Campine Chicken thread?

[sharol]

Eight pullets and a cockerel?

2 cockerels, 7 pullets (one is the gold). I need to sell a trio, but I can't decide which to keep. Some of the girls are smaller than the others, and I'm not sure from the standard (yes, I bought the book) whether that is a bad thing at this age. I suspect it is. Complicating the fact is that the cockerel I prefer (I think) has a couple of girls he "pals around with" and one of them is the smallest pullet with the rattiest tail. She seems to be missing the under feathers (somebody may have pulled them, but they have always been that way), but all the tail feathers are barred, so that is a good thing, right? She is the pullet just back of the obvious cockerel in the picture.

Watch and wait a little longer, I think. I just wish I had a little more room for them. They are so charming, I'd like to keep them all. Watching those two little cockerels (which aren't so little anymore, they just seem little next to the English Orps) square off is so entertaining. And the girls are developing their own personalities. One is a leader, and the one with the black leg band is just NOT the sharpest crayon in the box. The one with the odd tail is very shy and flighty.

Tomorrow is leg band checking day. I check each leg band once a week to be sure they are still loose. I got some multi colored zip ties, and they have worked amazingly well. I think I can remove a couple of them completely because I can identify those birds without problems now. I'll try to get some decent pictures of the boys for evaluation. They are both charming.

 

[Wisher1000]

I'm so excited for you! It thrills me that you are so enamored with them. Here are the things I think about, but the choice is yours. These are your Campines, and the selection according to your decisions is the essence of what makes them yours.

This line is strong in eye color. They are really dark, nearly black, and I have not seen any reddish colored eyes that other lines sometimes have. They also have far less than 50% red in the enamel white earlobes, in fact, most show no red until they are older. I have never seen white in the face of any of my birds at any age. Their leg color is excellent! I am so proud of the blue slate legs on these birds. I had a couple early on that had side sprigs in the combs and they were immediately culled as were the ones that were not hen feathered (had pointed hackles and side hangers in the saddle area.) Neither of these are common faults, but could pop up in the future. There are two different "intensities"of black in the barred areas. Some birds, mostly females, are more of a dark charcoal gray and the males like them have less of the beetle green they need. I still use them for two reasons - one, it is acceptable for show and - two, they tend to be the larger birds. I prefer the others who are darker black with plenty of the beetle green sheen, but that size is important. I would like to eventually breed out the gray gene, but not until the size is right. I don't worry about any of these qualities (mentioned in this paragraph) because they are consistently good, but if a bird had issues in any of these areas, I would not use it for breeding.

First, and foremost, cull ruthlessly for vigor and type. If any of yours are weak, sickly, or not as active as they should be, don't breed them. As to type, read the first 40 pages of the Standard (Great decision on buying one, it is a good investment) at least three times through, studying it and committing it to memory. Then read it again and often. I look for a rounded breast, carried well forward (VFS - viewed from the side.) I want a straight back that slopes slightly toward the tail (VFS.) I also look for a broad back from the neck to the hipbones (VFT - viewed from the top). I like plenty of room between straight legs (VFF.)

An old timer told me that you get your color from your cock and your size from your hen.

That says to me that I should put more weight on markings on the rooster as long as vigor and type are there. For the cock, I want clear, white hackles. So far, all of mine show at least some black in the hackles once they get to a year old and I find that it increases as they get older. If he shows yellowish coloring in his hackles, he is likely "split to Golden" or carries the recessive gold gene. That is not bad for a breeder, but doesn't show as well. Next, I want to see the barring on his chest go as high up the front of his neck as possible with the goal being all the way to the throat. So far, I have found that the higher it goes, the more black in the hackles. That is a constant balancing act. I am working on getting barring on all the tail feathers and limiting the white in the primary wing feathers. I had a man at the Newnan show tell me they are supposed to have all black on the central tail feathers. He was wrong. I like a broad head (VFT) and, although the judges' score card doesn't put a lot of emphasis on combs, I think the comb is an important element of the aesthetics of the cock. I am not so concerned with the number of points, but more that it is not too big and is uniform. I'm looking for clean barring. The white stripes are supposed to form concentric rings around the body. I doubt that will be attained any time soon, but I have seen some decent patches of good barring which makes me optimistic.

Check those larger girls and make sure they don't have any DQs, or are lacking in basic type and then USE them! Like the males, I want to see clear white hackles (FYI, girls will always be pure for either the silver gene or the golden gene, they cannot carry both.) Once they reach POL, I look at egg color (the whiter the better,) and the spread in the pelvic bones (EIH - evaluated in hand.)

Handle your birds often. Get in the habit of picking them up and keeping a check on their weight, bone quality, and condition. They should FEEL heavy in your hand and should be well fleshed.

I had to cut this short........ I can talk about this all day long!

 

[sharol]

I'm so excited for you! It thrills me that you are so enamored with them. Here are the things I think about, but the choice is yours. These are your Campines, and the selection according to your decisions is the essence of what makes them yours.

This line is strong in eye color. They are really dark, nearly black, and I have not seen any reddish colored eyes that other lines sometimes have. They also have far less than 50% red in the enamel white earlobes, in fact, most show no red until they are older. I have never seen white in the face of any of my birds at any age. Their leg color is excellent! I am so proud of the blue slate legs on these birds. I had a couple early on that had side sprigs in the combs and they were immediately culled as were the ones that were not hen feathered (had pointed hackles and side hangers in the saddle area.) Neither of these are common faults, but could pop up in the future. There are two different "intensities"of black in the barred areas. Some birds, mostly females, are more of a dark charcoal gray and the males like them have less of the beetle green they need. I still use them for two reasons - one, it is acceptable for show and - two, they tend to be the larger birds. I prefer the others who are darker black with plenty of the beetle green sheen, but that size is important. I would like to eventually breed out the gray gene, but not until the size is right. I don't worry about any of these qualities (mentioned in this paragraph) because they are consistently good, but if a bird had issues in any of these areas, I would not use it for breeding.

