How can I tell Dominques and Barred Rocks apart?

[juliejohnson805]

Is there an easy way to do this? I have 5 the same age. Its 2 of one and 3 of the other. I cant for the life of me figure it out!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Dominique should be rose combed, barred rock should be single combed. ....even as day olds the comb type can be differentiated by shape of the comb bud. That being said, poorly bred or hatchery stock birds sometimes have of comb type

 

[donrae]

Yep, combs are the only way at this age. A rose comb baby will have basically a broad flat spot for the comb. A straight comb chick will have a teeny tiny ridge of sawteeth sticking up.

 

[juliejohnson805]

They are 5 months old and have recently started laying....well...at least one of them has.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Comb type at that age should be fairly obvious. ...are you familiar with rose and single combs?

 

[donrae]

At that age the body shape should be different, as well as the combs. Rocks should be heftier, more solid while Dominiques are leaner and lighter bodied. But, with hatchery birds, there often isn't a whole lot of difference in body shape. Comb is the main indicator.

 

[juliejohnson805]

I've looked at pics. I'm going to check them out tonight. To be honest I have not really paid close attention to their combs shape just noticed it getteing redder and knew that meant eggs soon. We have only been looking at patterning on feathers.

 

[juliejohnson805]

Just realized that I have the perfect example of each since one of my EE rooster has a single and the other has a rose.

 

[drumstick diva]

agree with OlGreyMare