Abstract

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in interest in small-scale waterfowl breeding in Slovakia. Breeders can choose from both well-known and rare breeds, which are highly diverse. One such breed, although less common in our region, is the Khaki Campbell, which originated in the early 20th century in England. German breeders later improved this breed by incorporating the Orpington duck, resulting in two distinct types - the original English Khaki Campbell and the newer German Khaki Campbell. The aim of this study was to increase the population of unrelated individuals of the German Khaki Campbell breed by using English-type Khaki Campbell drakes. This method of crossbreeding is referred to as regenerative breeding. For the khaki coloration, only specific genes are required. The color is produced by the combination of the recessive Mallard gene and the recessive chocolate dilution gene, which together create the typical khaki shade. These genes are linked to the Z sex chromosome, meaning that drakes have two (ZZ) and hens have only one (ZW). During the regenerative breeding process, we developed new insights into the dominant and recessive genes responsible for khaki coloration in both types. We confirmed that the yellow gene from the Orpington duck lightens the wild feather pattern. The findings obtained in this study may be useful for future breeding and propagation efforts.

Keywords

duck breeding, regenerative breeding, Khaki Campbell