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Khaki Campbell ducks can fly! (really well!)

We've had Khaki Campbell ducks for 2 years now. They are well known as excellent egg layers, but I'm often asked if Khaki Campbell ducks can fly. They can. I was actually told once that I was wrong and that they can not fly. (hmmmm) 

Now I've dodged flying ducks enough to know what's happening above my head, but I understand where some confusion may come in. After all, many people are familiar with the Pekin duck. If you're not...it's that big, fat, white "Donald duck" looking guy. Except they usually don't wear hats and shirts, but I digress. 

Khaki campbell ducks can fly

Khaki campbells are lighter than you think


Those ducks are a cross breed created for a large sized meat bird. Meat birds seldom get off the ground! They just have too much weight to them. They cannot fly. Just because those ducks cannot fly however, does not mean that other ducks cannot fly. Khaki Campbell ducks are less like a Pekin and more like a Mallard.

In fact, khakis are technically part mallard (going way back) so it makes sense that they would be a lighter more compact duck. Khaki's however, are a much lighter multipurpose breed and while they can be used for meat, they do make for a smaller dinner then the Pekin. They only get to be about 3-5 lbs full grown as opposed to the 9-10 lb meat duck. 

The Khaki Campbell breed


The Khaki Campbell breed was developed in England at the turn of the 20th century. They are a cross breed between Rouen, Mallard and Runner ducks though the exact breeding was never revealed. 

On average, the hens lay 300 eggs per year. Khaki Campbells can lay at this rate for around 5 years. Their eggs are equivalent to a large chicken's egg and are white but seem sort of opaque. They are smoother than a chicken egg (more like marble) without the slightly rough texture.

duck eggs compared to chicken eggs

Khaki Campbell ducks are pretty much all brown, from their feet to their heads. The female has slight color variations in her body feathers and the males head is markedly darker then his body. They're definitely not the fanciest duck breed to own! They do make up for it in their friendly disposition though. This is one of the reasons I decided to raise them. Their just such sweethearts and make excellent pets!


I keep my ducks in a run with a pond and their coop. Unfortunately the run does not have a roof on it and they like to fly out of it every morning and visit all the chickens before returning to their run and begging me to let them back in. Why they don't just fly back in, I'll never know! 

We originally built this coop and run for the geese. I had heavy geese that couldn't fly so a roof was not an issue at the time. Since deciding to sell the geese, we've moved the ducks over to this run because the pond was twice as deep as theirs!

Can Khaki Campbell ducks fly?

Since my trio of Khaki's is so darn predictable, I decided to post a little clip on our YouTube channel to show that yes, they do fly. In fact, they fly quite well. Here they are during their morning flight. Please excuse the camera shake...obviously I'm not real good at this video thing!

Khaki Campbell ducks flying




If you're thinking of raising some ducks this year, I talk you through their setup in Ducklings! Everything your need to raise them! Ducklings are about the cutest things ever, so you really should get some! 

~L

If you're looking to buy Khaki Campbell ducks, Metzer farms sells and ships them!

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15 comments:

  1. Awesome!!! I absolutely LOVE our Khaki Campbell's!!! Thanks for showing the " know- it-all's" they don't, in fact, know EVERYTHING! :)

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    1. Khakis are great ducks, aren't they? I know some people have ducks that don't fly, but it was driving me nuts when people would tell me that my ducks can't fly! lol

      ~L

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    2. I agree with you our Campbells are quite strong flyers and I love to watch them the 'experts' sometimes don't know everything.I enjoyed your video and nice to know that our Cumbrian birds in NW England have happy healthy relatives on the other side of the Atlantic.

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  2. Will they migrate? I have 3 mallards and one Khaki.

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  3. Trying to get khakis but don't want to order 16 of them, I only need 4 - 6..

    Can't find any locally.. ideas?

    Itsbob@hotmail.com

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    1. Hmmm, not sure. Have you tried Holderead waterfowl? I think they do small orders.

      Where are you located?

      ~L

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  4. I have 10 pekins that are 3 ½ weeks old. Do Khaki's babies get along with pekins? I would like to add about 10 khakis in the early spring.

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    1. I had a pekin with my khaki campbells and they did just fine. They're going to be a lot smaller as babies though, so watch out for the size difference.


      Lisa

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    2. Our Campbell sometimes has to push around our two pekins to get to the food container but they get along great as ducklings the Campbell would sleep in between the two “big yellows” is what we call our pekins she also is best friends with our rouen they cause trouble in the coop together

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    3. Awww, that sounds super cute! I had a pekin with our campbells at one point and they got along really well. Good luck with your trouble makers!


      Lisa

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    4. They get along great. I have 8 of each. But for some reason they do for the most part keep in their on breed groups except when I put feed out.

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  5. I have a few questions. Many forms say to never have one duck because they get lonely. What if it has a little dog as a friend? Would that be enough for companionship? We are also very active and outdoorsy. Since they can fly would the duck be curious to fly away or do they stay attached to there home and family?

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    1. I recommend keeping a few ducks at a time since they do seem to get lonely. When I got my first duck, he was a single and I kept him with my chickens but he would often stand there and quack at them sadly like he knew he wasn't the same. I got more ducks and he was much happier! My khaki campbells have never tried to fly away, but I've heard from people who raised mallards that some of them do fly away...so maybe it depends on breed?

      Hope that helps!
      Lisa

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  6. My khaki Campbell's swim in my kiddy pool then try to fly as high as they can and go off the ground about a foot and it worried me because they are only in a fence.

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