Dominique Thread!

[Sylvester017]

Quote:

I am in northeastern Ohio, so yes it is cold (although it's been a relatively mild winter). They are also rather large framed in comparison to some lines of Doms and are about half again as large as our hatchery girls! I am exceptionally pleased with their shape.

From the reading I've done on Doms, there was a comment along the way that said some lines were cross-bred w/ Barred Rocks to get the Dom's larger. I personally happen to like lightweight chickens as the Dom SOP for hens is about 5-lbs. I'm thinking the bigger Doms w/ a cushion-y back cushion of feathers interfering w/ a good U-shape might be from a previous result of cross-breeding w/ BRs. Any thoughts?

 

[ceceuu]

Could be so many reasons.  You don't really want to hear that, I know, but here's some reasons maybe.  Unless you get to know the interactions of your birds with each other you won't really know for sure.  I have 2 Silkies that sleep nowhere except in a nestbox for the last 5 years - I like that better than their alternative resting spot on the coop floor.  I have a Breda that as a pullet alternated between sleeping in a nestbox or on the perch - as a hen she is now using the perch exclusively and shared it with the Ameraucana before we lost the Amer.  In our previous coop the roosting perch was the same level as the nestboxes so ALL the pullets and cockerel chose a nestbox to sleep in rather than using the perch.  At roost time, dominant birds might hog a "favorite" place on a perch - makes all the other birds want the "same" spot.  Of course the dominant birds will fend off the more docile birds - maybe the perching spot has less draft at night, maybe it has a window with a choice view, maybe it's a spot where the alpha can survey the coop interior at a glance.  In any case the Dom pullets may have decided to let the alpha have the choice spot and not challenge her for it and therefore just pick the tray to sleep in to avoid conflict.  Doms are sweet and generally non-combative so I wouldn't be surprised that they would choose the tray rather than be chased off a place on a perch by a challenger.  Sometimes a bird can have a bruise or injury that prevents them from jumping to a perch but since you have two Doms on the floor the chances that both are injured at the same time is improbable.  Maybe the Doms want a nice wide ladder ramp leading to the perches.  Who knows?  Only you can be the firsthand source to determine what's going on.  Some owners have had other breeds with the same roosting problem.  They kept putting the juveniles on the perch every night until lo-&-behond the juveniles started perching on their own.  Some owners have problems getting the juveniles to enter the coop altogether.  Give us an account when the Doms finally get the idea to perch.

One of the Domininiques gets on the perch and the other does not. They are a year old now so I guess that us the way they are going to be. I still put the floor bird on the roost now and then. She seems very put out about it but stays there for the night.

 

[chickiemom3]

From the reading I've done on Doms, there was a comment along the way that said some lines were cross-bred w/ Barred Rocks to get the Dom's larger.  I personally happen to like lightweight chickens as the Dom SOP for hens is about 5-lbs.  I'm thinking the bigger Doms w/ a cushion-y back cushion of feathers interfering w/ a good U-shape might be from a previous result of cross-breeding w/ BRs.  Any thoughts?

I got my new birds from Mike Stichler, so I doubt if they have had any recent Barred Rock in their lineage. He selects for larger frames and he was very detailed in his descriptions of his search for "new blood" to provide appropriate genetic variations in his lines over the years. However, I can only assume that when many breeders were trying to revive the breed back in the 70's, they sought out the closest breed to the Doms in an attempt to maintain the look of the breed. I can't wait to compare my hatchery Doms to these new girls side by side (new girls are still in quarantine, so it will have to wait for now). Even apart, several differences aside from size stand out. The coloration on the hatchery birds is closer to barring, while the new Doms have the true cuckoo pattern. The hatchery birds are also black and white while the new ones are the ideal dark gray and off white. I would guess (and truly nothing against hatcheries, as I don't have a word of complaint about our birds from there--but we knew buying them that they would not be close to the SOP) that the hatcheries have used Barred Rock much more recently to round out their genetics. We are very new to this breed and look forward to working with it (and if I made any blatant errors in my descriptions, I welcome corrections--I have struggled a bit trying to learn what exactly to look for!).

 

[centrarchid]

I have had Strichler strain birds starting with three pullets and a stag. The heavy frame I would describe as coarse. Note I said had.

Do not lump all the hatchery strains together as one, as they are not any more similar to each other that stocks kept by show breeders or working flock breeders.

 

[Sylvester017]

One of the Domininiques gets on the perch and the other does not. They are a year old now so I guess that us the way they are going to be. I still put the floor bird on the roost now and then. She seems very put out about it but stays there for the night.

Hi - maybe she likes a flat platform rather than a narrower perch. Do you have a 2x4 raised platform perch to give the hens a choice? Some owners swear by using a rounded 3x3 square perch. I have a 2x3 rounded edge perch but w/ our newest pullet I want to try a 2x4 flat perch to see which she prefers. These chickens keep us guessing, don't they

!

 

[Sylvester017]

I got my new birds from Mike Stichler, so I doubt if they have had any recent Barred Rock in their lineage. He selects for larger frames and he was very detailed in his descriptions of his search for "new blood" to provide appropriate genetic variations in his lines over the years. However, I can only assume that when many breeders were trying to revive the breed back in the 70's, they sought out the closest breed to the Doms in an attempt to maintain the look of the breed. I can't wait to compare my hatchery Doms to these new girls side by side (new girls are still in quarantine, so it will have to wait for now). Even apart, several differences aside from size stand out. The coloration on the hatchery birds is closer to barring, while the new Doms have the true cuckoo pattern. The hatchery birds are also black and white while the new ones are the ideal dark gray and off white. I would guess (and truly nothing against hatcheries, as I don't have a word of complaint about our birds from there--but we knew buying them that they would not be close to the SOP) that the hatcheries have used Barred Rock much more recently to round out their genetics. We are very new to this breed and look forward to working with it (and if I made any blatant errors in my descriptions, I welcome corrections--I have struggled a bit trying to learn what exactly to look for!).

Turn of the 1900's Barred Rock and Dominiques were the same breed w/ some having straight combs and some having rose combs. Breeders couldn't agree which comb standard to use so the Barred Rocks broke away to keep the straight comb and eventually cross-bred the BRs to Malay and Indian gamebirds to make the BR more dual purpose while the Doms kept the original rose comb and chose not to cross for a heavier bird. A century later some Doms are still popping up occasionally with a straight comb. A Dom to me is a slender bird and beautifully U-shaped profile so when I see a heavier cushion I can't help wondering if somewhere in its history a BR was crossed in -- or maybe a throwback to the original 1900's genetics before the one breed branched off into two separate breeds?

 

[duluthralphie]

I have finally got pictures for you of my Urch line of Doms.

I took them the other day but have been kind of busy and did not get them uploaded to my putor until this morning. I took these with my old IPhone so the quality stinks. I did not try to lighten them so you can see the detail, I simply cropped them.

These are just a pair I took pictures of, I have another rooster that might have better form than this one, but he is in an outdoor pen (because he is a jerk) I have showed him before but he goes apepoop when I get a camera near him. The hens all look pretty much the same.

Here is the photo bomb: They are both 11 months old

 

[Alaskan]

Wow! They look great, thanks for sharing.

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

Are these the original birds from Urch or your first generation of breeding? The pullet/hen has white in the earlobe and type is questionable along with color and comb. It has been about 9 years since I got birds from him, but most of his birds were of good type and feather, with fairly good color.

 

[duluthralphie]

Are these the original birds from Urch or your first generation of breeding? The pullet/hen has white in the earlobe and type is questionable along with color and comb. It has been about 9 years since I got birds from him, but most of his birds were of good type and feather, with fairly good color.

That is kind of funny, showing we all have different tastes. The judges last year comment on the type and said it was excellent type. I asked about the feather color and they said as long as the barring was like it is the little white did not matter as long as the whole feather was not white.

The judges pointed out my combs to another person as what he should work for.

I do not see any white on the earlobes. I think it must be a trick of the camera.

Not trying to be overly defensive, just saying how you did not see the same things the judges did.

These are the birds I hatched out of his egg last year, this will be my first year with my breeding to type..