Khaki Campbell Ducks
Mrs Campbell of Uley, Gloucester created the Khaki Campbell Duck.
She heard of an Indian Runner Fawn&white duck which had laid 182
eggs in 196 days, and purchased this prolific bird to mate with a
Rouen. The result was a breed which could be relied upon to produce
an average of 200 eggs per year. In addition to the Indian Runner
and Rouen, wild duck (mallard) was also used to make the breed more
hardy. The original Campbell drakes had a dark green head, grey
back, pale claret breast, black stern and white ring around the
neck. The drake was more like an Abacot Ranger.
The duck has greyish-brown feathers pencilled with dark brown, and a
plain brown head. These are now known to be 'light phase' Campbells
without brown genes. These early versions were not the colour of the
khaki.
Right:
Photo of our Khaki Campbell drake - Best of Breed at the first BWA
Championship Show at Malvern in 1987
Joseph Pettipher (1923) wrote: "Perhaps it may not be generally
known at the present day that at the outset the original strain was
what might roughly be termed a grey duck. The Khaki colour was an
afterthought, that came in during the course of perfecting and
fixing the breed . . . It was in 1901 that they were first announced
as a breed. In that year, when corresponding with me about them, she
wrote 'What shall I call them?'. I replied 'Campbells', and as such
I first gave them that name in the press. The prefix came
afterwards, when the khaki colour came in."
Mrs Campbell never wanted the Khaki Campbell to become an exhibition
bird. It was bred as a utility duck. However, the fame of the breed
and its egg-laying capacity spread and, since some people wished to
exhibit them, she drew up this standard.
Drake: Head, neck, stern and wing bar: bronze, brown shade preferred
to green bronze. Rest of body: an even shade of warm khaki. Legs and
feet: dark orange. Bill: green, the darker the better.
Duck: Khaki colour all over, ground as even as possible. Back &
wings: laced with an even shade of khaki. lighter feathers on the
wing bar allowable. Bill: greenish black. Legs and feet: as near
body colour as possible. Head: plain khaki, streak from the eye
considered a fault.
Campbells are remarkable ducks. They are alert, sprightly birds
which in some strains produce over 300 eggs per year. Their white
eggs weigh about 2.5 ounces. They are hardy foragers, always busily
looking for slugs, snails and worms. They love water - but manage to
stay in good condition even when water is only in buckets and bowls.
However, like all ducks, their feathers do stay in best waterproof
condition when they have bathing water.
Other Campbells
The Khakis are not the only Campbell, but they are more popular than
the White and the Dark. The White was derived as a 'sport' from the
Khaki. White is masking colour and hides colours in a bird's
genotype. True White Campbells will also have khaki colour genes.
The Dark was created by H.R.S. Humphreys in the 1940s. The colour is
sex-linked and the dark can be used with khakis to produce
sex-linked colour in the ducklings - a very easy way to determine
the sex at hatch.
Blue Campbells (with a single blue gene added to the Dark Campbell )
are a non-standard colour, but are very attractive. From these we
also developed the 'Apricot' with two blue genes in this dusky
sequence.
