Dominique 3week old chick?

[Jaimi]

Does anyone have a pic of what a 3-4 week old Dominique chicks should look like?
I got one for the feed store and I swear I think the guy sold me an emu...

It just looks weird...

 

[urbanagrarian]

If you can post a photo. I'm sure someone can tell if it's a Dominique. It will have a rose comb. At that age a hen may appear to have almost no comb at all.

 

[legacyln]

Here are two pics of my 3 1/2 week old Dominique chicks. I got them from a 4-Her, not sure of the source but I assume hatchery. btw, all mine have pretty significant combs now, just some are yellow and some are pinker/redder and a bit bigger.

Now that you mention it-- emu is a pretty good description!

 

[kstaven]

I have never bred Doms before. But if the feathering on them follows like the cuckoo marans you have more roos than hens there in the picture.

 

[legacyln]

Yeah-- I am not sure yet but based on comb alone I think out of my 13 chicks, about 7 or 8 are roos! Dang!

I think almost of the ones in the group pic are ones I think are boys-- they are much braver about getting close to my daughter who was offering bread crumbs.

 

[LilPeeps]

I raised dominiques for 4 years and I see 5 cockerels and 2 pullets in that last pic.

 

[legacyln]

I take it you are basing it on head spots? I am easily confused by the head spot method-- some I thought were cockerels based on head spot now seem to have pullet combs and vice versa. These are generally some really sweet birds, I am so happy I happened onto the chance to begin again with this breed (haven't had any chickens in 20 years and have never had Doms or BRs) and I'm looking forward to getting to know their individual personalities and breed characteristics as they mature.

I'll have to take pictures of all 13 and post them for you all to do your gender picking magic on. I was planning to cull all the roos but have decided to try to keep a couple and see if I can wind up with one or two good guys.

 

[Jaimi]

So by 3 weeks they should have a fairly big comb comppared to a, say, 2 week old one? b/c I have my 3 week old one in with some almost-2 week old chicks, and their combs are all the same. Does that mean I probably have a pullet?
*Pics are uploading as I type.

 

[LilPeeps]

Nope, actually the color of the barring on the feathers. The males will have an overall lighter appearence, with wider white barring

I've circled the cockerels in blue and the pullets in purple

I've never used the head spot method when determining the sex of the birds, but I know of many who do. On the females, the head spots seem to be small and well defined, where on the males, they are more spread out and splotchy. A female's down is a very dark black while the male is more of a dark silvery color. Also, look at the darkness of the front of the legs, darker legs can also be an indiction of a pullet.

I'd love to see more pics

 

[Jaimi]

Something tells me mine isn't A) as old as I was told, or B) A dominique.

I know there not the best pics, but I didnt really want to stress her...As you can tell by the state of her feathers and her body condition, she hasen't quite gotten over being cramed in a 1sq. foot box w/ 15 other bigger chicks...

Please tell me she's a she, please!

otherwise I can't kep her. :'(

For comb comparison, a pic of my almost-2week old chicks: