Campine Chicken thread?

[Drieslag]

From Belgium to the States to Australia!
Campines are indeed going global, watch our map grow on http://campines.tumblr.com/worldwide.
Or even better, get mapped as well. The more the merrier

Many thanks to Ross and Ariel for joining in so soon!!

 

[Drieslag]

Dilemma or down right luck?!

As you might know, there are nomore Campines on the European continent. Plus, they are extremely hard to come by since UK breeders normally won't post across the channel. But I did manage to get my hands on 6 eggs which resulted in 2 nice young Campine chicks. But no roo

However! I just got a mail from the president of the club for the Chaams chicken (a breed that is perhaps even closer to the Campine than the Brakel) and he is offering me a Chaams cockerel that turned out henfeathered with bars 1/3 white 2/3 black. And he is a bit smaller than the rest of the Chaams chickens.

Reason for this is that the Chaams was almost extinct and in the past its sisters and brothers Campine and Brakels got mixed in. More info about the Chaams breed - in English ! - can be found on this page, http://www.chaamshoen.nl/index.php?id=68. Below I also added a map that indicates the areas where the Chaams (in green) and the Campine (in red) used to roam.

So my question for all you is: is it fair to label this cockerel as a Campine? And if so, can I breed it to my Campine chicks next year?

Further below there's a picture of a henfeathered Chaams roo from two years ago. Except for its messy barring, it's everything going for itself, full chest (too white though), low tail angle, nice sprigs, beautiful white neck, ... I guess a lot of Campinists would like to have a bird like that. What's your opinion?

 

[Wisher1000]

If it were me, I would take the cock and see what happens. If you see that the breeding reverts back to the males side, you can always separate the hens and try with another cock. I would be interested to see if the male offspring are hen feathered. I would also be particularly harsh in culling to maintain Campine characteristics. Lastly, I would keep this strain or line separate from other lines you may acquire, for genetic diversity. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[chickenpooplady]

Here is my pretty boy at 2 months old! I was taking pictures of him so I thought I would share!

 

[kbh82310]

Here is my pretty boy at 2 months old! I was taking pictures of him so I thought I would share!

Where did you get him? He is beautiful!

 

[chickenpooplady]

Where did you get him? He is beautiful!

Thanks! He is from Wisher1000! When she sent me some BCM and EE hatching eggs a few months ago, she also sent two Silver Campine eggs. He hatched from one of the eggs. He is a very sweet rooster. He is so good to the 6 girls he shares the brooder with.

 

[Drieslag]

If it were me, I would take the cock and see what happens. If you see that the breeding reverts back to the males side, you can always separate the hens and try with another cock. I would be interested to see if the male offspring are hen feathered. I would also be particularly harsh in culling to maintain Campine characteristics. Lastly, I would keep this strain or line separate from other lines you may acquire, for genetic diversity. Good luck and keep us posted!

I just found out that the henfeathering is caused by a autosomic dominant gene called Hf. Wikipedia further explains: "Both homozygous Hf/Hf and heterozygous Hf/hf males are of the hen-feathering type, while hf/hf are of the normal feathering type."

So I'm guessing that breeding my henfeathered Chaams cockerel (be it Hf/Hf or Hf/hf) to my purebred Campine pullets (Hf/Hf for sure) will always give henfeathered breeding. Or has normal feathering with saddle hackles appeared in the last decades?

 

[Wisher1000]

Okay................ I have to be careful here or I will strain my brain!

If I am thinking correctly, that means that there had to be a homozygous parent to that hen feathered Chaams, or it was a sport, right? Now, I am not sure about this, but can you be sure that your hens are Hf/Hf? Couldn't they be Hf/hf? If so, that would give you a 25% chance of a Chaams feathered offspring. Am I right?

REGARDLESS, I'd still follow my plan above!

 

[Drieslag]

You're right, my Campine pullets may be Hf/hf, but that would mean that the last years by chance normal feathered Campines should have popped up. In the early 1900s that was often the case, but I thought that all hf genes had been bred out since then. Or culled.

There may be lots of homozygous hf/hf Chaams chickens running around, only problem is they look exactly like their sisters. All hens are hen feathered
The Chaams breeders have been slowly pushing out the henfeathering for the last ten years, just as the Campine breeders did with the normal feathering when they started out. A work that may take some time.

Anyhow, I'm following up on your advice and will start a breeding line with my two Campine chickens and the henfeathered Chaams roo. I will let you all know how it works out and post a picture of the cockerel once I got it.

PS: this Chaams cockerel has a marbled eye, something which normal for Campines in the past apparently. Has anyone ever heard about this before??

 

[Wisher1000]

I don't know about the marbling, but the eye color is unfortunately too common in Campines here in the states. I had a Golden cock that had that eye color. Here, it is one of many indications that people have not been culling to meet SOP. APA requires a large and very dark eye.