Dominique Thread!

[centrarchid]

Flitter,

Some hens of one of my dom lines have feathers that are prone to break. They are also light in color and I suspect carriers of the sex-linked slow feathering gene. Can you pluck a feather and photograph it? Do same from same location on another hen and a male dom. My bet is the bands, both light and dark are lighter on average, than in the darker hens. The rooster will provide excellent comparison for relative lengths of light and dark bands / bars.

Be prepaired for bad news of feather pecker.

Jim

 

[flitter]

Quote:
I hope this is done correctly. All the feather's are from the same area of the wing but Miss Molty's is larger. I probably should have plucked more to get similar size. Hindsight! The Molter is on the left, another hen in the middle and a feather from a 4 month cockerel (close as I have to a roo) is on the right.

The blacks look similar in color in both hens to me. The amount of white seems to be a matter of opinion. I polled my family. Some see more white. Some don't. I still think they look wider to me. The cock has more intense color, both white and black. Probably that would be the case if he were 2 years old like the hens?
I know you said one of your lines has slower feathering. I do like this hen's body type and coloring. And when she isn't molting she lays very well. But a 4+ month molt seems excessive. The bare neck is very unattractive and I always think it's more prone to infection (insect bite, bad sun burn). I'm just wondering if she should be part of my breeding pen?

 

[centrarchid]

Flitter,

Barring of light shaded bird appears typical. If it were male, light grey areas would be twice as long as dark grey areas. Middle bird has tight barring like barred Plymouth rock but contrast not crisp so typical in that regards to dominique. Cockerol too young to get handle on his barring as he will molt one more time before becoming adult.

 

[flitter]

Thank you. I'm am constantly amazed at how complicated a chicken is!

 

[ChicwannaB]

I know someday it will happen to me, chickens molting all over the place, but so far I have only the few random feathers flying around. Mostly after the ducks have been in the pool.

 

[flitter]

Yes! it's something to lok forward to.

 

[WallTenters]

If she is molting and not laying that long, I would not keep her for breeding.

 

[mrc]

Couple more pics of my 2 Dom roosters. They're around 15-16 weeks old now.

 

[buffalogal]

Quote:
What percentage protein are you feeding?

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
What percentage protein are you feeding?

That is my next line of questioning. Also, can you check poo for worms?