Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Yellow House Farm]

What are your thoughts on dominiques? I've been thinking about picking them as my breed.The all-American feel the dominiques have really gets me pumped.

Hmmm...honestly. They're whatever you'd like them to be, but, although I'm quite clear on the history of the Dominique, I'd give all-American to an arm-wrestle between Plymouth Rocks and RIRs, waiting for a NH to steal home. If you want a RC bird, I'd go with RC RIRs or White Dorkings. I'm not saying they're not good chickens or that I dislike them, which I don't. However, you asked for "my thoughts." I think that the royalty of the American class goes to Rocks, Reds, NHs, and Wyandottes, and when you see good ones, you know why.

 

[mountaindog66]

Hmmm...honestly. They're whatever you'd like them to be, but, although I'm quite clear on the history of the Dominique, I'd give all-American to an arm-wrestle between Plymouth Rocks and RIRs, waiting for a NH to steal home. If you want a RC bird, I'd go with RC RIRs or White Dorkings. I'm not saying they're not good chickens or that I dislike them, which I don't. However, you asked for "my thoughts." I think that the royalty of the American class goes to Rocks, Reds, NHs, and Wyandottes, and when you see good ones, you know why.

Oooh, good, I was hoping you'd throw Wyandottes in there...

I've been quietly reading through every post in this thread since I last posted here, such a lot to learn, I'm very grateful for the knowledge shared here. It was a revelation to me that the SOP is designed around form following function (which is quite different than modern purebred dogs for example), this is something I can finally grasp so I am now very interested in learning how to interpret the SOPs for my favorite breeds.

Yellow House, I assume you are basing your top 5-6 DP breeds on some specific criteria useful to homesteading in particular while at the same time preserving valuable lines Please correct me, but I'll take a guess at (in no particular order):

• longevity
• vigor/health
• foraging ability or efficient feed consumption
• egg production
• carcass size
• meat flavor
• ability to breed healthy replacement stock well (fertility? narrowness of gene pool?)
• winter hardiness?
• anything else I'm neglecting?

I understand many of the above criteria are a delicate balance (e.g longevity vs age to maturity vs egg production vs carcass size vs vigor).

You've mentioned some sources of great Heritage RIRs you'd like to see "spread around" and have me intrigued, do you likewise have any suggestions for the Speckled Sussex? Wyandotte?

Thanks!

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Hmmm...honestly. They're whatever you'd like them to be, but, although I'm quite clear on the history of the Dominique, I'd give all-American to an arm-wrestle between Plymouth Rocks and RIRs, waiting for a NH to steal home. If you want a RC bird, I'd go with RC RIRs or White Dorkings. I'm not saying they're not good chickens or that I dislike them, which I don't. However, you asked for "my thoughts." I think that the royalty of the American class goes to Rocks, Reds, NHs, and Wyandottes, and when you see good ones, you know why.

I agree. That's part of the reason why I want to go with dominiques. I have seen very few very nice doms with a u shaped back, wide spread tail, high chest, ect. I want to work to improve the breed and get them closer to being royalty of the American class. I like how doms are a little smaller in build than some of the other dual purpose breeds. I need meat but not a whole lot since the freezers are filled with deer and turkey most of the time.

 

[cgmccary]

Hmmm...honestly. They're whatever you'd like them to be, but, although I'm quite clear on the history of the Dominique, I'd give all-American to an arm-wrestle between Plymouth Rocks and RIRs, waiting for a NH to steal home. If you want a RC bird, I'd go with RC RIRs or White Dorkings. I'm not saying they're not good chickens or that I dislike them, which I don't. However, you asked for "my thoughts." I think that the royalty of the American class goes to Rocks, Reds, NHs, and Wyandottes, and when you see good ones, you know why.

Oh I would have to respectfully disagree. It sort of depends why you want chickens. If you want a show bird, then Rocks, Reds, NHs & Wyandottes are probably what you go with, for sure. There's more of them, a bigger gene pool to play & more breeders. However, if you want a hardy, tough farm/ homestead fowl, the Dominique is probably one of the best. Certainly, having four toes instead of five is an advantage. For eggs, meat, sitters or mother hens, a Dominique has it all. Their cuckoo feathering is predator resistant; appearing almost bluish & confusing at a distance, they blend into the background. They are a good size & the oldest of the American breeds. And I have seen many a Dominique rooster rule the yard. IMHO, the Royalty of the farm, of the rural life are the hardy, tough breeds that free range well & can hustle a lot of their own food (and some of the ones that do not get as much attention), such as Dominiques, Buckeyes, Chanteclers. When you see good ones of these breeds, you know you've seen something rare. Just my thoughts.

