Dominique Thread!

[Delight in Dominiques]

Since you are a member of the Dominique club, request to join the club's official page on facebook. Loaded with breed standard info, tons of files, and members that can find you stock.

 

[Sylvester017]

@txplowgirl

I think you will absolutely love Dominiques. I also fell in love w/ Breda too which were another Colonial bird that's as old as Dominique and just as great in temperament and egg-laying. Unfortunately the Colonial Breda went extinct in the USA probably because they were called by so many different names it confused people that they're all the same breed (Guilderlands, Guilders, etc). Their new name is Breda and have been re-created in the Netherlands in several colors and imported to the States about a decade ago. I have a Cuckoo Breda w/ my 3 Dominique girls (plus one old Silkie hen) in my backyard flock. We're zoned for only 5 hens, no roos, and am retired and enjoying our backyard chicken entertainment! The Dom's and Breda are gentle tempered enough to keep w/ our little old docile Silkie.

Be prepared for pesty friendly Dom's -- our girls are still young

Old Partridge Silkie w/ a couple of the Dom chicks

This is a Cuckoo Breda - has Dom coloring, feathered feet, vulture hocks, but no comb

Cuckoo Breda has feathered feet and vulture hocks

Cuckoo Breda blends well w/ the Dom chicks - her feathered feet give her away!

Our 3 Dom pullets came from Privett Hatchery via my local feed store. I wanted to get the City/Town 3 pullet special from Cackle (because Mark Fields was consulting Cackle on improving their Dom's) but I was in a hurry to replace 3 birds we lost this year and my local feed store hurriedly ordered Dom's for me in August this year. Only cost me $24 for the 3 chicks so if I lost one or two due to chick mortality, I wouldn't be out a lot of money after losing a lot of money on shipped juveniles that died earlier this year and one of our old Silkies died of cancer. Well, wouldn't you know it? All 3 Dom chicks are alive and well and just the best darn pesty backyard family pets to date. Friendly, curious, outgoing, people-friendly, good flockmates, good temperaments. Two of the chicks I would not consider "show quality" but I did get the 3rd chick that really looks nice which surprised me for a hatchery bird. So it IS possible to get a nice bird from hatchery stock because chicks are like a box of chocolates -- never know what you get til they're grown.

This is my best-looking young Dom juvenile but it's so hard to keep the birds still to get a good pic -- one of these days I'll have to get a decent stance -- unfortunately they see my camera as a "treat" and lunge for the lens!

 

[txplowgirl]

@txplowgirl

I think you will absolutely love Dominiques. I also fell in love w/ Breda too which were another Colonial bird that's as old as Dominique and just as great in temperament and egg-laying. Unfortunately the Colonial Breda went extinct in the USA probably because they were called by so many different names it confused people that they're all the same breed (Guilderlands, Guilders, etc). Their new name is Breda and have been re-created in the Netherlands in several colors and imported to the States about a decade ago. I have a Cuckoo Breda w/ my 3 Dominique girls (plus one old Silkie hen) in my backyard flock. We're zoned for only 5 hens, no roos, and am retired and enjoying our backyard chicken entertainment! The Dom's and Breda are gentle tempered enough to keep w/ our little old docile Silkie.

Be prepared for pesty friendly Dom's -- our girls are still young
View attachment 1216952
Old Partridge Silkie w/ a couple of the Dom chicks
View attachment 1216953
This is a Cuckoo Breda - has Dom coloring, feathered feet, vulture hocks, but no comb
View attachment 1216958


Cuckoo Breda has feathered feet and vulture hocks
View attachment 1216955

Cuckoo Breda blends well w/ the Dom chicks - her feathered feet give her away!
View attachment 1216956


