khaki cambell info

[ducksinarow]

I've got 5 in my spare bathroom. They are about 1 month old. How and when will I be able to tell the boys from the girls? I am afraid of this duck math thing. I might need to get more girls. What is a good ratio? How big of a coop should I build? They are sweet, eat from my hand, but run when I have to pick them up.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Nice birds!!

I've had Khaki Campbell hens for over a year now, and just found a male of the same age for $5 on craigslist. Score!

My original flock of 12 was reduced to 5 by a bobcat with good taste

, so I have 6 two-week-olds in the brooder as well. Originally ordered ten from Purely Poultry, but two were DOA and two died within a day. My original 12 were from Ideal and, like they said, contained a couple with crests (aka poof-balls).

The eggs are just about exactly USDA Large sized, and usually have a little squirt of greenish tint on top, so it's easy to tell them from chicken eggs. Especially awesome in omlets and in baking! I appreciated them for laying all through winter when the chickens slowed down considerably.

The hens have been very low maintenance overall. I had to clip wings once when they were skinny adolescents, but not since. They get along fine with the chickens, turkeys, and guineas in the yard, but will hold their own against aggression. Mine eat Purina Flockraiser (20% protein) plus free-choice oyster shell grit and daily greens of some kind (peas, endive, and/or kitchen scraps). They're mostly content to rest in the shade, forage, splash in their tub, and dabble in the resulting mud. They aren't "lap ducks" but will eat goodies from my hand and tolerate being picked up - but then, I didn't spend much time training them as juveniles. They've been good sports about coming with me to the farmers market as "spokesducks" to sell their eggs, and lots of curious little faces up against the cage.

I recommend Khaki Campbells for eggs and entertainment!

Bryan

 

[HamandLily]

ducksinarow - Once they start growing their proper feathers, you will be able to tell, however you can place pressure on either side of the vent (not too hard of course) and see if their sexual organs become exposed, although if you are not confident with doing this, you might want to wait until they grow their feathers!

A good ratio is one male to 3/4 females, but it will not be a problem to keep them as they are whilst you find more females because the over-mating wil not happen straight away! Alternativly, you you have almost all boys, you could give the one or two girls away and keep them as a batchelor group but it depends if you want the eggs/babies!

You are going need quite a large coop for these birds if they are going to be kept in there all of the time! I can;t give exact measurements unfortunatly but personally I'd give them as much space as I possibly can!

Smiles-N-Sunshine - Mine are lap ducks - they like to sleep on my lap

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Smiles-N-Sunshine - Mine are lap ducks - they like to sleep on my lap

Good for you HamandLily! I have a lap turkey, but it's a bit much!

 

[FarmrGirl]

Quote:
Hi Clintwilson59,

I love my Campbell girls! They're such happy little splashers

I wrote a small article on them here on the BYC breeds page and you can read the same article on my website: http://2mooses.weebly.com/waterfowl.html

 

[learycow]

I've had Khaki Campbells for a few years now and they are my favorites!

They are very noisy, especially when startled. They are a nervous breed, but tend to get used to people. I am the one who takes care of them and gets the eggs, and I find that they are good when I'm around, but get very nervous when others go near them.
They are by far excellent layers. Mine actually lay better than my chickens! I get an egg from each of my hens, every single day. Every once in a while one will forget, but for the most part they lay every day.
They are a fun bird to have. I wish you luck with yours!

 

[ksmith]

Since Kahki campbell ducks lay a lot of eggs, does this effect their life span? Also, can you tell if they are male or female byfeather sexing? I am going to get some in about a month and the feed store doesnt sex them, so is there any way i can tell as I am picking them out? thank you!!

 

[learycow]

You can't feather sex them when they are little. They all look the same. As they get bigger, the males' heads start to turn greenish and they develop the curled sex feather on their tail. I just got a batch and they are just over two weeks old now. They are just starting to show feather growth, but they still all look the same.

 

[AnaD]

My female khaki campbell started to quack at 3 weeks old. After dealing with ambiguous chickens up to 14 weeks old it is nice to be able to sex ducklings at such a young age.

 

[maralynn28]

Are both of these KC?

Ones on the right...

On either side of the Rouen...

Guess it's hard to tell in the pics, but one has browner tones while the other appears more grey. Feet and beak are darker on one than the other also. If this isn't signs of sexing, is it just variation in color in the breed or could they be different breed? The feed store said one could be a buff but I thought buff were more yellowish.