First, and foremost, cull ruthlessly for vigor and type. If any of yours are weak, sickly, or not as active as they should be, don't breed them. As to type, read the first 40 pages of the Standard (Great decision on buying one, it is a good investment) at least three times through, studying it and committing it to memory. Then read it again and often. I look for a rounded breast, carried well forward (VFS - viewed from the side.) I want a straight back that slopes slightly toward the tail (VFS.) I also look for a broad back from the neck to the hipbones (VFT - viewed from the top). I like plenty of room between straight legs (VFF.)

An old timer told me that you get your color from your cock and your size from your hen.

That says to me that I should put more weight on markings on the rooster as long as vigor and type are there. For the cock, I want clear, white hackles. So far, all of mine show at least some black in the hackles once they get to a year old and I find that it increases as they get older. If he shows yellowish coloring in his hackles, he is likely "split to Golden" or carries the recessive gold gene. That is not bad for a breeder, but doesn't show as well. Next, I want to see the barring on his chest go as high up the front of his neck as possible with the goal being all the way to the throat. So far, I have found that the higher it goes, the more black in the hackles. That is a constant balancing act. I am working on getting barring on all the tail feathers and limiting the white in the primary wing feathers. I had a man at the Newnan show tell me they are supposed to have all black on the central tail feathers. He was wrong. I like a broad head (VFT) and, although the judges' score card doesn't put a lot of emphasis on combs, I think the comb is an important element of the aesthetics of the cock. I am not so concerned with the number of points, but more that it is not too big and is uniform. I'm looking for clean barring. The white stripes are supposed to form concentric rings around the body. I doubt that will be attained any time soon, but I have seen some decent patches of good barring which makes me optimistic.

Check those larger girls and make sure they don't have any DQs, or are lacking in basic type and then USE them! Like the males, I want to see clear white hackles (FYI, girls will always be pure for either the silver gene or the golden gene, they cannot carry both.) Once they reach POL, I look at egg color (the whiter the better,) and the spread in the pelvic bones (EIH - evaluated in hand.)

Handle your birds often. Get in the habit of picking them up and keeping a check on their weight, bone quality, and condition. They should FEEL heavy in your hand and should be well fleshed.

I had to cut this short........ I can talk about this all day long!

I wish I could sit down with you and your chickens and see them as you see them. I'll do all of what you suggest and make my decision.

How old do they need to be to determine which to keep?

 

[Wisher1000]

Come on down! We can do that, or you could come to the show in Knoxville, TN. and we can talk for hours!

How long to wait to cull? Good question. They will look their bests at about 7 months old. That is the age to show them. They will start showing more faults (black ticking in the hackles, red in the earlobes) but will also fill out and get better in some areas (depth of breast and width of body) as they mature further. The boy I used this year in my 'A' pen is looking better and better in size and type, but is also losing his nice clean hackles. The cock I used last year has just about gone red in the ears! I have no issues with doing most of my culling by a year, but eventually, we will need to cull for birds that keep holding those qualities as they age.

 

[Wisher1000]

Tails - The tail should be at 40 degrees above horizontal. Mine are all too high. The "fix" for that is structural to a point but mostly needs heavier feathering in the saddle area (tail coverts) to hold the tail down when relaxed. They are alert most of the time, so it is hard to catch them in a relaxed state. I think that will be an issue for a long time. I often see tails that are straight up 90 degrees..... or worse, squirrel tailed. I won't use one that is squirrel tailed, that is a DQ. I always favor the lower tail set, but rarely see any that are even close to correct. The hen's tails should be of a medium width, not thin and whip-like, and not well spread like a fan. Mostly, I want tail feathers that are barred from base to tip.

 

[Drieslag]

I thought the tail had to be 40° in accordance with the back line. not with ground level. So if the back is sloping from head to tail by 10° then the tail is at 30° compared to a horizontal level.
But saddle feathering is important. Watch this 1900 drawing, the artist clearly depicted the saddle feathers.
Also notice the smaller and upright combs on the hens and their closed tail feathers, which are a reminder of the old style Belgian Campines.

 

[Drieslag]

sorry, it 's old skool me again. here 2 pictures which are at the base of the present day Campine, its forefathers the old style Campine and the Braekel.
who can name all the differences in type? and which parts are more obvious in the present day Campine?

 

[lawatt]

just saying hello to all you campine folks -- i haven't been on BYC much at all this spring, but my small flock of silver campines is still doing well -- very regular layers, and i swear every egg that is incubated hatches successfully. haven't done any concerted breeding (have been focusing on isbars more), but hoping to have time to pay attention to conversations here a bit more over the summer!

here's a photo of a few of my flock, from back in february:



and my rooster:

he's always so proud of himself!

 

[Clevelandohio]

Golden campine? Correct? He came with my McMurray ornamental layer collection. I can't keep him. Anyone want him? Too many roosters here. But he is going to be beautiful. Text or email me if interested. [email protected] 330-357-9922

 

[brrabey]

Dows anyone's Campine pullet crow?!