Campine History

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Campine History

Campine or Braekel?
contributed by courtesy of W.Valentine & K.Thompson. Australia

A brief article such as this cannot pretend to cover all aspects of the origin and history of the two breeds. Comments and observations are most welcome.

While researching a recent article on Campines we became increasingly confused about whether the English Campine was derived from the Belgian Braekel. The answer is most certainly both.

The dual ancestry of the English Campine probably explains why the patient but frustrated breeder of today can, from the same parent stock, obtain birds with ground colour only in the back and saddle, sharp saddle hackles, long tail sickles and broad or irregular barring. Most of these charactaristics were typical of both the original Belgian Braekel and Belgian Campine.

There were some important differences between the two breeds. The original Campine was smaller bodied, while the Braekel was larger and squarer. Both had unbarred saddles and capes of the ground colour with pointed hackles and tails with full sickles. The barring of the Braekel was coarser and broader.

According to renowned poultry writer Edward Brown, it was simply a quirk of fate that made his Belgian host take him to visit breeders of Campines and not Braekels. It was the published record of that visit in 1897 which led to the widespread introduction of Campines into Britain, although Rick Kemp's "Exhibition Poultry" refers to importations by Hugeunot refugees centuries before. In his "Poultry Breeding & Production" of 1929, Brown noted that while a large number of birds were brought over to England after 1897, presumably as Campines, the majority of these were in fact Braekels. A breed club was formed in 1899 which drew up a standard for exhibition males and females.

While the English unknowingly inported both breeds as Campines, they modified them to produce their version of the Campine, retaining size from the Braekel but favouring a close and compact shape. They modified the saddle in the male, changing the pointed hackles to barred hen feathering, and the saddle colour from all white or gold to beetle green barring three times as wide as the ground colour. The tail of the male was also changed to be similarly barred and feathered. ie, with long sickles.

The similarity between the Belgian Campine and Braekel is illustrated in a letter to Brown written by the Secretary of the Braekel Club of Belgium who wrote:
"At international exhibitions our exhibitors, who had never thought of selection of the Campine, presented fowls under this name, and obtained the prize of honour. They were simply late hatched Braekels, with charactaristics of the so-called Campine. At the international exhibition in Brussels in 1921, M.Pomlet of Renaix entered a Silver Campine cockerel bred from his Braekels and was awarded the prize of honour for this bird. The following year at a similar show organised by the same society, M.Pomlet, finding that his Campine cockerel of the previous year had developed well, exhibited it as a Breakel cock, and this bird thus combining both breeds carried off the prize of honour awarded by the same judge"

It is interesting to read that Edward Brown saw both rose and single combed fowls of Campone chartacter in his visits to Belguim in th elast fifteen years of the nineteeth century, He claims that, from the evidence available, both Campines and Braekels were descended from the same stock. The Braekel originated from the wooded parts of Belguim whearas the Campine came from the dry sandy plains of Antwerp where the amount of avialable natural food was limited, hence its smaller size. Brown says that unfortunately fanciers in Britain made changes "to the colouration of the plumage" and to the size of the body and in many cases Braekels were purchased and disseminated as Campines whilst the Pencilled Hamburg was introduced. As a fact the English Campine is more like a Braekel than the original, although thre layting quality has been fully maintained. Belgian breeders have resented these changes. Concentration upon merely fancy points has hindered that wider adoption which was anticipated" Brown added.

There is little doubt that Brown did not approve the changes made by the English breeders. The illustation in his book of 1929 is of an English hen-feathered Campine but his text describes the Belgian Campine.

The "American Standard of Perfection" asserts that the English or standard Campine which they breed is a composite of the two breeds, noting "that the two Belgian breeds are practically the same in all points except the size, the Braekel being the larger fowl."

The "Australian Poultry Standards" follows the "British Poultry Standards" in its description of the Campine.

The "British Poultry Standards" also states that the Campine and Braekel had the same ancestry and makes the interesting comment "that the stock which came to England in the nineteenth century did not have the same full tails as the Braekel and so were inporoved along those lines."