 

[Extra Java]

What breeds re you talking about?

Below is one of my White Java Hens. I know they are not currently in the SOP but they once were. Also, please note that I didn't choose White Java, they were kindly sent to me from Garfield Farm Museum in hopes I would keep them. She has willow shanks and yellow foot pads. White Java dress out beautifully and have yellow skin with a great flavor. Anyway, I like them except for the one problem I've observed...cannibalism. This is why I thought it may have a bit to do with red & white color contrast since they were hatched and raised together with blacks who have never done this. OR it could be just a coincidence since the whites are larger and on the TOP of the pecking order.

It's only been 2 white hens participating so, I pulled them out in hopes of correcting the behavior. This year I hatched ~80 chicks with more in the incubator & broody which should take it up over 100.

I guess I'm on my own in figuring it out since there aren't many whites around...

 

[Ivagrove]

Oh I would have to respectfully disagree. It sort of depends why you want chickens. If you want a show bird, then Rocks, Reds, NHs & Wyandottes are probably what you go with, for sure. There's more of them, a bigger gene pool to play & more breeders. However, if you want a hardy, tough farm/ homestead fowl, the Dominique is probably one of the best. Certainly, having four toes instead of five is an advantage. For eggs, meat, sitters or mother hens, a Dominique has it all. Their cuckoo feathering is predator resistant; appearing almost bluish & confusing at a distance, they blend into the background. They are a good size & the oldest of the American breeds. And I have seen many a Dominique rooster rule the yard. IMHO, the Royalty of the farm, of the rural life are the hardy, tough breeds that free range well & can hustle a lot of their own food (and some of the ones that do not get as much attention), such as Dominiques, Buckeyes, Chanteclers. When you see good ones of these breeds, you know you've seen something rare. Just my thoughts.

Absolutely!

 

[AletaG]

I'm very interested in knowing also, since I've been looking very hard at 2 white or almost white breeds... the new Delaware line and some W LF Cornish. The cannibalism thing would be an added difficulty I had not considered, if having W feathers increases the incidence due to the contrast... Bob? do your W Rhode Islands do this more than the reds? Or your white Rocks?

Below is one of my White Java Hens. I know they are not currently in the SOP but they once were. Also, please note that I didn't choose White Java, they were kindly sent to me from Garfield Farm Museum in hopes I would keep them. She has willow shanks and yellow foot pads. White Java dress out beautifully and have yellow skin with a great flavor. Anyway, I like them except for the one problem I've observed...cannibalism. This is why I thought it may have a bit to do with red & white color contrast since they were hatched and raised together with blacks who have never done this. OR it could be just a coincidence since the whites are larger and on the TOP of the pecking order.
It's only been 2 white hens participating so, I pulled them out in hopes of correcting the behavior. This year I hatched ~80 chicks with more in the incubator & broody which should take it up over 100.
I guess I'm on my own in figuring it out since there aren't many whites around...

 

[capayvalleychick]

I'm very interested in knowing also, since I've been looking very hard at 2 white or almost white breeds... the new Delaware line and some W LF Cornish. The cannibalism thing would be an added difficulty I had not considered, if having W feathers increases the incidence due to the contrast..

I have not had any cannibalism with my Delawares. I always thought that it was a behavior brought on by overcrowding. I've heard several Bresse breeders complain about it, so maybe it can be breed or strain related, especially if you don't cull for it.

 

[Zanna]

I have not had any cannibalism with my Delawares. I always thought that it was a behavior brought on by overcrowding. I've heard several Bresse breeders complain about it, so maybe it can be breed or strain related, especially if you don't cull for it.

x 2 Never had an issue. I also have white leghorns in my layer flock, no problems ever.

 

[gjensen]

Cannibalism, seams to me, to be related to stress and competition. Over crowding, too bright of lights, etc could be the stress. Some birds seam to be more competitive at younger ages. Combine the two factors together, and you have a mess.

To comment on the "All American Breed", I would go with that it depends on what you want. As much as I like NHs, they are not a low input breed. The more modern dual purpose breeds perform well with a surplus of cheap grain. They were certainly an improvement over many older breeds with how we came to manage them. If you want a low in put breed, I would not recommend them though.
More and more, I have come to value the lighter breeds. With feed costs creeping up from year to year, I wonder if it does not make sense to consider some of the lighter breeds. Dominiques would be less expensive to raise.