What color eggs do Campines lay?

**White** eggs of medium size. Campines are a Continental laying breed, historically valued in Belgium as a steady everyday layer of white eggs.

Are Campines good for showing?

Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's **Continental** class in two varieties, Golden and Silver, both recognized since 1914. Judges want a clean solid head and neck hackle over crisp, green-sheened body barring — and, uniquely, hen-feathered males are the correct type rather than a fault.

How hard are Campines to hatch?

The eggs themselves hatch like any chicken egg — **99.5°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch**. The catch is that Campine hens rarely go broody, so you'll usually need an incubator or a foster broody hen to hatch them.

Why do Campine roosters look like hens?

Campine males are **hen-feathered**: they lack the long pointed hackles, saddle feathers, and sickle tail of a typical rooster and instead carry rounded, hen-shaped plumage. It's a genetic trait, reportedly the same one found in Sebright bantams, and it's the standard, correct feathering for the breed.

Yes. The Livestock Conservancy lists the Campine as **Threatened**, so it's kept mostly by conservation-minded breeders and exhibitors rather than commercial flocks.

Rarely. They're an active, flighty breed that seldom sits and makes a poor natural mother, so plan on an incubator or another broody breed if you want to hatch their eggs.

Campine: The Barred Belgian Layer with Hen-Feathered Cocks

Verified September 2026White eggs

The short version

The Campine is a rare, active Belgian breed that lays white eggs and comes in two APA varieties, Golden and Silver (both accepted in 1914). Each bird has a solid, clean-colored head and neck hackle over a barred body — black bars with a beetle-green sheen on a white ground in the Silver, on a rich gold ground in the Golden. Its most unusual trait is hen-feathering in the males: cocks carry rounded, hen-shaped plumage instead of long pointed hackles, saddle feathers, and sickles. The Livestock Conservancy lists it as Threatened, so most keepers work it as a conservation and exhibition breed rather than a production layer.

APA class: Continental

Egg color: White

Broodiness: Rarely broody

Varieties: 2

Egg-color genetics

Campines lay a clean white shell — no blue or brown pigment is deposited, so the egg is white through the whole thickness of the shell. They are a Continental laying breed built for eggs relative to body size, producing medium white eggs that look large for such a light bird.

Golden vs Silver Campine

The two varieties are patterned identically and differ only in ground color. The Silver Campine has a pure white head and neck hackle, with the rest of the body barred in black — carrying a beetle-green sheen — over a white ground. The Golden Campine repeats that exact pattern, but the head, hackle, and body ground are a rich gold instead of white.

Because the barring and the solid head are the breed's defining look in both, breeders judge them on the same standard of type and pattern; the choice between Golden and Silver is largely aesthetic.

Why Campine cocks look like hens

Hen-feathering means the male does not grow the long, pointed, flowing feathers that define an ordinary rooster's neck, saddle, and tail. In the Campine this is the correct, standard male plumage. The trait has been described as the same hen-feathering seen in the Sebright bantam, and British enthusiasts favored it precisely because it let a single breeding pen throw good males and good females together, avoiding the double-mating that plagued some other laced and penciled breeds.

Breeding notes

The signature genetic feature is hen-feathering in the males: a standard Campine cock lacks the long pointed neck hackles, flowing saddle feathers, and sickle tail feathers of an ordinary rooster, and is instead feathered much like a hen. British breeders adopted hen-feathered males deliberately, because a single line could then produce both showable males and females without double-mating (keeping separate cock-breeding and hen-breeding pens).
Select for the barred body pattern with a clean, solid head: the ideal is a pure white (Silver) or rich gold (Golden) head and neck hackle running into an evenly barred body — black bars with a green sheen on a matching ground. Uneven, blurred, or absent barring and mossy ground color are the faults to breed away from.
Both varieties share the same pattern, so Golden and Silver differ only in ground color; keep the two in separate pens if you want predictable variety color, since the cross does not breed true to either.
Because it is a flighty, non-sitting Continental breed, expect to hatch Campine eggs under a broody of another breed or in an incubator — the hens rarely go broody and are poor natural mothers.
This is a threatened breed with a small gene pool, so breeders should prioritize vigor, fertility, and maintaining unrelated bloodlines alongside color and pattern.

Showing notes

Campines are exhibited in the APA's Continental class, entered by variety (e.g. 'Silver Campine, large fowl'). Both Golden and Silver have been recognized since 1914.
Judges look for the clean solid head and neck hackle carried into a crisp, even body barring with beetle-green sheen, plus white earlobes, a single comb, and dark, slate-blue legs. Hen-feathered males are correct for the breed, not a fault, so a cock with long pointed hackles and sickles is off-type.
Condition matters: as a close-feathered, active bird, a Campine shows best when tight-feathered and clean, with sharp barring and no smut or brassiness in the white of the Silver.

Hatching & incubation

No breed-specific incubation requirements — treat Campine eggs like any chicken egg: about 99.5°F forced-air, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch.
The practical hatching challenge is upstream: hens rarely brood, so plan to collect and set eggs under an incubator or a foster broody rather than relying on the Campine hen to sit.

Recognized varieties

GoldenSilver

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Campines lay?: White eggs of medium size. Campines are a Continental laying breed, historically valued in Belgium as a steady everyday layer of white eggs.
Are Campines good for showing?: Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's Continental class in two varieties, Golden and Silver, both recognized since 1914. Judges want a clean solid head and neck hackle over crisp, green-sheened body barring — and, uniquely, hen-feathered males are the correct type rather than a fault.
How hard are Campines to hatch?: The eggs themselves hatch like any chicken egg — 99.5°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch. The catch is that Campine hens rarely go broody, so you'll usually need an incubator or a foster broody hen to hatch them.
Why do Campine roosters look like hens?: Campine males are hen-feathered: they lack the long pointed hackles, saddle feathers, and sickle tail of a typical rooster and instead carry rounded, hen-shaped plumage. It's a genetic trait, reportedly the same one found in Sebright bantams, and it's the standard, correct feathering for the breed.
Are Campines rare?: Yes. The Livestock Conservancy lists the Campine as Threatened, so it's kept mostly by conservation-minded breeders and exhibitors rather than commercial flocks.
Are Campines broody?: Rarely. They're an active, flighty breed that seldom sits and makes a poor natural mother, so plan on an incubator or another broody breed if you want to hatch their eggs.

Sources

Campine Chicken (breed profile, status & history) — The Livestock Conservancy (Reference)
Campine chicken (history, varieties & hen-feathering) — Wikipedia (Reference)
Campine Chickens (breed characteristics) — Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Animal & Food Sciences (University extension)

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