MenelausMontrose
Chirping
Hatched a few of my Dominique eggs last weekend. This little girl (?) lost her balance and made for a good photo.
Dominique Thread!
- Thread starter Dixiedoodle
- Start date
Hi -- adorable little pic! If this is a pure Dom chick it might be a male. If you read up on Doms you'll notice that female babies have a dark streak going down the front of their tiny legs and toes plus the female white spot on female heads will be a tighter white spot while the male chicks have more splashing of white and usually much wider white area. The male chicks will have no dark streaks down the front of their legs or toes. Just a bit of general info re: auto-sexing new Dom chicks. I learned so much about Doms from the Mark Fields book "The American Dominique: A Treatise For The Fancier" I downloaded the Amazon ebook version which is much cheaper than the hard cover book.
Keep us posted! I LOVE photos!
@MenelausMontrose -- These female Dom chicks are 16 days old. Notice the dark streaks going down the front of their legs and down the top of their toes. Females will also have a tighter white spot on their skulls, and they will have a black band on their beak tops close to the tip. Some of these features disappear by the time they're teenagers. Sometimes a female chick's white spot can come out wider and splashy like a male's but the dark streak down the legs & toes and dark strip across the top beak tells you it's a female. When identifying babies if the white spot doesn't tell me it's a female then I check the legs & toes for certain. The beak strip is my final confirmation.
At 54 days old the dark streak on front of legs and toes are still visible and the dark band on top of the female's beak is prominent. Her rose comb is barely starting to grow and the white head spot pretty much disappears with the onset of adult feathers.
Baby chicks grow so fast. By the time female Doms are adults the legs/toes no longer have the dark streaks but the dark band on the beak remains permanently.
At 54 days old the dark streak on front of legs and toes are still visible and the dark band on top of the female's beak is prominent. Her rose comb is barely starting to grow and the white head spot pretty much disappears with the onset of adult feathers.
Baby chicks grow so fast. By the time female Doms are adults the legs/toes no longer have the dark streaks but the dark band on the beak remains permanently.
MenelausMontrose
Chirping
Very interesting! I'll have to get some good closeups of each chick and see if it's possible to tell the gender of the other two.
These chicks are all pure Dominiques; my reds weren't laying yet when I collected these eggs and put them in the incubator.
These chicks are all pure Dominiques; my reds weren't laying yet when I collected these eggs and put them in the incubator.
@MenelausMontrose -- I'd love to see pics of your babies. Fun to see if we can auto-sex them early 
MenelausMontrose
Chirping
Alright, here's some photos I took yesterday. They're 6 days old in these photos. This batch is much friendlier than the ones I shipped in last year, and they've imprinted on me and my wife -- to the point they start alarm-peeping if we leave the room their brooder is in.
Chick 1 (seen previously):
Chick 2:
Chick 3
Chick 1 (seen previously):
Chick 2:
Chick 3
Last edited:
MenelausMontrose
Chirping
You'll note that Chick 1 and 2 don't have much in the way of dark lines on the legs. Chick 1 has a few spots perhaps.
Chick 3 has notable dark patches on the legs, although not a line.
They all have dark patches on their beaks.
Right now I'm thinking 1 and 2 are roosters, and 3 might be a hen. I'm still hoping 1 might be a hen though, as he is the friendliest of the bunch, and I only need 1 more rooster at the most.
Chick 3 has notable dark patches on the legs, although not a line.
They all have dark patches on their beaks.
Right now I'm thinking 1 and 2 are roosters, and 3 might be a hen. I'm still hoping 1 might be a hen though, as he is the friendliest of the bunch, and I only need 1 more rooster at the most.
@MenelausMontrose -- the first chick is very much male - lots of broad head spot splashing plus no dark streaks on front of legs or toes. Females definitely have a very visible dark streak down the front of both legs and tops of all toes.
Your next chick head shot also appears to have wide male white splashing rather than a tight white head spot that a female would have.
Chick 3 can't tell much by blurred photo of feet. Chicks move so much it's hard to get clear pics of the little buggers.
And Dom chicks are very human-friendly to the point that you can't leave a room without them screaming for you to come back! After a week in the kiddie pool our Doms would no longer stay in it. We took off the bird netting on top of the pool and just let them run around the kitchen. For a little while they jumped back in the pool to sleep but later picked other spots in the kitchen to slumber. They grew so extremely fast too!
Poor camera pics but shows the smaller white head spots and dark feet/toes of females:
5 days old -- notice the much smaller white head spot on females and dark streaks on legs
Chicks at 1-months-old -- dark front leg streak still visible - head spot disappearing
Sleepy time in the kitchen Swiffer basket
Almost 2-months old -- dark leg/toe streaks still visible and black band on beak prominent
Hope my poor pics helped a little. I'd love to know the gender you identified your chicks as either males or females to see how we did in sexing them?
Your next chick head shot also appears to have wide male white splashing rather than a tight white head spot that a female would have.
Chick 3 can't tell much by blurred photo of feet. Chicks move so much it's hard to get clear pics of the little buggers.
And Dom chicks are very human-friendly to the point that you can't leave a room without them screaming for you to come back! After a week in the kiddie pool our Doms would no longer stay in it. We took off the bird netting on top of the pool and just let them run around the kitchen. For a little while they jumped back in the pool to sleep but later picked other spots in the kitchen to slumber. They grew so extremely fast too!
Poor camera pics but shows the smaller white head spots and dark feet/toes of females:
5 days old -- notice the much smaller white head spot on females and dark streaks on legs
Chicks at 1-months-old -- dark front leg streak still visible - head spot disappearing
Sleepy time in the kitchen Swiffer basket
Almost 2-months old -- dark leg/toe streaks still visible and black band on beak prominent
Hope my poor pics helped a little. I'd love to know the gender you identified your chicks as either males or females to see how we did in sexing them?
MenelausMontrose
Chirping
Sure thing; I'll definitely post in 6 weeks or so when the rooster combs start combing in and I can tell for sure. I appreciate your insights!
Your Dominique females are actually much darker than my first batch from last year. Most of my females had large white/yellow head spots similar to chick #3. I wonder if there is some difference between our respective birds, other than mine being bantams.
My original birds are from Cackle Hatchery; where did you get yours?
Original (parent) birds from last year. 1 male, 5 females, and some RIR females:
Your Dominique females are actually much darker than my first batch from last year. Most of my females had large white/yellow head spots similar to chick #3. I wonder if there is some difference between our respective birds, other than mine being bantams.
My original birds are from Cackle Hatchery; where did you get yours?
Original (parent) birds from last year. 1 male, 5 females, and some RIR females:
@MenelausMontrose -- I'm not positive but I believe all cuckoo-pattern birds are auto-sexing like the Doms are.
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
Checking-In On Peeps - Post Here To Say Hello!- Started by Nifty-Chicken
- Replies: 1K
-
-
-
-
Can I get some help from someone with careless neighbours who own dogs.- Started by RiDaGeckoGuy
- Replies: 102
-
