Tsaiya Duck

Facts about Tsaiya Ducks. The Tsaiya Duck was developed in Taiwan and its name means vegetable duck. The Kaiya duck is a cross of the Tsaiya duck and Pekin duck. The Kaiya cross has finely textured meat popular with consumers. The Kaiya is sometimes crossed with the Muscovy duck to create a meat duck with less fat than the Pekin duck. The hybrids have white feathers like the Tsaiya Duck. This is because white feathers don’t leave behind white pin feathers, something Chinese consumers discriminate against.

The Tsaiya Duck could be seen being herded through rice fields to eat insects like snails and insect larvae for protein while eating leftover rice grains for carbohydrates. However, the Tsaiya Ducks are more often raised in a caged system like that used to raise egg laying chickens in the West.

The Tsaiya Duck has a very long, thin neck and has an upright carriage. The Tsaiya Duck is primarily raised for its eggs, not meat. They are on average about only three pounds (1.3 kg) full grown. However, they lay up to 230 eggs per year, rivaling some chickens in terms of egg production. The Tsaiya Duck eggs are a bluish-white.

Tsaiya Ducks come in two varieties. One strain has brown feathers; this breed is also called the Brown Tsaiya, for the brown patch on its neck. The other strain has white feathers, an orange or yellow beak and orange legs. Both varieties of Tsaiya Ducks possess long necks and a mostly upright carriage. Their legs are far back on the body and they swim but do not fly.

Some Tsaiya ducks are raised on farms with an integrated fish and duck system of raising rice. The ducks are introduced to the field between one week and four weeks of age. The Tsaiya Duck swim in the flooded fields, eating insects and insect larvae, while fish, usually tilapia, swim in the water, eating other insects. Tsaiya Ducks also eat weeds but not rice, while their waste becomes fertilizer for the rice. The swimming of the Tsaiya Ducks also stirs up the soil, discouraging the growth of weeds. Farmers could then raise two hundred to a nine hundred ducks per hectare of rice paddy and a significant number of fish, while still being able to harvest rice in the fall. This increases the profits of the farm and the protein available to the farmer’s family. However, this does increase the work load for the farmer, since water levels need to be high enough to allow the Tsaiya Duck to swim. A fence must also be put around the farm to protect the Tsaiya Ducks from predators and keep them from literally swimming away. Tsaiya Ducks are herded back to an enclosure at night so that their eggs can be collected.

An male adult Tsaiya Duck is called a (drake) and a adult female Tsaiya Duck is called a (hen). A young baby Tsaiya is called a (duckling). A group of ducks is called a brace, raft, team, flock, or paddling. The female Tsaiya Duck (hen) are usually a plain colored brown for hiding purposes to be camouflaged from their enemies when they are sitting in their nests.

Underneath the water-proof coat are downy soft fluffy feathers which keep the Tsaiya Ducks body warm. Tsaiya Ducks keep clean by being able to turn their heads completely backwards, and put their beaks into their feathers by preening themselves.

Tsaiya ducks kept in an enclosure all of the time should have a pond area about three to ten square feet (.09 to 3.04 square meters) per duck. However, the ducks do not have to swim in order to remain healthy.
Because the Tsaiya Ducks are routinely crossed with other breeds to create meat ducks, there are many scientific papers on the optimal nutrition, breeding, care and maintenance of Tsaiya ducks.

Water-proof feathers of the Tsaiya Duck

A special feature that the duck has is its water-proof feathers, even when the Tsaiya Duck dives underwater, its downy under-layer of feathers will stay totally 100% dry. There is a special gland called the "Preen Gland" also called Oil Gland or Uropygial, that produces oil that is near the Tsaiya Ducks tail which covers and spreads the outer coat of the Tsaiya Ducks feathers, which makes the duck water-proof.

