Chickens and other poultry members come in all sizes, shapes, colors and personalities. Nearly 400 recognized breeds and varieties of poultry exist, including large fowl and bantam chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea fowl. Using our illustration and a few selected hints, can you guess which mystery breed we have depicted here?
Find out the answer below.
Hints
- With origins dating back to the time of Julius Caesar, this petite bird is a very old and rare chicken breed.
- Close-fitting feathers cause this chicken breed to appear even smaller than it is.
- The rooster possesses a form of “hen feathering,” in which he doesn’t develop long sickle feathers in the tail, hackle and saddle feathers.
- The APA recognizes two colors: Golden and Silver, and despite its name, it probably doesn’t like to go “camping.”
Mystery Breed Answer
The breed depicted above is the energetic Campine, a dependable layer of medium-sized white eggs. Both varieties are solid-colored on the head and neck and display black barring on the body and tail.
The chicken breed’s single comb and medium-sized wattles are bright red. Its bright-white earlobes sit close to the head. Shanks are leaden blue.
Standard Campine cocks weigh 6 pounds and hens weigh 4 pounds. Bantam Campine cocks weigh 26 ounces and hens weigh 22 ounces. The breed is listed in the Critical category of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List. Learn more at Hobbyfarms.com/campine-2. To purchase Golden Campines, visit Murray McMurray Hatchery online.
This mystery chicken breed feature originally appeared in the July/August 2023 issue of Chickens magazine.
