Dominique Thread!

[blueclip]

Yes he is the same age. These guys are all just over 2 months old. That's a bummer seeing as he is the alpha male and started crowing already...can't you keep a rooster and not worry about breeding if you just take away the eggs on time?

 

[JediJinx]

I have my Doms in a mixed flock and it very much depends on the breeds you put in there. My Doms tend to be higher ranking but they are not bullies and not overly pecky or aggressive. I had some Ameraucanas and they were too shy to be around the Doms - I had to get rid of the Ams, Marans were a good match, and now I have Buckeyes which are an ok match too although the Buckeyes are more shy than the Marans. I also have pure Cornish and Cornish cross, both of those are also more shy. My games are a good match too, although I would never allow the Game roos in with the Dom roos because the games would annihilate them.

Doms tend to be more vigorous foragers and very hearty and vigorous hatchers as chicks than other breeds I have tried. The Dom chicks hatched with these other breeds out-hatched them, jumped up immediately asking for food, out-ate them, out-grew them and as juves they rule the yard. Now at 18 weeks the pullets are getting interested in nesting boxes while the others are far from laying maturity.

 

[centrarchid]

The most dominant cockerel of cohort 1 is coming into type. We also had a lot of fights today. The fights generally not so serious because of the large number of cockerels. Sometimes more is better. Having a few rather than current 15 results in greater odds a win gives preferred rank change.

This guy is one of the overly light colored examples. Point on his comb also curved back along his neck too much. He is showing decent tail angle and OK length.

 

[shary]

I am new to raising chickens. I have 4 Dominique. I have been spoiling them.
I was wandering if it is normal for one to have a lighter color of the cone. I notice that the ones on here are red and 3 of mine are red. But one is a flesh color.

 

[centrarchid]

Age is important. Show pictures.

 

[shary]

The one in the front middle has the lighter color. Can you tell which one is the male?
There is supposed to be one male.
They are about 4 months old.

 

[centrarchid]

The one in the front middle has the lighter color. Can you tell which one is the male?
There is supposed to be one male.
They are about 4 months old.

I do not think they are pure American Dominiques. Bird front left looks male based on tail and feet. If I am correct they are half something at least that is not American Dominique. Could you show closeups of combs?

 

[Sylvester017]

As an adult she will be quite a chunk when she flies up on you. That is why I no longer have dom roosters do it.

With your huge flock it definitely is not practical. With our 4 hens we spoil them and just make sure we have our long-sleeve flannel shirt on so they can clamp their feet securely on our arm. Mostly they are content just to come up to us and carry on a conversation and check out if we are carrying treats! The 2 small Silkies pull or peck on our shoes or pant leg because they can't jump to our arm, the Ameraucana is not a jumper, and the Breda loves to stand on our arm. Our Dom loved to sit on our arm or shoulder but we lost her to a sudden seizure

Looking over your group I find some one thing I like about one or the other of your Doms and don't envy the work ahead of you! Lovely lovely!

Here are some pics of puddles!

Hard to tell from the photo but even with a cushion she shows a bit of U in her back. I love her rosecomb leader!

I am very much enjoying all of the photos and info from everyone. Very educational.

I like this Dom site because no one is judgmental unless you specifically ask for critiques. There are serious breeders to wonderful backyarders that happen to LUV their friendly curious outgoing unafraid pet Doms.

Quote: Out of your two girls I like Loretta best - (1) because she was the one that made you fall in love with Doms and (2) because she is a pretty girl I wouldn't mind having myself - as much of a U back as possible and the rosecomb leader and of course a good temperament. I don't breed so can't advise you but many on this thread can help with that.

Sorry. I'm not sure if she's any good to start to breed. I'm breeding Ameraucanas right now and might stick with that. I'm just wondering if I should get better stock to breed from to start out with Doms, since they are our favorite, but I'm realizing that a lot of them aren't true to type, so want to see if I have a keeper for breeding. I start with trios. We are backyard breeders.

I love our Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar) because she is not an aggressive breed and very kind and non-combative with flockmates and an excellent sentinel/guardian, but in our hot SoCal heatwaves she hasn't been a good 2nd year layer ( the broody Silkies produced more eggs than her this year!) so we sadly won't invest in any more Amer's or even EEs since they are too weather-sensitive in our humid climate. They are a breed that seems to thrive in cooler and wet weather rather than hot humid climates. We have a new gentle Breda that has been outstanding/similar in temperament to the Dom we lost which we never thought there was another breed out there with a temperament like a Dom. Our hope is that when we get another Dom that she will grow to be similarly friendly with her flockmates as our Breda and Ameraucana are.

This is Eleanor a calm,shy,busy gal born 7/5/15. Enjoying her feather softness.

What a cutie! Doms are as soft and maybe even softer than Silkies!

 

[Alaskan]

The one in the front middle has the lighter color. Can you tell which one is the male?
There is supposed to be one male.
They are about 4 months old.

It is a bit difficult to tell in the photo... But it looks like maybe a couple gave single combs???????

The dominant cuckoo coloring of Doms makes it so that most crosses look like a Dom at first glance.

Also pure Doms will have a clear difference in feather color between males and females... So... Yours are pretty birds... But it isn't quite clear what I am looking at... Maybe a better photo?

 

[Alaskan]

The most dominant cockerel of cohort 1 is coming into type. We also had a lot of fights today. The fights generally not so serious because of the large number of cockerels. Sometimes more is better. Having a few rather than current 15 results in greater odds a win gives preferred rank change.

This guy is one of the overly light colored examples. Point on his comb also curved back along his neck too much. He is showing decent tail angle and OK length.

I actually favor an extreme color contrast, with a super light male... Also, slightly lighter females helps clear up any excessive dark cast on the feet of the females.