Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Human kibble. Wouldn't that be Mac and Cheese?

Or ramen...

 

[rural mouse]

Barred Rock vs Dominique

I have started my research and have come across the following comparison.

	Barred Rock	Dominique
Comb	Barred Rocks possess a single comb.	Dominiques possess a rose comb.
Color	Barred Rocks exhibit sharply contrasting parallel black and white bars. The Barred Rock roosters are slightly lighter in color than the hens, as the males carry two chromosomes for the barring and the females have only one.	Dominique barring is not as sharp as that of a Barred Rock. The bars are somewhat staggered and not parallel like that of the Barred Rock. A male is much lighter in color than the female.
Plumage	The width of the dark and light bars is almost same. They are placed in parallel rows. Both males and females have straight uniform bars. According to the breed standards of the Barred Rock, acceptable plumage variations are white, blue Colombian, silver penciled and black.	A slight ‘v’ pattern is seen in the barring of the feathers. Staggered barring in their plumage results in what is described as ‘mottled appearance.’ The light bars are silvery white, while the dark bars are not black, but dove gray. Moreover, the light bars on a Dominique male are twice as wide as that of a female. So, a male is much lighter in color than the female. The Dominique does not have any other acceptable variations in plumage.
Tail	The tail is quite short.	The tail is long and flowing. The tail of the cock is carried at 45 degrees from the horizontal.
Weight	The Barred Plymouth Rock is heavier than the Dominique. The standard weights are: cock – 7.5-9.5 lb (3.4-4.3 kg), hen – 6.6-7.5 lb (3-3.4 kg), cockerel – 8 lb (3.6 kg), and pullet – 5-6 lb (2.3-2.7 kg).	The standard weights are: Cock: 7 lb (3.17 kg), Hen: 5 lb (2.27 kg), Cockerel: 6 lb (2.72 kg), Pullet: 4 lb (1.81 kg)
Appearance	It has a relatively deeper body and lower tail carriage.	They carry their heads high up on well-arched necks. The males have an almost “u” shaped back outline. The females have sloping back outlines- sloping from head to tail. The carriage of the Dominique is more upright than that of the Barred Rock.
Egg Production	The Barred Rock produces more eggs (about 4 per week) than the Dominique. The light brown eggs are larger than the eggs laid by Dominiques.	The Dominique has a medium production rate (about 3 per week). The eggs are light brown. They may be large or medium-sized.
Meat	Barred Rocks are heavier than the Dominiques, they may have a few ounces more meat than the Dominiques.	The Dominique is also a good producer of meat and eggs.

Unsurprisingly, they share a heritage.

The Dominique is America’s oldest chicken breed. The Barred Rock (a type of Plymouth Rock) was developed from the Dominiques.

The Dominique is the oldest American dual-purpose breed. Reliable data of its origin is not available. The Dominique chicken was very common in American farmyards during the 1820s and 1830s.

The Barred Rock is the barred variety of the popular Plymouth Rock which was developed in the early 1800s by crossing single-combed Dominiques and Black Javas. Barred Rocks were likely developed using crosses of Dominiques, Black Javas, Cochins, and perhaps Malays and Dorkings. The Barred Rock has been around a long time as well becoming an official breed in the United States in 1865. For reference sake, that is the year the American Civil War ended.

I find this very interesting. Dominiques appear to be very feisty chickens. While they have a reputation for having a calm personality, supposedly, there have been incidences where Dominiques have killed small cats, minks, and snakes.

Dominques were nearly extinct. By 1970 there were only 4 known flocks still in existence. Since then they have recovered somewhat but are still on the "watch" list.

When I add to the flock again, Dominique is on my list. Nika had quite the personality going, smaller than most of the others but feisty. My white sapphires are on the bossy side, but she wouldn't take it from them. She was friendly with most of the flock, kind of a get along with everyone but zero bully tolerance.

 

[rural mouse]

Isn't it a type of coffee?

He gets a Java, he'd better name it something coffee related: Coffee, Mocha, Cappuccino, Latte, Espresso....

 

[featherhead007]

Holding it Together

Despite molting, Phyllis is still glamorous. She is holding it together really well. The new tail feathers are on their way and she has held onto that one feather so she never loses her shape. It's not easy to be that beautiful without molting but she pulls it off all the time.

Her motto, "It is better to look good than feel good".

View attachment 2826446

Not enough hearts to post about that beautiful Phyllis!!

 

[BY Bob]

Probably the comb: single comb is more frostbite prone and Doms are smaller birds (RIP Nika)View attachment 2826477

Not sure what's going on with the quiz now. I have to pay $30 to take it.

That's crazy. Who would pay to take it?

 

[BY Bob]

When I add to the flock again, Dominique is on my list. Nika had quite the personality going, smaller than most of the others but feisty. My white sapphires are on the bossy side, but she wouldn't take it from them. She was friendly with most of the flock, kind of a get along with everyone but zero bully tolerance.

That is a great endorsement for them.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

My MIL has 10 straight run bielefelders. The hens are pretty and the roos are stunning: think Shad's Treacle with barred feathers. They're also an auto sexing breed, so hatching is easy.

Due to the hatchery mess up he never got his chicks. I did end up getting his girls, they just were not Marans like he thought they were. I'm making progress with them and they are opening up. I also accidently found out yesterday how to call them and have them come running. Stepped out on the front porch yesterday and spotted Branch. So I gave the call I use to have the silkie's come running which is "here silkie, silkie, silkie". Well someone came running alright, but it wasn't the silkies. The girls who were in the backyard came charging and met me at the bottom steps. The trick with these girls, is to ignore them and focus on the other chickens. That and their personalities are blossoming with all the free range time they are getting. Plus feather picking has stopped and pin feathers are already popping up everywhere on their poor bald heads.

 

[RoyalChick]

Due to the hatchery mess up he never got his chicks. I did end up getting his girls, they just were not Marans like he thought they were. I'm making progress with them and they are opening up. I also accidently found out yesterday how to call them and have them come running. Stepped out on the front porch yesterday and spotted Branch. So I gave the call I use to have the silkie's come running which is "here silkie, silkie, silkie". Well someone came running alright, but it wasn't the silkies. The girls who were in the backyard came charging and met me at the bottom steps. The trick with these girls, is to ignore them and focus on the other chickens. That and their personalities are blossoming with all the free range time they are getting. Plus feather picking has stopped and pin feathers are already popping up everywhere on their poor bald heads.

So glad to hear - I think they are going to be a fine flock for you - and I personally love their looks!

 

[rural mouse]

That's crazy. Who would pay to take it?

I think they moved the quiz into the newsletter sign up thing. I had to hunt for it. When it got to asking for money, I said NOPE!

 

[featherhead007]

He gets a Java, he'd better name it something coffee related: Coffee, Mocha, Cappuccino, Latte, Espresso....

I have a Coco ! That's good enough for me