Khaki Campbell Duck

A British domestic duck breed developed at Uley in Gloucestershire, England, at the turn of the twentieth century, introduced to the public in 1898 with the khaki-colored variety following in 1901. Mrs Adele Campbell created the breed by crossing Mallard, Rouen and Indian Runner ducks, starting from an exceptionally productive Indian Runner said to have laid 182 eggs in 196 days, and she named the khaki-colored form after British army uniforms it reminded her of; the breed was formally recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain in 1924 and admitted to the American Standard of Perfection in 1941. Khaki Campbells carry chocolate brown feathering in an upright stature, though dark and white varieties also exist, males weighing 2.3 to 2.5 kilograms and females 2.0 to 2.3 kilograms, and lay white eggs. Hens are highly prolific layers, averaging 250 to 340 eggs a year and sometimes outproducing chickens, reach maturity around seven months, and have had most brooding instinct bred out of them, making the breed a producer of eggs rather than a sitter of them.