While the Braekel is not included in the fourth edition of thre BPS, it appears in the 5th edition, noting that " the main difference from the (English) Campine (which is hen-feathered in the male) is that the male Braekel has full flowing saddle hackles (of the ground colour)and large well-curved sickles, also a larger, deeper body with much coarser and broaded barring. The Brakel was first imported into Britain in 1898." In this edition the spelling has changed to Brakel.

The similarities of the two breeds and changes made by the English breeders perhaps explains why the charactaristics of tghe original Campine and Braekel - pointed saddle hacks, white or gold only in the back saddle. long tail sickles and thicker ground colour in the barring - kept recurring in the breeding programs to this day.

Fortunately none of this confusion deters the small and determined group of breeders who have taken up the challenge of preserving this fascinating breed.

above: A modern day 2001 model Campine cockerel from Australia

Very Rare Campine History Pics

above: "Toutes Les Poules"
These idealised representatives of the Campine (rear) and the Braekel (front) are taken from the classic French Text "Toutes Les Poules" published in 1924. This illustration expoldes the myth that the Campine were a smaller bird, and highlights the fact that the hen-feathering wasn't present in European stock

above: Silver Campine from Wright's "New Book of Poultry" 1902.The author commenting on the similarity of the hen's plumage to the Pencilled Hamburg

pic above: One little known fact is that the Campines in Belguim were bred with single or rose combs. From "Races De Poules" by V.LaPerre De Roo.1862.

Edward Brown's Braekel hen, above, and his cock bird, below.

The coloured painting (above) is a copy, supposedly done in 1939. I picked it up at a garage sale a few years ago.

and

(below)This little hand drawing by Marinette Meijer was sent to me all the way from The Netherlands by Hans L. Schippers.
Thanks to Marinette and Hans.

Both are now hanging on my office wall and framed.

THE CAMPINE - AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS

MALE CHARACTERISTICS

CARRIAGE: - Alert and graceful

TYPE
Body broad, close and compact
Back rather long, narrowing to the tail.
Breast full and round
Wings large and neatly tucked
Tail carried fairly high and well spread
Campine males aree hen feathered, without sickles or pointed neck and saddle hackles.
The two top tail feathers slghtly curved.

HEAD
Moderately long, deep and inclined to width.
Beak rather short
Eyes prominent.
Comb single, upright, of mdium size, evenly serrated, the back well carried out and clear of the neck; free from excrescenses.
Face smooth
Ear-lobes inclined to almond shape, medium size, free from wrinkles.
Wattles fine and long.

NECK
Moderately long and well covered with hackle feathers. The formation of the neck feathers in the Campine is called the cape.

LEGS & FEET
Legs moderatley long
Shanks and feet free from feathers
Toes four, slender and well spread

FEMALE CHARACTERISTICS

With the exception of the single comb which falls gracefully over one side of the face, the general characteristics are similar to those of the male, allowing for the natural sexual differences.

COLOURS:

The Gold Campine

GOLD Male and Female Plumage:

Head and neck hackle: rich gold, not a washed out yellow. Remainder beetle green barring on rich gold ground colour. Every feather must be barred in a transverse direction with the end (or tip) of the feather, gold.

The bars to be clear with well defined edges, running across the feather. so as to form, as near as possible, rings around the body. Barring to be three times as wide as ground colour.
On the breast and underparts of the body should be straight or slightly curved; on the back, shoulders saddle and tail they may be of a V-shaped pattern, but preferably straight

The Silver Campine

SILVER Male and Female Plumage:

Head and neck hackle: pure white. Remainder beetle green barring on pure white ground colour. The markings being identical to those of the Gold.

In Both Sexes and Both Varieties:

Beak ivory horn. Eyes dark brown with black pupil. Comb face and wattles bright red.
Ear-lobes white. Legs and feet leaden blue. Toenails ivory horn.

SERIOUS DEFECTS

Sickle feathers or pointed hackles on the males. Bars and ground colour of equal width. Ground colour pencilled. Comb at the back too near to the neck Side sprigs or spikes on comb.
Legs other than leaden blue. White in face. Red eyes. Feather or down on shanks. Dark pigmentation in combs of females. White toe-nails. Slate blue beak. Black around the eye.

