Dominique Thread!

My broody hatched out 9 chicks last week, and I think 6 of them are pure Dominique. If anyone near southwestern Indiana would like to purchase some, let me know. I think 3 are male and 3 are female. Broody is raising them free-range plus I give them some organic feed in the afternoons. I'm not sure if I want to sell all of the girls, but I do want to sell the boys since I already have enough roosters & I don't like the idea of them ending up on my dinner table. The "father" Dominique rooster is very well behaved.

Pure female Doms will have black on their front legs and top of toes - they will have a tight white dot on top of their head. Males will have paler legs and more of a scattered dot on their head and maybe some splashing of white on the back of their neck as well. The girls have the more tight white spot on their head with the darker legs usually. This is most easily identified as day-old chicks. Is that a Delaware mum?
 
Yes, she's a Delaware, and has been quite an entertaining broody!
One of the chicks is all black- no white spot at all. From the little research I've done, it could be a female chick from a Delaware rooster crossed with a Dominique hen, but I'm not a expert. 3 of the eggs were Welsummer eggs, and the 2 light chicks are likely Delaware x Welsummer, but I don't know which is the 3rd Welsummer. I had thought the all black, but research so far says no.
 
Just the Delaware & Dominique. My signature is my current flock. The chick with the solid black head has no white at all except for the light grey on her belly/butt. She has one orange toe on each foot, but the rest of her feet and legs are black- even the back of her legs are black. This is why I'm thinking she may be a sex link chick from a Delaware/Dominique cross, but I've only found one source to say that. If that's the case, I still have to match one of the black chicks to a Welsummer egg, and I have one chick that looks like a Dominique male but has face markings similar to a Welsummer chick (drawn-out eyeliner marking on the outsides of eyes). Might be it?
 
My understanding is that a Delaware roo can't produce a BSL chick. that's why I lean toward pure Dom. There's a real nice chart somewhere. You can find it by doing a sex link search. Either way, I'm pulling a guess out of my hat and saying that one is a pullet.
 
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My Dom gals are definitely displaying that inquisitive Dom personality. I have not put any time into socializing this batch of birds, but the Doms are under my feet the minute I step into the run. One of them runs up to me and squats the minute she sees me. They spend a lot of time checking out my clothing to see if there's anything edible. One of them jumps up on the perch at waist height and seems to beg for a facial and neck massage. She'll lean into me and close her eyes, especially when I scritch her neck.
 
Just the Delaware & Dominique. My signature is my current flock. The chick with the solid black head has no white at all except for the light grey on her belly/butt. She has one orange toe on each foot, but the rest of her feet and legs are black- even the back of her legs are black. This is why I'm thinking she may be a sex link chick from a Delaware/Dominique cross, but I've only found one source to say that. If that's the case, I still have to match one of the black chicks to a Welsummer egg, and I have one chick that looks like a Dominique male but has face markings similar to a Welsummer chick (drawn-out eyeliner marking on the outsides of eyes). Might be it?

Welsummer female chicks have darker extended eyeliner and the males eyeliner is much paler in comparison - the darker chipmunk stripes on the back indicate female. The paler or almost no stripes on the back are the males.
 
I gave a trio of my doms to co-worker. Based on hatch rates I get with same birds I told him he would be lucky get 60% of eggs set to hatch. Starting with about a dozen eggs each for three clutches he got no less than 10 chicks per brood. I have been selecting for improved hatch rate relative to my games under same conditions. Games do much better when nest are on ground and otherwise exposed to elements. Improvement being realized but when clutches coddled hatch rate is very respectable. I will be getting 8 juveniles back as part of deal.
 

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