dominque crosses

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Chris,

Good quality for me is a good looking production bird. Ultimately it will be able to produce in a free range situation supplemented with low quality (whole grain based) diet even when challenged with light predator pressure. I most of flock to avoid stray dogs long enough for me to take action. Many times I have entire flocks taken out within minutes by a dog while not a single game chicken was lost.

I am in process of acquiring founding stock. It is to be made up of three dominique lineages, two of which have been bred for show and a third used as an egg production line by a local commercial producer of multiple breeds. I will use a fourth if another with merit is found.

Show lines pretty but not good producers and production line much too soft in feathers (looks like has barred plymouth rock in background). None of the lines I will be working with look like dominques from the breeds heyday. Old time dominques look like they had a little game in them (based on photographs).

Egg color desired is simply darker than I have now.

I would like to harden feathers up to near that of game chickens. I realize this will hinder growth but is required to restore some flight capability.

As for feed, objective is to reduce need for complete rations, at least during summer growing season. I stress, plants are not to be a major protein source but rather energy. I want to use the chickens capacity for cecal fermentation which is otherwise loss in lines that have been feed high quality complete diets for many generations.


Jim

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
This should work, there all 3 year old's and heading into a molt but I got 2 hens posted for you.
Ill try to get some more later...

http://www.picturetrail.com/son-of-the-south-farm

Chris

 

[centrarchid]

Anyone with experience involving dominique crosses?

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Surely someone has such experience?

 

[ltrader]

I had a flock of show stock dominiques that were good free range birds. They were very good at staying away from predators, one time my dogs got loose ( boston terriers, not especially good hunters

and were completely ineffective at catching the chickens, didn't get so much as a feather.

 

[centrarchid]

Predators (red foxes, coyotes, and domestic dogs with history of catching chickens) I have to deal with are pretty good at catching chickens unless the chickens fly immediately into trees.

 

[centrarchid]

I am now into second year of project, 28 more to go. Project is in part to harden feathers of one of my American Dominique lines to enable improved flight capacity and resistance to weather. Key component was infusion of American game and California Grey. California Grey is largely being dropped owing to inferior foraging habits and very poor appearance of feathers. American Game cross is being carried forward. Most of crossed birds are being back-crossed into pure American Dominique. Although a single pair was selected to generate F2 hybrids to see if I could come up a new combination of alleles that might influence crispness of barring. Normally pure Dom's have relatively crisp bars on feathers although not nearly as crisp as in barred Plymouth Rocks. Difference between those to breeds I think is in part a function of feather growth rate. Barred rocks grow feather slower setting up for more contrasted light and dark bars. Dominique's, mine at least, have feather feather growth that is faster than in barred rocks but not as fast as in something like American games. When the American Dominique's barring genes are operated over fast growing feather like in American Games, then barring appears smokey / less contrasted than in pure American Dominiques. To get around this I attempted to bring in another barring gene from the game side hoping interaction between the games barring gene at one locus would act synergistic-ally with the American Dominiques barring gene. I may have gotten this to work. I generated a lot of F2 chicks and got a cockerel that may have fast feathering yet relatively crisp barring as well as minimal foreign color for American Dominiques.


First bird is close to desired phenotype with long and hard feathers with minimal foreign coloration but barring is smokey.

Smokey bars on tail feathers.




Foreign color on shoulder minimal but present.






Second bird is much closer to desired product.
Lateral aspect.


Dorsal Aspect.




Tail with crisper barring.



Less foreign color on shoulder.