Dominique (5.5 weeks old) - cockerel or pullet?

[JaimeA]

What do you all think? The coloring shows up a little lighter in some of the photos, but it’s mostly accurate.

 

[centrarchid]

Comb looks male. Coloration is on dark side for a male. Legs dark rather than solid yellow which indicates female.

Are you certain both parents are American Dominique?

 

[JaimeA]

Comb looks male. Coloration is on dark side for a male. Legs dark rather than solid yellow which indicates female.

Are you certain both parents are American Dominique?

As far as I know, yes. This Dominique is a hatchery chick, but from our local island farm store which always seems to bring in fairly good quality overall. Perhaps because it’s HQ, the coloring is off?

 

[centrarchid]

As far as I know, yes. This Dominique is a hatchery chick, but from our local island farm store which always seems to bring in fairly good quality overall. Perhaps because it’s HQ, the coloring is off?

My males generally run a little lighter and females generally a little darker than chick you have pictured. What really stands out is the leg coloration. In mine, pullets will still be showing a little gray overtones on the legs while males will have had yellow legs from hatch. By 10 weeks or so my females will also have distinctly yellow legs.

The barring pattern is what really makes for light males or dark females. Males have wider light part of bars compared to the dark parts while females have bars the are more equal or even favor the dark bars.


It has been a few years, but I got commercial and private breeder stock chicks all at the same time. The differed markedly at multiple level. Two of the commercial hatchery stocks I am confident where a cross. They were darker, higher stationed, and consistently produced offspring with a 50% probability of a straight come when bred to straight combed game chickens. I then called to ask questions and information given at time indicated a cross was used to either facilitate feather sexing at hatch or improve hatching egg production.

You can find extreme examples among pure Dominique stocks that match yours. Once in a while I have a dark male in the range of yours.


I still think your chick will be male.