Note: the ideal is a bird clearly, distinctly and evenly barred all over with the sole exception of the neck hackle.
Taking the five main points of the bird -viz. Neck hackle, top (including back shoulders and saddle) tail, wings. and breast - each is of much importance as another.

Judges are requested to bear in mind that a speciman excelling in one or two particulars, but defective in others should stand no chance against one of the fair average merit throughout.

Special attention should be paid to size, type and fullness of the front in breeding and judging Campines.

Weights:
Male 2.50 - 2.95 kg
Female 2.00 - 2.50 kg

The Silver Campine - Why Rare in Australia?
By Bruce Pattinson

The Campine (pronounced Kampeen) is an outstanding and useful breed of fowl and it is difficult to understand why it has declined in popularity since the turn of the century. It is the purpose of this article to outline the general history and qualities of this breed to illustrate its potential, both to the backyard breeder and the poultry industry in Australia.

They are an ancient breed; the people of the Campine district say that when Julius Caesar left their country he took a number of these fowls back to Rome. Here epicures called them food for the Gods.

Campines are a light breed of fowl originating in Belgium and can have either silver or gold barring with the same coloured (but pattern-free) hackle. They are a friendly and attractive breed and have proven themselves in my yard to be excellent foragers. They are also fast maturing and feather up quickly. Early in the century the breed appears to have been quite common in Australia as an egg producer and the British Poultry Standards (1982) states it was famous for producing the finest winter milk chickens. Fred Hams, in Old Poultry Breeds (1994) writes that it fell from favour due to the small size of its eggs preventing it from being taken up by commercial producers.

I find the eggs to be a good size (around 60 grams) for a light breed and the birds are relatively prolific. Hadlington, in Poultry Farming in NSW (1923), includes the Campine in his list of light breeds suitable for farming, with weights set at 5lb. for cockerels and 4lb. for pullets. Even in 1930 we can find in the Poultry newspaper of September 9 ads for Campines which commend their size, type, vigour and egg production. Also mentioned is the famous Holmfield strain, but at this time I have been unable to trace this further.

Unfortunately, by 1943, Hadlington in his Australian Poultry Book had relegated the breed to his list of show birds only. It would be safe to assume its decline to the preference for the Leghorn at this time or the beginning of the surge of hybrids by commercial growers. The early popularity of the breed may have been related to the work at Cambridge University with autosexing when a gold bird was crossed with a Barred Plymouth Rock to produce the Cambar. There is no indication that this cross ever became popular in Australia but the Legbar is still bred. Even so Les Hill in Australian Bird Lover October 1958, states, The Campine is primarily a prolific layer all the year round and, as a table bird it is excellent in quality and the ratio of flesh is higher than in any other breed.

There seems to be no record of when the Campine first came to Australia but it is fortunate that fanciers kept the bird for the showbench. Unfortunately, to breed for show, the barring rather than the utility qualities are more important. This has led to a decline in the vigour of many of the birds I have seen. Luckily many birds, useless on the showbench, have the qualities that the backyarder wants. They do not go broody, look brilliant and produce well.

Not many Campines are seen on the showbench even now and they would certainly make a worthwhile project for anyone with an interest in rare breeds. I have found them to have good fertility and hatchability. Some problems however occur with the fast growth rate and feathering which can lead to feather picking. I have tried to solve this by using a high protein feed and supplying clumps of grass for them to pick at with some success. They do better in a pen on their own. Another feature of interest is that you can mate a gold and silver and get equal hatchings of both.

The overall qualities and special characteristics of the Campine should ensure its survival. I believe the breed has enough unique qualities to make it genetically significant to anyone with an interest in poultry. It is a rare breed but not because it is an uneconomical bird bur rather as a result of the whims of the post WW11 poultry industry.

Reprinted from ARMBA NEWS, Vol. 5. No. 5, Dec/Jan 1996/7
1997 Rare Breed of the Year

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More Campine History will be added when I find time to upgrade the site