They have pure white feathers, with yellow shanks and a pinkish-white bill.
Their body is horizontal.
Males weigh an average of 6.6 pounds (3 kg); females around 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg).
The females can lay up to 200 white-shelled eggs a year. They will lay from spring through to fall, but they are not very good brooders.
The ducks have tender, good quality meat, with white skin and fat.
The breed is very rare now.
History Notes
Merchtem village is in central Belgium, north of Brussels. The village used to produce a lot of poultry for the markets in Brussels.
The breed possibly has Aylesbury and Termonde duck in its ancestry.
Sources
Scherf, Beate D., Editor. World Watch List for Domestic Animal Diversity. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Second Edition. 1995. Page 175.