Dominique Thread!

[Alaskan]

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Easter hatch, 79 total from 2 pens. Moat of these will be sent off for a 4-H project. This hatch date was also set for me to have pullets to select and grow out for the Dominique club of America's National that will be located at the Ohio National on November 10 and 11th. I expect this to be a big event for the Dominque Club with cash money awards for best of breed in LF and bantam. This show should be a meet to attend as there should be good numbers in both. Hope to see you there!

I always enjoy your birds! Do you gave any photos of adults to show off?

Add, how easy is it to sex your chicks at hatch?

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

I always enjoy your birds! Do you gave any photos of adults to show off?

Add, how easy is it to sex your chicks at hatch?

I feel it is becoming very difficult to sex my line when they are young. Remember I prefer a prefer a female that is lighter in color, cleaning up the dusky legs and beaks have been a major improvement over the past two seasons making sexing the chicks even more difficult.

 

[Alaskan]

I feel it is becoming very difficult to sex my line when they are young. Remember I prefer a prefer a female that is lighter in color, cleaning up the dusky legs and beaks have been a major improvement over the past two seasons making sexing the chicks even more difficult.

exactly what I was wondering! !!! Thanks so much for the response, good to know.

 

[Sylvester017]

I feel it is becoming very difficult to sex my line when they are young. Remember I prefer a prefer a female that is lighter in color, cleaning up the dusky legs and beaks have been a major improvement over the past two seasons making sexing the chicks even more difficult.

Still always learning here. Question - I like a slightly lighter female also, but why do yu0 clean up shaded chick legs? I always relied on darker leg shading and beak color along with the tight head spot to assure I have female chicks. Granted, my older juveniles had slight shading down the front of their legs but as they got older about 8 months the legs turned a nice yellow. Has there been a problem with adult hens retaining the shading down the front of their legs or is this just a line issue? Learning here.

The Ohio show sounds like such fun. Wish I was in better health to attend one of these Dom shows. I have a nice lighter color female that was very promising and had a nice leader/spike at the end of her comb and then in the last month the comb grew too far up from the skull and the leader flops to one side -- I was so disappointed as my other two Dom pullets developed rather nice rose combs and leaders which I wasn't expecting when they were younger. The silly tails they had as juveniles are starting to look a lot better now too. Just never can tell how juveniles will grow out and now I understand why breeders/show participants say to wait and see how a juvenile grows out before culling them. Show us pics of the Doms at Ohio!

 

[centrarchid]

My first (n = 5) pipped. More to come in nickles and dimes with some added to native clutches of my game hens.

 

[Sylvester017]

@Faraday40 How's Bubbles doing? And the new chick? Thinking of your girls often when I'm with my own little group of girls.

 

[Faraday40]

Bubbles = no change. I feel she's not doing well, but like all birds, she hides her symptoms. It's very subtle. She's still laying fine, eggs look normal, near top of pecking order, 1st to the treats, runs, scratches, digs for worms, plays in mud, etc. However when I throw scraps to the ground, I see her with her head down to gobble up as much as quickly as she can. That's when she has minor respiratory issues. (Sometimes a sneeze, sometimes breathing with mouth open) I hatched her from a doz eggs off eBay. She's over 3. Many hatchery birds don't live to 3 yrs. Perhaps she's just an older, overweight bird.

The new Dom chick is 5.5 wks and still undetermined gender. The comb is slightly wider when compared to Bubbles' baby pics. Beak & legs about same color as Bubbles' baby pics. There's some black wash on front legs - but not an easy black like most Dom pics. Feathers look dark from a distant glance but not an easy black. (I guess it's hard to describe, but if looking at a distance, females look black & males look more light gray to me.) My chick is not the male gray color, but does have some white. Bubbles was always an easy "black" because her feathers were black & light gray. She didn't get much white until older. I suppose, I'm leaning toward female or perhaps it's just wishful thinking. What do you think?


Please excuse the poopy feet. These two were playing directly under the roost before I got a chance to clean it up.

It's definitely not easy to sex this chick. Lighting matters a lot. The pic below (in direct morning sunlight) makes the legs look pale and highlights the white. Gulp! This pic looks like a male!

 

[duluthralphie]

Still always learning here. Question - I like a slightly lighter female also, but why do yu0 clean up shaded chick legs? I always relied on darker leg shading and beak color along with the tight head spot to assure I have female chicks. Granted, my older juveniles had slight shading down the front of their legs but as they got older about 8 months the legs turned a nice yellow. Has there been a problem with adult hens retaining the shading down the front of their legs or is this just a line issue? Learning here.

The Ohio show sounds like such fun. Wish I was in better health to attend one of these Dom shows. I have a nice lighter color female that was very promising and had a nice leader/spike at the end of her comb and then in the last month the comb grew too far up from the skull and the leader flops to one side -- I was so disappointed as my other two Dom pullets developed rather nice rose combs and leaders which I wasn't expecting when they were younger. The silly tails they had as juveniles are starting to look a lot better now too. Just never can tell how juveniles will grow out and now I understand why breeders/show participants say to wait and see how a juvenile grows out before culling them. Show us pics of the Doms at Ohio!

Yes, to some might retain the shading. The SOP requires yellow shanks and toes.

The color of my chicks are hard for me to tell apart, it is very faint difference at hatch, but within a week it is very noticeable, I have to sex by the spot.

Also ( I read daily here but do not post a lot on this thread anymore) I recall someone saying the barring is more cuckoo on the DOm's than barred rocks. I do not find that to be the case with mine. The barring is pretty consistent and constant over the body of both sexes. I got my DOM's from Duane Urch a few years ago. They have served me well at the shows. (I wanted to list the place I got them because people ask what line they are and I have no idea)

 

[duluthralphie]

Bubbles = no change. I feel she's not doing well, but like all birds, she hides her symptoms. It's very subtle. She's still laying fine, eggs look normal, near top of pecking order, 1st to the treats, runs, scratches, digs for worms, plays in mud, etc. However when I throw scraps to the ground, I see her with her head down to gobble up as much as quickly as she can. That's when she has minor respiratory issues. (Sometimes a sneeze, sometimes breathing with mouth open) I hatched her from a doz eggs off eBay. She's over 3. Many hatchery birds don't live to 3 yrs. Perhaps she's just an older, overweight bird.

The new Dom chick is 5.5 wks and still undetermined gender. The comb is slightly wider when compared to Bubbles' baby pics. Beak & legs about same color as Bubbles' baby pics. There's some black wash on front legs - but not an easy black like most Dom pics. Feathers look dark from a distant glance but not an easy black. (I guess it's hard to describe, but if looking at a distance, females look black & males look more light gray to me.) My chick is not the male gray color, but does have some white. Bubbles was always an easy "black" because her feathers were black & light gray. She didn't get much white until older. I suppose, I'm leaning toward female or perhaps it's just wishful thinking. What do you think?


Please excuse the poopy feet. These two were playing directly under the roost before I got a chance to clean it up.
View attachment 1334068 View attachment 1334071 View attachment 1334073

It's definitely not easy to sex this chick. Lighting matters a lot. The pic below (in direct morning sunlight) makes the legs look pale and highlights the white. Gulp! This pic looks like a male!
View attachment 1334080

With the picture color I say Girl, but the lighting makes it hard to tell. I doubt a boy would have that dark of shanks.

 

[Faraday40]

With the picture color I say Girl, but the lighting makes it hard to tell. I doubt a boy would have that dark of shanks.

Thanks. It's nice to know others see a few female traits too.

Hopeful it's a pullet.