Dominiques? Dominekers? :::added::: Help with sexing please?

[Jay13]

Ok folks, I got 21 chickens from a neighbor guy who says they are "dominekkers" I understand this is southern speak for Dominiques? Any way they are 16-18 weeks right now and I'm worried that they might be something else? Not that it matters a lot but :: shrug :: I am trying to figure out their sex and I read somewhere that the females tend to be darker, and the males lighter... so I got (i think) mostly hens and about 5 roos, of course we can't *keep* all the roos, but we figure it gives us some choices as to who to keep.

Does anyone have any advise? I tried to take some pics but all the close ups turn out blurry, can't get them to stand still for anything.

The reason I think they may not be true doms is due to what appears to be a lack of the rose combs.... Ideas?

 

[jossanne]

You're probably right that they're not dom's. I think they're barred rocks. Those don't look like rose combs in the picture...

 

[mikarod]

That's a common misconception....

"Domineckers" refers to ANY barred bird...LOL

They look to have single combs, so I'd bet they are hatchery Barred Plymouth Rocks.

If they have rose combs, then they are Dominiques. There IS one in there that has white legs, and could possibly be a cuckoo maran, but she looks a bit older than the others in the pen. She's the one to the far right, underneath the wooden house?

 

[RooptyDoo]

Those look like barred rocks to me.

 

[Jay13]

Hah, how funny, didn't know about the "Domineckers" thing, have heard it several ways. Yes, a couple of the birds have white feet, but these were all hatched from the same bunch, (haven't seen the parents though). The breed isn't *that* important to me as I am mostly concerned with their ability to be half smart about predators and their ability to free range some.

That wooden box is actually my nesting box I have set up, there are 2 largeish (18x30) "rooms" in there, do you think that will be enough nesting space for 15 hens? Or do I need to further subdivide so there are 4 separate nests?

Thanks for all the help and advise...

Jay

 

[EllyMae]

If you are in the south, a "dominecker" is the term used for any barred chicken. If they are single comb then they aren't true Dominiques.

 

[Jay13]

I just double checked my book on Dominiques... (on a side note, I am little ocd when it comes to studying something before i actually jump in. I wasn't just happy with a book on chickens, I had to decide on a breed and then get a book about that breed. lol) ... its entitled the American Dominique by mark a. fields.

Aaaaanyway, he says the Doms used to have either a single or rose comb, that the main difference between them and barred rocks is the feather pattern... I saw in my search here that someone had pointed to the same information, but that the rose comb is dominant to the single crest ... so it is technically possible for *pure* dominiques to have single crested combs but that the rose comb is more common... in any case some of my girls don't appear to have combs at all, or they are very small. I suppose the only way to know is to wait and watch. Either way, I could sit and watch my new chickens for hours but then the house woudl fall apart and my 10 month old son might complain

 

[NYREDS]

You will often get some single combed birds from a Dominique mating because as you note they were bred that way in the past. They were standardized with a rose comb so must have one for show purposes. If you plan on working toward a show strain cull the single combed birds & only breed from rose combed birds. If you just want a backyard flock cull for productivity & thriftiness.

Great book by the way.

 

[Jay13]

NYReds, thanks. And that is what I am aiming at, a great backyard layer flock, I don't have the time or energy to even think about showing birds.... Am thinking of crossing them with a Dominique from another flock eventually when it is time for replacement birds just from a genetic variety point of view.

Any thoughts? I know most of you here have a little of this and a little of that, but DH likes things simple and straightforward (as do I). Anyone purposely introduce a new Roo to add genetic variety? Have you seen any problems with inbreeding?

 

[speckledhen]

One other point...because so many people down here erroneously call any barred bird a Dominecker, they could be all mixed, Dom with Barred Rock with Cuckoo Marans. They just dont make any distinction though seems a couple ofminutes of looking aat pics of the three would suffice to be able to ID them.