Campines

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I have always liked this breed, and I haven't seen any campine post so I desided to start one!

Are Campines stand - offish? do they lay pretty well? Can they be tamed? Are they good for free ranging? Any pictures of your birds would be great! Have fun!

 

[patandchickens]

If you use the 'search' utility (in the blue bar towards the top of the screen) you will find a variety of campine threads, and in fact htey were being discussed on a 'heritage breeds' thread that was at least last night still active.

I had 6 golden campines a few yrs ago, of which 5 turned out to be roos and got sold before full maturity and boy was I glad to see them go. I kind of regret not selling the hen too, although she sure is purty.

Campines are very precocious -- one of my cockerel chicks started getting a big comb and trying to crow at about 2 wks of age, and the hen started laying around 16 wks. She is a very good (for a non-sexlink non-leghorn) layer of medium to barely large white eggs with a nice satiny finish on them.

Mine were also all completely WHACKADOODLE. Chicken little, "the sky is falling", too much caffeine, that sort of thing. I find them much too stressful. If you like that sort of thing, though, you would probably like campines. I expect they would free range well, due to all the paranoia

A few BYCers report having very hand-tame campines; mine sure ain't, nor are her halfbred offspring. Mine does not get along stunningly well with other chickens; I have had her in a couple different pens over the last few years and she is either the troublemaker, or hides alongside the rooster so as not to get beat up. Sigh. Basically I keep her because she is the special little concubine of my otherwise-sensible sussex roo, and she *does* lay well.

But boy are campines pretty

I was going to try to get a pic of my hen today for the other thread, will try to remember to post it here too.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Thanks for the info patandchickens !!!!! I REALLY like the Silver Campines the best! I think they'er just lovely! But, I've NEVER had any, though! So I don't know how their temperment is! Were did you get yours patandchickens?

 

[patandchickens]

From a canadian small hatchery, so, that's of no help to you, sorry

You will have to search a bit to find privately-bred good-quality campines, if you really want the breed in its good form as opposed to whatever a hatchery happens to be churning out. OTOH if you have trouble finding a breeder you could always get a few hatchery birds for now and see how you like them while continuing to look for a source of better stock.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat, whose half-Campine roo is going in the stewpot (for flogging me a lot times too many) as soon as I can be sure I've got some of his mutt eggs successfully underway in the 'bator for the neighbor

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I'd probably order from a hatchery anyways! Are hatchery bird hight quality birds?

 

[weirdmuse]

Here's a photo of my pair of Golden Campines. They're not the friendliest birds, that's for sure, but they have been no problem, either. They get along well with the other chickens and our GC roo easily lords it over our Marans roo that is twice his size. She lays a nice medium sized white egg with good regularity. Around 5 a week.

 

[patandchickens]

Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

I'd probably order from a hatchery anyways! Are hatchery bird hight quality birds?

Not generally, that is sort of the point of going to a breeder if you really care about the breed in particular

but if you just want something generally campine-esque (or whatever other breed -ish) a hatchery is fine.

Here is my Hazelnut, currently in 'chicken jail' til tomorrow or so, she is nothing special but is probably representative of roughly what you'd get from a typical hatchery:

Pat​

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Thoughs are very pretty birds!

I wouldn't show the birds or anything, I might incubate some eggs and sale them, but they wouldn't have to be show quailty! Thanks everybody!

 

[CARS]

Here's my golden campine from McMurray Hatchery:

Young:

(Ignore the silkies)

And a pic from this week:

So, from what I gather, the hatchery is not as pure with their stock as they should be. But, he is a beautiful bird regardless.

 

[usschicago1]

I wouldnt say not as "pure" i would say not bred to the standerd