Dominique or Barred Rock?

[Kuritsa y Utochka]

Hi all,

I purchased six chickens about two months ago (sadly, only five are left). One of the hens, Penelope, is unique because of her rose comb (the others have single combs). She is the second smallest one, but the smallest one is only about 6 months old and is not fully grown, making Penelope the smallest adult hen. She is much smaller than the others and lays eggs that are quite a bit smaller than those of the other hens (even the young one's). I recently discovered the Dominique breed, and she seems like she might be a Dominique instead of a Barred Rock. I've attached a few pictures below. The hen that Penelope is sitting next to is Vicky, who was included in the pictures for size and crown comparison.

Do you think Penelope could be a Dominique and not a Barred Rock? Thanks in advance.

 

[nuthatched]

She doesn't quite have a proper rose comb, I think she's a mix between a rock and a Dominique.

 

[Tookie]

She looks like a Dominique to me I'd say.

 

[2iceblest]

Hi all,

I purchased six chickens about two months ago (sadly, only five are left). One of the hens, Penelope, is unique because of her rose comb (the others have single combs). She is the second smallest one, but the smallest one is only about 6 months old and is not fully grown, making Penelope the smallest adult hen. She is much smaller than the others and lays eggs that are quite a bit smaller than those of the other hens (even the young one's). I recently discovered the Dominique breed, and she seems like she might be a Dominique instead of a Barred Rock. I've attached a few pictures below. The hen that Penelope is sitting next to is Vicky, who was included in the pictures for size and crown comparison.

Do you think Penelope could be a Dominique and not a Barred Rock? Thanks in advance.

 

[2iceblest]

I have two Columbian Wyandottes and one is much larger than the other so far. I call the smaller one stumpy because she only has a stub for tail feathers. They’re only a month old. Stumpy is always pushing her way through to the treats and food and the others aren’t pecking at her so I’m not concerned.

 

[Winderdear]

My Dominique is only 5 weeks old, but has always been tiny. I have a mixed flock of four chicks, so no other Doms to compare her to, but she was so small from the beginning I thought she was a runt. My Marans should be 7lbs at maturity (if female), which I think is only slightly smaller than a BR hen, and they have always been bigger than my Dominique.

This is a bit of a strange thing to ask, but does her voice sound any different from the others? I don't know about BRs, but my Dominique has a quiet, sort of muppet-like voice that I can pick out easily from the others. From the breed review page for Dominiques here, it seems like I'm not the only one who thinks their voices sound a bit unique.

I'm sorry that you lost one of your chicks earlier on

 

[Kuritsa y Utochka]

My Dominique is only 5 weeks old, but has always been tiny. I have a mixed flock of four chicks, so no other Doms to compare her to, but she was so small from the beginning I thought she was a runt. My Marans should be 7lbs at maturity (if female), which I think is only slightly smaller than a BR hen, and they have always been bigger than my Dominique.

This is a bit of a strange thing to ask, but does her voice sound any different from the others? I don't know about BRs, but my Dominique has a quiet, sort of muppet-like voice that I can pick out easily from the others. From the breed review page for Dominiques here, it seems like I'm not the only one who thinks their voices sound a bit unique.

I'm sorry that you lost one of your chicks earlier on

Penelope is quite a bit smaller than the others. The only one who is smaller than her is one of the Barred Rocks, Gertrude, who I suspect is not fully grown.

I have noticed a clear voice difference between Penelope and the other hens. Penelope calls a short "bawk" sound with an emphasized "aw", while the others have a longer, screeching "baaaak". Penelope does also sound a bit quieter than the other girls.

I've also noticed that Penelope arches her neck quite significantly when she stands. Have you seen any of that when looking at your Dominique?

I'm sorry that you lost one of your chicks earlier on

Thank you for your apologies. I ordered five White Rock chicks in 2021. They put an extra chick in there, but she unfortunately came dead. The chicks were caught by predators one by one (they were completely free-range and walked around the neighborhood). I ended up buying six laying hens last spring and I keep them in a secure enclosure. I lost one to a hawk during free-range time a few months ago, but I think I'm doing alright.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Penelope is a Dominique. However, Vicky does look like a barred rock mix rather than a purebred.

 

[Winderdear]

I've also noticed that Penelope arches her neck quite significantly when she stands. Have you seen any of that when looking at your Dominique?

Yes! My Dominique definitely arches her neck out more than my other chicks, like she’s trying to get as tall as possible at all times. All the chicks stretch of course, but it’s very frequent with her, and there’s definitely something unique about the angle of it. It’s very straight, whereas I think my other chicks have more of an s-shape to their posture. I’m always trying to get a photo of it and failing! Also, when she was just a couple days old she clearly had a more upright stance than the other girls, and it resembles the picture on Meyer hatchery’s site (where I bought her from) of a mature hen. The other chicks had a very forward posture, and their chests didn’t puff out like hers did. I know you got your Penelope as a hen, so this might not help, but I wonder if their adult posture is noticeably different as well. Here are the best pictures I have to sort of elucidate:











I hope this helps! I think her quiet and slightly different voice is probably a good indicator that she’s a Dominique, along with her different comb and smaller size. The posture thing might be all in my head, but it’s neat that we both noticed the neck arching behavior!

 

[Kuritsa y Utochka]

Penelope is a Dominique. However, Vicky does look like a barred rock mix rather than a purebred.

Thanks for letting me know. What breed do you think she's mixed with?