Khaki Campbells are neat, upright, khaki-feathered ducks bred to lay, and lay they do, outproducing most farmyard birds when their basics are right. Daily care revolves around three duck non-negotiables: water they can wash their heads in, a secure house every single night, and an egg hunt, because a Campbell's output does not pause just because nobody collected yesterday's eggs.
Water first, and deeper than you think
A duck drinks and cleans itself with the same motion, dunking its whole head to clear its nostrils and wash its eyes. Drinking water must be deep enough for that full dip, set where spilled water drains away rather than building a swamp, and refreshed whenever it turns soupy, which in an enthusiastic flock means at least daily and often more. A shallow chicken drinker alone is not duck care; a bird that cannot rinse its head develops sticky eyes and blocked nostrils in short order.
Bathing water, where you provide a small pool or tub, is a bonus rather than a substitute, and it will be fouled with impressive speed. Tip it out, scrub the slime, and refill, rather than topping up green water. In freezing weather, break ice early and check again later, since ducks need open water through the day, not just at morning rounds.
Feeding layers and collecting the evidence
Feed a ration suited to laying ducks, available through the day alongside whatever the flock forages, and watch the feed station for politics: Campbells are active, busy birds, and a duck repeatedly displaced from the feeder will lose condition while the flock looks well fed. Provide a calcium source such as crushed shell in its own dish where laying birds are kept, so each duck can take what she needs, and keep grit available where ground is soft or birds are confined.
Collect eggs every morning, and again later if the flock's laying pattern runs that way. Check the house corners, bedding hollows, and any favourite outdoor hideaway, because Campbells lay where they please and a discovered nest of a dozen eggs is a dozen eggs wasted. Record a sudden drop in lay alongside appetite and behaviour; in a prolific breed, production is one of the clearest daily health gauges you have.
Dry bedding, sound feet, safe nights
Ducks make bedding wet simply by existing near water, so fork out the soaked patches in the house daily and add dry material where they sleep, keeping the floor as dry as a duck house honestly allows. Check feet as the flock comes in: a duck lagging, limping, or reluctant to cross rough ground needs its foot soles inspected for sores or cuts that day, and its route to water made smoother and drier while it heals.
Night security is absolute. Campbells must be shut into a predator-proof house every evening without exception, with ventilation high up and no gaps a determined night hunter could work at. Count them in rather than assuming, because the duck missing at lock-up is usually the one already in trouble. Mornings, let them out to a run or range checked for new gaps in fencing and standing water where it does not belong.
Duck problems that should not wait
Seek veterinary help for a duck that stops eating, cannot bear weight, breathes with its bill open at rest, shows swollen or sealed eyes, or is found weak and separated from the flock. Bring a sick duck into a dry, quiet box with head-deep water within reach, and note when laying and appetite changed.
Egg counts, water changes, and lock-up are small jobs that fail by assumption, which is why KinsLe Care Teams let you assign each one to a named helper and see it timestamped when it is truly done.