a pet, because most Pekins on sale come from meat-duck lines.
Size
Pekins sit in the American Poultry Association's heavy class [1]. The extension table gives hens as 8 to 9 pounds and drakes as 9 to 10 [3]. Hatchery stock can run bigger. Metzer weighs its own breeders during lay and lists its Pekin at 8 to 12¼ pounds, and its Jumbo Pekin at 9 to 13½ [1]. If a listing says "Jumbo", expect a larger bird than the standard. They are also flightless, which makes fencing simpler than it is for flighty breeds [1].
Eggs
Sources disagree here, so we give a wide range. Kentucky Extension lists 100 to 180 eggs a year in its table and about 200 white eggs in the text [3]. Metzer gives 150 to 200 for its standard Pekin and 140 to 175 for the Jumbo, and notes the top of each range assumes 17 hours of light during lay [1]. Pekins were bred for meat, but both sources treat them as a decent layer as well [2].
Temperament and mothering
Metzer's blog table calls the Pekin calm [2], though its own numeric scale puts the breed in the middle between very calm and nervous [1]. We would call it an easygoing duck, not a placid one. Metzer rates Pekin mothering as poor, so do not count on a hen to hatch and raise her own ducklings [1]. Foraging is rated only fair, below Runners and Muscovies, so a Pekin will eat what you provide more than it hunts for itself [1].
Names and strains
"Pekin" is not one standard bird in the hatchery trade. Metzer sells the same duck under two names, Pekin and Grimaud Hybrid Pekin, and says the "hybrid" is a cross between two strains of Pekin [2]. It lists a separate Jumbo Pekin, and rates both strains "meat class only" or "good for meat classes" for showing [1]. When comparing weights or egg counts from different sellers, check which strain they mean.
What we have not pinned down yet
We have no source we trust for how loud Pekins are or how long they live, and nothing on how they handle heat and cold, so those rows are blank rather than guessed. The Livestock Conservancy's 2026 priority list does not include the Pekin [4].