Scientific name for Tsaiya Duck "Anas Platyrhynchos" meaning - Wild dabbling duck from which domestic ducks are descended; widely distributed. From New Latin "anas" meaning (Duck) and the word Platyrhynchos comes from "platyrrhine", Ancient Greek meaning (broad snouted, flat-bridged nose).
Tsaiya Ducks are birds in the Class of "Aves". Ducks of all types are part of the bird family "Anatidae". Tsaiya Ducks are also called "waterfowls" they are generally found in places were there is water, such as ponds, rivers, streams, lakes and occasionally your back yard pool.

About the Bill of the Tsaiya Duck

A "bill" is what is call a Tsaiya Ducks mouth. There are no teeth in the Tsaiya Ducks bill, they have rows of thin bristles, which helps them to filter pieces of nutrition out of the water. Tsaiya Ducks swallow there food whole and it goes to an organ called a gizzard, were the food is first ground up and than moves on to the stomach. The different bill shapes and sizes for finding food, has over time mutated to fit each environment. The bill is flat and broad and has rows of fine incision along the outer edge called "lamellae". meaning a thin membrane, plate, scale or layer, as of cell wall or bone tissue. The larnellae helps the Tsaiya Duck to clutch food for feeding.

Feature of the Tsaiya Duck feet

Tsaiya Ducks have webbed feet, that makes them act like paddles, designed for swimming. The Tsaiya Duck push their webbed paddle feet back in a kicking motion, this allows them to move swift through the water and when the feet come back, they close for less water resistance. The Tsaiya Ducks paddle feet do not feel cold, even when it swims in cold icy water. The webbed feet makes a Tsaiya Duck waddle instead of walk. The Tsaiya Ducks feet have capillaries which help blood flow to their feet. The warm blood flow down the leg and creates a heat exchange system. When the blood flows down the leg, it meets the cold blood and is warmed up to keep the Tsaiya Ducks feet warm. Tsaiya Ducks feet are thin because they contain soft tissue and few muscles.

In the wild the male Tsaiya Duck will guard their nest by chasing away other ducks. Once the female lays 5 to 10 eggs, she will start to sit on her eggs to keep them warm so that they can hatch into baby ducklings. The eggs will hatch on average within 26 to 28 days. Baby Tsaiya ducklings are able to fly within 5 to 8 weeks. The Tsaiya duck matures quickly, able to breed in just four months of age.
In captivity Tsaiya Ducks will lay more eggs, when there is more daylight, that's why farmers will keep the lights on in the Tsaiya Ducks house for longer periods of time.

Tsaiya Ducks see in color with very good vision and can see well underwater. Tsaiya Ducks have three eyelids the third eyelid called nictitating membrane. They have a top and bottom as well as a third eyelid that is found on the side of the eye. The Tsaiya Ducks eyelid blinking acts as a windshield wiper to clear the eye. This helps to see when diving under water can also help the eye from drying out while flying. This is an act of constantly cleaning and keeping the eye moist.

Tsaiya Duck eggs

A Duck egg has twice the nutritional value than a chicken egg and will stay fresh longer because of their thicker shell. Tsaiya Duck eggs are richer with more Albumen "the white of an egg" making pastries and cakes richer and fluffier. A Tsaiya Duck Egg has more Omega 3 fatty acids than a chicken egg. Omega 3 is thought to improve skin health, memory and Brain health. Tsaiya Duck Eggs are an Alkaline producing food and a Chicken egg is an acid food and leaves your body more acid. Tsaiya Duck eggs are high in Cholesterol. Tsaiya Duck eggs have 6 times the Vitamin D and 2 times the Vitamin A than a chicken egg. Tsaiya Duck eggs have 2 times the cholesterol than a chicken egg.

Tsaiya Ducks are related to geese and swans and the duck is the smallest of these birds with shorter wings and neck and a stocky body. Tsaiya Ducks on average, live 4 to 8 years and can live up to 12 years, depending on the breed.

A Tsaiya Duck is a Precocial (meaning) Born or hatched with the eyes open, a covering of hair or down, capable of a high degree of independent activity from birth and able to leave the nest just a few hours after hatching.