Dominique Thread!

[Alaskan]

I'm not sure where you're located but here they range from $5-$15.  We couldn't sell ours as it was early summer so we dressed him at 18 weeks.  We could've waited until 20, but I think he was beginning to get stringy so I wouldn't go over that next time.   We roasted him, and it was great, but due to the early stringiness, I'd suggest chicken and dumplins, gumbo, coq au vin or the like.

What is most important, it the temperature. And temperature spike, and the meat gets tough. LOW temps. Even when turning a chicken into soup, if you let it boil, then the meat will be stringy and chewy. You need a very low simmer.

The difference is that all that chicken at the grocery store is baby age... Anything from our backyards is much older, so LOW temps!!!!!

 

[EastNashChick]

I had him at 350.. should I try them any lower? If so, do you have a recipe?

 

[Tnic]

What is most important, it the temperature. And temperature spike, and the meat gets tough. LOW temps. Even when turning a chicken into soup, if you let it boil, then the meat will be stringy and chewy. You need a very low simmer.

The difference is that all that chicken at the grocery store is baby age... Anything from our backyards is much older, so LOW temps!!!!!

Looow & Sloooow. That's how BBQ cookers get that pulled pork so tender it falls apart with a nudge. BBQers (as opposed to grillers) generally cook larger cuts like a pork butt at around 200 -225 for hours and hours, like 10-15 or more. A whole broiler would likely be done in 4-5 hrs. The low heat and longer cook times give the connective tissues (lignins?) time to break down, making the meat tender and juicy.

A crock pot on low for many hours should get you a nice tender meal. And when we finally get to Maine my darling Ukrainian bride is going to learn how to use one. She keeps buying these "home chickens" from the babushkas at the market and I end up digging guitar string outta my teeth the rest of the day.

 

[Alaskan]

I had him at 350.. should I try them any lower? If so, do you have a recipe?

Here is the article I am always linking to.

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

If you don't want to read the entire thing, the most important part is as follows, quote:

It will take hours longer to cook fowl, but the meat is richly flavored and was esteemed for sandwiches, chicken salad, pot pie and all recipes calling for cooked chicken meat. Fowl will become just as tender as younger chickens as long as it is kept moist and the meat temperature is kept low, preferably below 180 F. If the meat temperature goes above 180 F, the protein fibers toughen so that even if it is cooked long enough to fall apart, the individual fibers remain tough. When stewing, the water should not be allowed to boil, but should be kept at a simmer temperature, 180 F or less. Fowl can also be steam-baked with 1 or 2 cups water added to the pan; the pan should be tightly covered so the moisture won't escape, with the oven temperature at 300-325 F. Whether stewed or steam-baked, the breast meat of fowl will be best (especially good for sandwiches) if it is removed as soon as it is done, which may be a couple of hours before the dark meat is done. I allow at least 3 hours to cook a 3 1/2 to 4 lb hen.Some prefer the electric slow cooker for stewing chickens. The only slow cooker I've tried allowed the meat temperature to get too high, 200 F or higher. Perhaps others have better slow cookers.

 

[Tnic]

Here's a helpful temp chart to use as a guideline.

I generally run my pork loins (from Sam's, cut in half) up to 165F @ ~225F smoker temp for 10-12 hours.

Meat Temp Chart

 

[Sylvester017]

To be fair, if they sell chicks and/or eggs at all, most breeders have everything spoken for by April. Late summer into fall you can find started birds, but not everyone ships. I've driven 5 hours one way specifically to pick up chickens, and when my daughter and I drove from Oklahoma to Kentucky to buy a buck, we swung by and picked up a cock too. Sometimes, you just have to go out of your way to get what you want.

I called a year in advance to arrange something and was not successful. Like I said the only Dom breeder in the Club was Tracey in KY and I didn't want shipped birds from that far. I've received shipped USPS juveniles before but Dom breeders are a bit reluctant to ship the juveniles and would rather ship eggs which I'm not equipped to handle.

 

[Sylvester017]

What is most important, it the temperature. And temperature spike, and the meat gets tough. LOW temps. Even when turning a chicken into soup, if you let it boil, then the meat will be stringy and chewy. You need a very low simmer.

The difference is that all that chicken at the grocery store is baby age... Anything from our backyards is much older, so LOW temps!!!!!

I've roasted poultry at 250 degrees covered in the oven for several hours to tenderize the meats. I start at 350 to get the oven warm for 10 minutes or so and then drop the temp to 250. I roast turkeys that way for several hours and the meat falls off the bones. Chicken is juicier when roasted at low temp and covered. Put a few potatoes and carrots in the roaster and the meat and veggies absorb each other's flavors and juices and the covered roaster self-bastes the contents.

 

[Jewls819]

Here is my very first hatch of Dominiques. My rooster is a good boy and takes great care of his girls. I set 9 and only one was not fertilized. All 8 hatched! The other three are Cream Legbars I had set from a local farm...that hatch was not as good.

 

[Alaskan]

Here is my very first hatch of Dominiques. My rooster is a good boy and takes great care of his girls. I set 9 and only one was not fertilized. All 8 hatched! The other three are Cream Legbars I had set from a local farm...that hatch was not as good.

super cute!

 

[buffalogal]

Here's a better picture of my unknown chick. 2 weeks old. Front & center. Solid black head & beak & legs except for one orange middle toe on each foot.
Father is Dominique or Delaware. Mother (not broody) is Doninique or Welsummer.

Had the Dominique been the sire all the chicks would have been barred. As it is, it looks like your solid black chick is out of the Delaware cock and most likely, the Dominique hen. I have no idea where the black beak and legs came from.