Type and Color oi the Present Day Campine 



The Campine Bred for Geuturies in Belgium — Some Facts Gathered by the Writer While Visiting European 

 Countries in 1911 — The Introduction of CampiuFS Into Kugland and Subsequent Development — Type 

 and Color as Found in Best American SpecimeuSi With Some Suggestions for Improve- 

 ment — Authorities Differ on Color, Making it Imperative That a Color Pattern 

 be Established at Once, if the Breed is to Progress — The Writer 

 Believes White Tips on Feathers Should be 

 Regarded as Defects of Color 



By A. O. SohillinA 



THE story of how the present day English-type Cam- 

 pine came into existence is generally known to 

 breeders on both sides of the Atlantic, but a few 

 remarks upon this subject may not be amiss and will 

 help the reader to a fuller and better 'understanding of 

 the object of this article. 



It is claimed that the old original Campine has ex- 

 isted on the European continent for hundreds of years 

 and was bred by the Belgian peasantry up to the present 

 time as the common barnyard fowl and egg producer. 

 They were referred to by early authorities and writers 

 such as Aldrovandus, during the per- 

 iod A. D. 1600. It is also claimed they 

 existed at the time of Julius Caesar's 

 visit to Belgium; but the facts re- 

 main that the breed is native in Bel- 

 gium and takes its name from the 

 sandy plains or district known as 

 La Campine. 



La Campine is a dry, sandy coun- 

 try, and on this soil the breed did 

 not thrive so well and grow so large 

 as the fowls reared on the more moist 

 and loamy soil of the district of 

 Flanders, resulting in the develop- 

 ment of two distinct types of the 

 same breed of fowls, one known as 

 the Campine and the other known as 

 the Braekel. Both varieties are clad 

 in identically the same style and 

 color of plumage, the only difference 

 being that the Braekel is larger and 

 heavier than the Campine and varies 

 in type much as do Leghorns and 

 Minorcas. 



During the summer of 1911, it was 

 my privilege to study the Campine 

 in England and Belgium and I vis- 

 ited some of the best breeders in 

 both countries. In Belgium I vis- 

 ited the poultry yards of many farm- 

 ers, and generally found specimens 

 of inferior quality and color, much 

 resembling the duck-wing female 



color over back and saddle while the breast had some 

 traces of dfstinct black and white markings. The neck 

 was always silvery white, but as stated above, the back 

 and wings were far from approaching the present-day 

 color of the improved English-type Campines. The Bel- 

 gian-type male possesses a flowing hackle and saddle 

 of silvery white, while the wing bay is also of the same 

 color. In breast these males did not show a tendency 

 to distinct, straight transverse barring, but in type the 

 markings were rather inclined to be crescentic in shape. 



It was admitted by several Belgian breeders that 

 specimens of the so-called hen-feathered type male, often 

 appeared among the season's youngsters, but such sports 

 were always discarded as it was believed they lacked 



vitality. Thus it remained for the Englishman to con- 

 ceive the idea of creating a new style of dress for the 

 Campine which seems now so popular with all Cam- 

 pine breeders. 



It was in the year 1904 when Mr. J. Wilson, Penrith, 

 England, imported a setting of Campine eggs from 

 Oscar Thomaes, Renaix, Belgium, and among the chicks 

 hatched appeared the first hen feathered Campine male 

 seen in England. The bird was shown that season and 

 seemed to attract much attention and favorable com- 

 ment. Many other English breeders secured eggs from 



The above illustration represents a 

 Silver Campine cockerel exhibited at 

 Kansas City and Chicago shows, De- 

 cember, 1910, by Madame A. P. Van 

 Schelle, of Belgium. This specimen is 

 of the English color type and was the 



best individual we had seen up to that time. Silver Campines of this style 

 of color "were originated by the English in 1904-05, so that he represents five 

 years of breeding along these lines. The feathers accompanying the picture 

 were taken from different sections of his back and saddle and it will be 

 seen they were very clean and distinct even at that time. The neck was 

 very white and free from ticking. His weakest points were breast and wing 

 flights, neither had he the beautiful sickles and barring in tail "which the best 

 specimens of today possess. We are not in a position to say whether Madame 

 Van Schelle produced him in Belgium or whether he came from some English 

 breeder, but we are inclined to believe he was of pure Belgium origin, as 

 her entire exhibit was intended to represent the products of the Belgian 

 poultry industry. The beauty of this cockerel's silvery white hackle seems 

 to illustrate our argument and bears out the statement that more consider- 

 ation should be paid to neck color than the breast. Why not direct our 

 effort to perfecting those sections which are directly visible to the eye at a 

 glance? This would include neck, back, wings, saddle and last and most 

 important of all, a beautiful well furnished tail properly barred with white. 

 The breast will naturally be improved in time by careful breeding, but to sac- 

 rifice a beautiful silvery white hackle for the sake of adding more color to 

 upper breast and front of neck does not seem exactly good judgment. — A. O. 

 Schilling. 



this mating and from that time on the future of the 

 Campine in England was decided and the improved ideal 

 conceived and created. 



The old Belgian Silver-top males were discarded by 

 the English as breeders and gradually by selective mat- 

 ing the breed has developed rapidly toward perfection in 

 color type of plumage. We refer the reader to the illus- 

 trations shown on page 64 of four of the finest colored 

 males produced to date. Three of these were shown 

 in 1913-14, while No. 2 is a picture of a cockerel I photo- 

 graphed on my visit to the yards of Rev. E. Lewis Jones 

 of England, in 1911. At that time this specimen was 

 the very choicest I had ever seen and as the Rev. Jones 

 informed me, the best he had produced up to the time- 



