Ausgarden: Australia's Gardening Community

Pekins come in all colours which is a bonus; and like anything that is at its best for reasons other than appearance, any colour in a Pekin is a good colour. They are a soft feathered bird, and because of that their plumage can be easily damaged, but still they are best viewed and enjoyed as free range birds.

For those who desire an untiring and chatty companion in the garden, one not necessarily human; a companion who will not demand a response to their dialogue. Pekin bantams may be the answer. They will be at hand and chatting away gently, smoothly, as they watch what the gardener does and never require any attention at all. They can be as tame as the gardener wishes, and these attractive round balls of feathers with their "slippered" feet will watch for anything that a pulled weed might expose. Expecting nothing, but testing everything for culinary appeal.

Pekin bantams can be easily housed in more cramped conditions than would be suitable for other fowls, being their temperament is both calm and quiet, and their disposition such that they don't wish to hurry about. Being almost caged birds by constitution and ethos. They are active without being busy, they are there, without being obtrusive. It follows that they are easily tamed, and Pekins almost gently guide the poultry keeper into this course, as they lend themselves to the task so well. They can be readily handled by children, and we have sold many in the past to parents of children, who become amazed at these little birds character and gentle, forgiving attitude.

Pekin bantams are friends of the garden as well as the gardener, because they don't scratch. They will create for themselves a small dust bath in a dry area of the garden, which will be the limit of any "destruction" they may attempt or achieve. They present constant movement amongst the plants and will rival many with their colour, and because they deliver this attractiveness so close to the ground, with a sedate quietness. They enhance any garden bed they are exploring.

The birds themselves are endearing on two fronts, their presence and the care of their environment. Unlike most poultry, they live in the garden as part of the landscape, as they must have done, when they were purportedly bred for the Dowager Empress of China. It is said they were her favourites. But it matters not who bred them, birds of good temperament are as endearing and wonderful little companions as they have ever been. Pekins are, as well, entertaining. As they pick up their little pantaloons and run to a morsel or chase a parrot away from their food. Their small eggs are not a drawback or disadvantage in any shape or form. Two of these enchanting waxy orbs would be a bit more than one large egg to satisfy any need in a recipe, or at breakfast. To place these in an egg cup comfortably, it's often good to turn it upside down and use the usually smaller base as the egg holder.

As always with something so advantageous, there are problems creeping into this species of fowl. Where people breed them, who are interested first in the colour of the birds for the purpose of showing; rather than their greatest attribute, their beautiful, gentle and forgiving temperament. It is not unusual to find roosters and cockerels that are in fact fierce, not that much different from the game varieties. This is the worst of the show scene. This is the worst of the way that ego destroys so much in our world.

So if Pekins are desired, it is best they are bought from someone who is known to breed and keep the birds for their magic temperament first, and the colour as a secondary, or no consideration at all.