Dominique Thread!

[Gardenlady2]

I would have panicked over curled toes.

Do you have pictures? I just wonder if yours are as dark as mine.


Mine are laying now, and I got them the 1st of May.

Here's a picture of the cackle pullets at around 7 weeks old along with a 8-9 month old dom hen from Meyer. Now that they are bigger, their coloring as far as light/dark is about the same as that Meyer hen- I can barely tell them apart.
I wish I had fed them more so they'd be laying now too. The curled toes don't seem to be a problem. I'm not raising them for show, so as long as they are able to roost I'm not upset. I think only 2 of the 16 had that issue. I'll try to get a good current photo to share also.

 

[Alaskan]

@Gardenlady2

thanks for the photo.

how dark are their legs?

 

[JediJinx]

Does anyone have pictures of pullets showing them as little chicks and then again as grown adults? I am curious about the feather pattern development as you can see in a 3-4 weeker, especially wings and tails and what that means later on. I know it takes years of experience to pick out what might turn out to be something good vs bad that early on.

I would think (and these are the thoughts of the novice so take with salt) that the bright wider barring on the wings would indicate a bird that will have better contrast later on. Do you find this to be true? My little bunch are quite dark, and I am disappointed in the way their barring is turning out. The body shape seems ok but just dark every one. LOL! If anyone has a "too light" young cockerel that is otherwise good form, let me know!

ETA: photos - first of 9 weeker (ignore marans), this one lacks light bars on wing tips, the second photo is of 6 weekers, also have more dark on wings.

 

[Sylvester017]

The Dom bantams at Cackle are descended from Marks old Unbeatable beauty line, but he would be the first to tell you their quality has slipped considerably since they acquired their stock. Based on birds I'd seen over a dozen years ago, I am one of those people who used to recommend Cackle LF as being the best representatives of the breed available at a commercial hatchery. But then I actually had some of their pullets here and I too found them disappointing. According to Mark, their large fowl are descended from Smith Hatchery stock, but their flock is in the hands of a private breeder who has not been diligent at maintaining the quality. As of this spring, Mark and Fred Farthing are working with Cackle to improve their Dominiques, both LF and bantams, with Fred generously providing eggs and the two of them are supposed to go through to help choose the breeders. In a couple of years, they should be top notch again, provided the private breeder doesn't make the same mistakes.

Great! Mark and Fred both! That should excel the Cackle stock in a year or two. Those two men have a real love for Doms and I hope their great efforts are continued.

 

[Sylvester017]

Does anyone have pictures of pullets showing them as little chicks and then again as grown adults? I am curious about the feather pattern development as you can see in a 3-4 weeker, especially wings and tails and what that means later on. I know it takes years of experience to pick out what might turn out to be something good vs bad that early on.

I would think (and these are the thoughts of the novice so take with salt) that the bright wider barring on the wings would indicate a bird that will have better contrast later on. Do you find this to be true? My little bunch are quite dark, and I am disappointed in the way their barring is turning out. The body shape seems ok but just dark every one. LOL! If anyone has a "too light" young cockerel that is otherwise good form, let me know!

ETA: photos - first of 9 weeker (ignore marans), this one lacks light bars on wing tips, the second photo is of 6 weekers, also have more dark on wings.

I have read several times that at each moult birds can lighten in color. On Feathersite they showed a Dom with perfect markings that started to turn white by age 6. Don't know if that applies to barred birds in general or not but it would be interesting to watch for after each moult.

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

Outer wing primary feathers will be the last feathers to grow out in the final stage of adult feathering. They will always look dark and out of balance compared to.the bird as she matures and finishes out. This can give even give the look of split wing. When working with color on the Dominique an eye for contrast of color in the feather and overall even color throughout the body is the most important aspect to look for. Type will always trump color.

 

[JediJinx]

Just hard to be patient!

 

[ridinshotgun]

Just wanted to show three of the keepers for me going into next year.

 

[Alaskan]

@ridinshotgun The first two I really like.

Where did you get them?

 

[WendyF]

And how old are they? I just love the pullet; she has so much character!