Campine Chicken
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Campine () is a breed of domestic
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
originating in the northern part of Belgium. It is named for the
Campine The Campine () or Kempen () is a natural region situated chiefly in north-eastern Belgium and parts of the south-eastern Netherlands which once consisted mainly of extensive moors, tracts of sandy heath, and wetlands. It encompasses a large n ...
region of north-eastern Belgium and south-eastern Netherlands. It was known there as the Kempisch Hoen ().


History

The Campine was originally a smaller type of the
Braekel The Braekel or Brakel is a traditional Belgian List of chicken breeds, breed of chicken. It is thought to have originated in the area of Brakel, Belgium, Brakel, in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, f ...
, weighing up to less. It was distributed throughout the
province of Antwerp Antwerp Province (; ; ; ), between 1815 and 1830 known as Central Brabant ( , , ), is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the North Brabant province of the Netherlands to the ...
and in the northern and central part of the province of Limburg. It was decided in 1884 that the two types should be separated. After a long controversy, the Campine became a separate breed with its own breed standard on 28 August 1904. After further controversy, the two breeds were reunited under a single standard in 1925 or 1926, with the name Kempisch-Braekel. In 1962 it was decided that the Campine type had entirely disappeared, and the name of the Belgian breed was changed to Brakelhoen. The Campine was imported to England in about 1899, and was bred there to become a very different bird. In particular,
hen feathering Hen feathering in cocks is the occurrence of a genetically conditioned character in domestic fowl ('' Gallus gallus domesticus''). Males with this condition develop a female-type plumage, although otherwise look and respond as virile males. Hen-f ...
in cocks became standard. Hen-feathered Braekel cocks had been bred by Oscar Thomaes of
Ronse Ronse (; ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper. History Early settlements to 14th century The hills around Ronse show clues of human a ...
, Belgium, in 1904, and a cock hatched from one of his eggs took first place at a show at the
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
in London in that year. Birds were exported from Britain to the United States. A Campines cock took first prizes at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, and in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in January 1913. The Campines was added to the ''
Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official book of breed standards of the American Poultry Association. It classifies and describes the standard physical appearance, coloring and temperament for many breeds of poultry recognized i ...
'' of the
American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respons ...
in 1914. In the teens and early 1920s, the Silver Campine was raised for eggs with some commercial success by U.S. poultry producers such as Homestead Campine Farm of Wayland, MA.


Characteristics

There are two colour varieties of the Campine, Silver and Gold. Both sexes have the same colour pattern: the Silver has a pure white head and neck hackles, the rest of the bird being barred with black with beetle-green sheen, on a pure white ground; the Golden variety has the same pattern, but the head, neck hackles and body ground colour is rich gold rather than white. In its country of origin, the Campine had a reputation as an "every day layer", a reliable producer of large white eggs. Campines are considered to be a flighty, hardy breed with an active and inquisitive nature. They are among the rarest of domestic chicken breeds.


Use

The Campine lays a fair number of white-shelled eggs, but is kept mostly for showing today.


Genetic research

The Golden Campine was used in early research into
auto-sexing Auto-sexing breeds of poultry are those in which the sex of newly-hatched chicks can be determined from the colour and markings of the down (feather), down. Some breeds of chicken, of domestic goose, goose and of domestic pigeon have this char ...
in chickens by
Reginald Crundall Punnett Reginald Crundall Punnett Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (; 20 June 1875 – 3 January 1967) was a British geneticist who co-founded, with William Bateson, the ''Journal of Genetics'' in 1910. Punnett is probably best remembered today a ...
and
Michael Pease Michael Stewart Pease (2 October 1890 – 27 July 1966) was a British classical geneticist at Cambridge University. Michael Pease was the son of Edward R. Pease of the Pease family, a writer and a founding member of the Fabian Society. Michael ...
at the Genetical Institute in Cambridge. The
Cambar The Cambar is the first autosexing breed of chicken intentionally created, and the first autosexing breed of poultry in general. The Cambar was developed by Reginald Punnett Reginald Crundall Punnett FRS (; 20 June 1875 – 3 January 19 ...
, the first auto-sexing
hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...
, created in 1929, was a cross between the Golden Campine and the
Barred Rock The Plymouth Rock is an American breed of domestic chicken. It was first seen in Massachusetts in the nineteenth century and for much of the early twentieth century was the most widely kept chicken breed in the United States. It is a dual-pu ...
. The hen-feathering trait in cocks of the Golden Campine has been found to be identical to that in the
Sebright The Sebright ( IPA: ) is a British breed of bantam chicken. It is a true bantam – a miniature bird with no corresponding large version – and is one of the oldest recorded British bantam breeds. It is named after Sir John Saunders Sebrig ...
, a bantam breed. It has been suggested that it is the same gene, and that the trait in the Campine derives from the Sebright. The Campine is closely related to the Dutch Chaamse Hoen. Although the Campine also has a degree of resemblance to the Egyptian
Fayoumi The Fayoumi or Egyptian Fayoumi also known in Egypt as Bigawi is an Egyptian breed of chicken. It originates fromand is named forthe governorate of Fayoum, which lies south-west of Cairo and west of the Nile. It is believed to be an ancient breed ...
, in plumage and in behavior, no genetic studies have been done linking the two breeds.


References

{{Chicken breeds of Belgium Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy Chicken breeds originating in Belgium Chicken breeds Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist