Dominique "Show"

[WallTenters]

Hello! This will be practiced more like a real show (as close as we can get in photos alone) as a purely educational opportunity for us Dominique lovers and for folks that would like to learn more about this wonderful breed.

Please post with each entry:
Cock/Hen/Pullet/Cockerel (C/H/P/K)
One or two good photos of the bird. Try to show the bird's conformation, feathering, coloring, etc. A side shot, and maybe a rear shot would be nice.

Please don't post any birds you wouldn't take to (or at least start preparing for), a show 6-8 weeks away, in the condition they are in the photo. A few misplaced feathers are fine if a hen or roo is breeding, but if their whole tail is plucked out it's harder for everyone to learn from that bird.

>> I DO NOT MEAN that they have to be champion quality, I just meant please post pictures of birds that are in decent feather - it's really hard to tell what a hen's tail looks like when it's all plucked out.

Please do not post where you got your birds until after the "show", but afterwards please do post. Even if your bird does not place well, there may be a quality in it someone is needing in their flock to combat a fault, so they may wish to know where you got the bird... if it's a source they've heard other good things about, it will cement their decision to get from that source. Or so we hope

Mr NYREDS will be judging this. Please, let's all thank him a lot for dedicating his time to this wonderful breed and to this educational event.

This is a learning experience for us all. In no way does this represent a real "win" at any kind of official level. So much can not be told by looking at photos alone. However, I am hoping we can get some good feedback on all the entries that will be educational to everyone reading this. Anyone may participate, even Mr Post if he wishes. I know in a real show that would be a conflict of interest, but often we are most critical of our own birds, and if he has a bird he thinks would help anyone learn, I feel personally he should include that. This is all for educational purposes only, not competitive.

Winner will get a big hug from me should we ever meet.
Runner up will get a handshake.

(okay, maybe a hug too.. geez)

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

sooo can I post pics of my eggs??? lol jk

 

[Gallusfarm]

Well, guess I'll go first. Where are your pics, Heaven?? This is a great idea-thanks for initiating. Great way to get feedback, and from an APA judge, no less. Thanks Bill.


I'm kind of going against the rules, in that there are a couple that I wouldn't consider dragging to a show. Even with prep.

 

[exop]

I'd love to see more people's birds - let's try to start this up again!

Best - exop

 

[buffalogal]

I think trying to restrict the thread only to birds you'd seriously consider taking to a real show discourages people from posting. If the idea is to be educational, then any Dominique pictures showing a bird with adult plumage would work, as we can learn as much from what's not perfect as we can from what is. Afterall, if we just want a picture of the perfect Dominique, we have the Shilling prints to study.

As breeders of real live animals, we aren't ever going to see the perfect bird (even the Shilling prints were retouched), but we can learn to "see" the good and bad points in an animal by studying the less than perfect. I've always loved that livestock judges give "reasons", as in:
I chose the first place doe because of her overall dairy character, her exceptional udder showing strong medial suspensory ligaments and a smoothly blended foreudder with plum teats. I'd like to see her a little cleaner through the forelegs, and maybe a little longer back. When we look at our second place doe, we see she and is more smoothly blended through the neck and shoulders, is straighter through her forelegs, and has a more level topline. She also has a nicely shaped udder and has a wonderful depth of body that we like to see in an animal that is expected to be able to eat enough to sustain herself grow a fetus and produce milk, but the rear width of the first place doe, with her high, rounded escutcheon, and her correctly sized teats carry the day..."

IOW, you are told what is great and not so great about each animal, so if you pay attention, you learn. (Disclaimer: Unless of course, it's a judge that is unfamiliar with the breed or even the species, and muddles through selecting the *wrong* things, like "a meaty brisket" or that an animal is "well fleshed" with "substantial bone" in a class of dairy animals. - Yes, I've seen that happen at a county fair, by a judge who freely admitted before he announced his placements he had no experience with goats, much less dairy goats, so he was using his experience with *beef cattle*. Oh well.) But NYReds is a poultry judge, and certainly has experience with the breed, so there would be no problem there.

Rather than an online "show" perhaps we could call this an "exhibition", and ask our esteemed Judge if he would mind critiquing every bird with it's best and worst features.

 

[gootziecat]

This is my hatchery hen. She isn't a good hen, but since no one else has posted on here, I thought I'd get it started.

 

[Chris09]

Not a great picture but here it is.

Large Fowl Hen (H)

Chris

 

[tataharris]

Ok, here is my dominique roo. I would love to have someone critique him for me!! Thanks!

 

[WallTenters]

Sorry folks I didn't mean you can't post birds unless they're show quality. What I meant is that I have photos of birds where they are so butt-plucked you really can't tell where their tail naturally sets, and I've got photos of birds in molt that look like I've already started the butchering process. Just it makes it better for all of us if the birds are in at least decent feathers so us noobs can tell from the photo what the bird really looks like, and so we can see their barring, etc. Breeding pen condition birds are fine, so long as a beginner can learn from the photos.

I'm including some birds that have already moved on to the coop in the soup, but I thought it would be nice to see if Mr Post agrees with what we think of them.

July cockerel #66

July cockerel #57

March cock #58

July cockerel #59

July cockerel #56

March hen #01

This is the comb on one of the pullets we had... it's a DQ, inverted spike

Sorry about the blurry head... October pullet #76

July pullet #78

July pullet #11

Just for fun.....
And here we see the majestic Dominique free ranging and practicing their predator-evasion skills.

 

[Gallusfarm]

Great pics everyone thanks for sharing. Here's my contribution:

#15 cockerel

#5 pullet

# 18 pullet (left)

20 cockerel

21 cockerel

pullet 24

hen C

old hen

spike: