Dominiques anyone?

[nejlyn]

Hello!

Hubby and I have a few acres and a desire to start producing at least some of our own food, so we are looking at starting our own flock. I am terribly excited. I'm doing the research for us now and the Dominique is my top contender as a bird to start with. I love the idea of raising a heritage bird. We're in the mountains so their reputation of dealing well with extreme temperatures, predator awareness, and foraging potential are all a plus.

I'd love to buy from a breeder who specializes in Dominiques if possible, but I'm worried that might be too idealistic as they don't seem to be particularly easy to find!

Anyway, I'm excited to be part of this community! I know I have a lot to learn

-Jenny

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi, Jenny and welcome to BYC - great that you have joined us. Here's a search that i just did - https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=Dominiques . Seems there are quite a few like-minded people here. Just a thought, but it may be an idea starting out with more than one breed as that way you will have an opportunity to see what breeds suit both you and your local climate the best.


You'll find lots of info in the Learning Centre - https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center and if you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you

All the best
CT

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under nejlyn

Welcome!

CTKen has given you some great starting points so I will just wish you all the best with your search and with your new flock when they arrive.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. Unlike non chicken loving friends, family and colleagues, BYC’ers never tire of stories or pictures that feature our feathered and non feathered friends

 

[drumstick diva]

Hi Jenny, nice to meet you. Thank you for joining us at Backyard Chickens

 

[redsoxs]

Howdy from Kansas, Jenny, and

! Happy you joined our community! CTKen gave you a lot of great links so I'll just say best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[N F C]

Hi Jenny, best wishes for your plans!

 

[ejcrist]

Hello!

Hubby and I have a few acres and a desire to start producing at least some of our own food, so we are looking at starting our own flock. I am terribly excited. I'm doing the research for us now and the Dominique is my top contender as a bird to start with. I love the idea of raising a heritage bird. We're in the mountains so their reputation of dealing well with extreme temperatures, predator awareness, and foraging potential are all a plus.

I'd love to buy from a breeder who specializes in Dominiques if possible, but I'm worried that might be too idealistic as they don't seem to be particularly easy to find!

Anyway, I'm excited to be part of this community! I know I have a lot to learn

-Jenny

Hey Jenny. Welcome aboard. Heritage/SOP (Standard of Perfection) birds are definitely harder to come by than buying from a hatchery but they are available. This is a good time of year to buy chicks from a breeder since we're into hatching season now. Also later in the year a lot of breeders will have pullets and cockerels available for sale - they may not be the breeders top birds but are excellent birds to begin a breeding program with, or just to have and raise like it sounds like you're doing. To locate Dominique breeders I'd suggest three things: (1) join the American Poultry Association (http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/), (2) subscribe to Poultry Press (https://www.poultrypress.com/), and (3) join the Dominique Club of America (http://www.dominiqueclub.org/). The APA will send you the annual yearbook when you join and it has numerous breeder ads in it for every recognized breed. That's where I always start. Poultry Press is a monthly newspaper that lists all the upcoming poultry shows where you can talk to breeders and possibly buy what you're looking for. Poultry Press also has numerous breeder ads in each printing. The Dominique club, like all breed clubs, will be an excellent source of info and I'm sure you can get in touch with one of the members/breeders who'll be happy to help you out.

I don't breed Dominique's at the moment but I'd like to at some point in the future. I also don't belong to the Dominique Club but I am a member of the clubs associated with the breeds I am working with. The members of those clubs have been my very best source of information about the breeds and put me in touch with breeders in my area. I know it's a lot easier, cheaper, quicker, and more convenient to order your birds from a hatchery but I think you'll have a much richer experience if you do the little bit of extra legwork to obtain chicks from quality SOP Dominique parents. You'll learn a lot more about the breed in the process too. The chicks from SOP parents will have the qualities of the Dominique breed that you've probably already read about and desire in your birds. If you get them from a hatchery, depending on which one, you might end up with birds that look similar to Dominique's in their color but the similarities usually end there. Contrary to what a lot of people say, heritage SOP birds aren't judged by their beauty but by how close they come to the breed description in the SOP. If you look at a lot of hatchery catalogs, such as Strombergs, some of the breed descriptions say "Not for 4H" and that's because the bird does not have the breed characteristics outlined in the SOP and would be disqualified if entered in a show.

Anyway I just wanted to pass that along in case you didn't know because when I obtained my first flock I was extremely disappointed when I went to a show and saw what a Barred Rock was supposed to look like. I felt like the hatchery ripped me off. I still love my hatchery birds/their offspring and they are great egg layers but when I first got involved in keeping chickens I really wanted the breeds I was interested in and I felt like I didn't get that with my first purchase.

 

[CuzChickens]

Hello there, and welcome to the big, happy BYC family! I am so glad you joined us, please make yourself at home. I hope you will enjoy it here as much as I have!

~Cuz

 

[nejlyn]

Thanks for the kind welcome everyone!

CTKen - thanks for giving me some great starting points

ejcrist - thanks for all of the information! That definitely gives me a better idea of how to go about finding some breeders.

 

[sunnysideup2]

I have to forewarn you. When I got Dominiques I became vegetarian. These birds are so affectionate and loveable, you'll never want a dog again.