Chicken Campine - History, varieties and characteristics
The Campine chicken was originally found in La Campine, a region that lies partly in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The 16th-century Italian naturalist Aldrovandus mentions that the ancestor of these two breeds descended from Turkish birds.
In 1885, Campine chickens became popular when they were imported to England.
In 1893, Campine chickens were first imported to North America by Arthur D. Murphy of Maine.
The breed was not popular and was removed from the American Poultry Association standard in 1898.
A breeder from New Jersey again imported the breed from English breeders in 1907.
Once again, Campine chickens proved unpopular because they were not "robust enough."
A farm in Wayland, Massachusetts specialized in Campines and managed to improve their hardiness, but other breeds had already become preferred as egg layers.
The breed began as a backyard bird, but went on to play an important commercial role as the Belgians developed and perfected what was the precursor to today's commercial production system.
The first part of this role was to provide rapid feathering and growth in a cross with the Malines chicken to produce meat.
The second role was as a self-sexing breed for egg production.
There are two varieties of Campine:
The silver and the golden, and they were recognized in the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 1914.