Our 3 Dom pullets came from Privett Hatchery via my local feed store. I wanted to get the City/Town 3 pullet special from Cackle (because Mark Fields was consulting Cackle on improving their Dom's) but I was in a hurry to replace 3 birds we lost this year and my local feed store hurriedly ordered Dom's for me in August this year. Only cost me $24 for the 3 chicks so if I lost one or two due to chick mortality, I wouldn't be out a lot of money after losing a lot of money on shipped juveniles that died earlier this year and one of our old Silkies died of cancer. Well, wouldn't you know it? All 3 Dom chicks are alive and well and just the best darn pesty backyard family pets to date. Friendly, curious, outgoing, people-friendly, good flockmates, good temperaments. Two of the chicks I would not consider "show quality" but I did get the 3rd chick that really looks nice which surprised me for a hatchery bird. So it IS possible to get a nice bird from hatchery stock because chicks are like a box of chocolates -- never know what you get til they're grown.

This is my best-looking young Dom juvenile but it's so hard to keep the birds still to get a good pic -- one of these days I'll have to get a decent stance -- unfortunately they see my camera as a "treat" and lunge for the lens!
View attachment 1216957

All of them are pretty, the more I read about Dominique's the more i'm looking forward to having them.

 

[duluthralphie]

All of them are pretty, the more I read about Dominique's the more i'm looking forward to having them.

They are a great economical breed to have around.

 

[Faraday40]

They are a great economical breed to have around.

x2 They can easily find much of their own feed & don't hang out by the feeder all day.

All of them are pretty, the more I read about Dominique's the more i'm looking forward to having them.

They're also a little smarter than other breeds. DD trained ours to do a magic trick. Now whenever I do a school presentation Bubbles comes along and steals the show.


The above pic was from earlier this week. Bubbles is molting & the kids loved her even more. They went crazy for the chance to obtain one of those celebrity feathers. ....... I almost wanted to invite them here to clean out all the molted feathers from the coop & yard!

 

[Sylvester017]

All of them are pretty, the more I read about Dominique's the more i'm looking forward to having them.

On Mom's farm in the 1940's/50's all I ever knew was Babcock Leghorns -- never knew there were bantams either! When I researched backyard chicken breeds 7 yrs ago I was so excited about all the choices in breeds! Meat birds, egg birds, game birds, docile birds, aggressive birds, tall birds, tiny birds, fluffy birds, sleek birds, naked necks, big combs, no combs, vulture hocks, feathered feet, crested birds, etc etc. There are still about 50 breeds I wish I could have but I'm grateful for the 5 hens we're zoned for - some cities around us can't have chickens at all!

x2 They can easily find much of their own feed & don't hang out by the feeder all day.

They're also a little smarter than other breeds. DD trained ours to do a magic trick. Now whenever I do a school presentation Bubbles comes along and steals the show.
View attachment 1217453

Amen! About the smartness! And alertness! And so-o-o friendly -- they stand on our shoes and if they were kittens I think they'd crawl up our pants -- one chick jumps up for us to catch her in our arms!

I've read some people complain that their Dominiques aren't good at foraging but I swear there's never a time I look out the back door that my girls' heads aren't buried in the weeds and scratching for seeds or chasing bugs!


View attachment 1217455
The above pic was from earlier this week. Bubbles is molting & the kids loved her even more. They went crazy for the chance to obtain one of those celebrity feathers. ....... I almost wanted to invite them here to clean out all the molted feathers from the coop & yard!

I like the soft colors of the silver and grey feathers -- they make good neutral headband feather decorations for almost any color of hat.

 

[Chickassan]

@txplowgirl,you'll definitely like doms I've only got the one and i didn't even hatch her my hubs brought her to me after a guy at his work gave her away. I'll tell you though from the minute i opened that box she's been my hen acts like a little feathery puppy.

 

[Leahs Mom]

How are Dominiques for handling the cold?

 

[tastyacres]

How are Dominiques for handling the cold?

Down in OR we would get down in the 20s and they did great... @Alaskan has some I believe.

 

[duluthralphie]

Mine do great....the 20 below temps don't seem to affect them