Dominique Looks:
Chicks, Pullets, Cockerels, Feathers, Eggs
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Dominique
Chicks
Dominique
chicks hatch well, feather early and mature young.
Occasionally, a single comb chick will hatch. That is OK because in its
early history some Dominiques did have single combs.
This photo is a 1-week-old chick.
"I am a
teacher from Alabama, and I ordered fertilized Dominique eggs from you last
year and am hoping to do the same this year. We had a great hatch!"
-Terri, 3rd grade teacher
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Feeding
Chicks
I
add kelp to my chick starter feed. It contains a lot of trace minerals. I also feed
them small weeds such as chickweed and small leaves of comfrey.
"Commercial feed producers are providing us the minimum requirements for
poultry rather than an optimum ration." -David Hyman, Dominique News, November
1986
This photo is 2-week-old chicks. You can see less down and more feathers
in this older group.
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Determining
Chick Gender
Dominique
chicks are sex linked, meaning the males and females look
different at hatching.
A cockerel chick has a light and scattered spot of white/yellow on top of
the head.
Pullet chicks have a spot that is more compact, solid and small. The shanks
and feet of a pullet chick are darker and more shadowed.
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Hatch
Day
"Out of 7 eggs set, 5 hatched yesterday (day 20). This is by far the
best hatch I've ever had for shipped eggs, and the chicks are very
lively. Thank you so much, and I'm sure I'll be doing business with
you again in the future." - George, Raeford, North Carolina
This photo is from George.
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Happy
Chicks
"Nancy,
we finished up with 16 out of 18 Dominiques. I'd say that's pretty good
considering they came all the way from North Carolina. Thanks so much, I'll
send some more pictures as they get bigger. They are some of the liveliest
day-old chicks I've ever hatched." -Robert, Mobile, Alabama
This photo is from Robert.
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More
Happy Chicks
These
chicks were hatched from Dominique eggs I mailed.
"I have been visiting your website for a year or so. I received the 10 Dominique eggs today. All were in great shape. I raise my birds for meat and eggs and of course pleasure. I have been looking for quality Dominique bloodlines in my area for several years to no avail. I believe your birds are what I've been looking for. I believe the Dominique is a very important breed and they need to be properly repopulated." -Tom, South Boston, Virginia
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Creative
Brooder System
The
above chicks with their new, improved housing system. These chicks are very
lucky.
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Dominique
Cockerels
Dom cockerels start crowing around 4 months old.
The photo to the left is a 7-week-old cockerel.
The photo at the right/top is a 4-week-old cockerel. The photo at the right/bottom
is a 10- to 12-week-old cockerel.
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Dominique
Pullets
Dom pullets
start laying at around 5-6 months old.
The photo to the left is a pullet about 3 weeks old.
To the right a pullet 4 weeks old.
The color is a little off in the photo to the right since it was shot in
a barn.
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Dominique
Pullets with Adult Buff Orpington
These
Dominique pullets are 6 weeks old. This photo is from Tiffany in Eau Claire,
Wisconsin.
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Dominique
Cockerel and Pullet
The
cockerel is on the left, the pullet on the right. You can see the pullet
is darker. They are 7 weeks old.
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Dominiques
and 1 Cross Bred
These Dominiques are 5 months old. The darker ones are pullets. The lighter ones are cockerels. The really light one in the middle is an interesting cross between a Dominiqiue and a Cream Brabanter.
This photo is from Heff in Bolton, Massachusets.
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Good
for Feathers
From Colonial
times to the early 1900s, their feathers were used to stuff mattresses and
pillows.
Some old-time breeders feel that darker breeds of birds stay warmer in winter
than lighter-colored breeds.
The photo to the left is feathers of Dominique hens.
The photo to the right/top is Dominique rooster tail feathers.
Dominiques usually molt in October. Molting is shedding old feathers so new ones can grow.
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Good
for Meat and Eggs
The Dominiques
are a utility, dual-purpose breed (meat and eggs), but are mostly kept for
being good egg producers. Their eggs are flavorful. I feed my hens flaxseed
to increase omega-3 fatty acids.
Pullets start laying at about 6 months old. Hens average 230-275 small-
to medium-sized brown eggs per year. They are 18 to 24 ounces per dozen.
The eggs vary in shade from light brown to dark brown.
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Grand
Old Breed
Dominique
hens lay more eggs in winter than most other chicken breeds.
Dominiques are great birds for backyard poultry flocks and homesteaders.
A wonderful American chicken.
"Ten years on a big utility poultry farm has proven this old breed, the
one best of all the utility breeds. And hundreds of all the popular utility
breeds have been tried against her." -W.H. Davenport, 1913 Dominique advertisement
This photo is fine art photographer Brenda Scott at the Stagville State
Historic Site in Durham, North Carolina in 2014.
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This
is a chart of the relative egg production of a hen over 10 years.
The first
year is considered to be 100% and then each year thereafter the percent goes down.
The first few years hens are very good layers.
I have an 8-year-old Brabanter
hen named "Friendly" who I keep as a pet with the rest of my chickens. She lays
about 5-6 eggs a year, all in the spring. Usually hens live to be about 8-15 years.
Though I heard about one hen who was 17 years old. |
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I recommend
the book "Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind" by Gene
Logsdon.
It is a down-to-earth book about properly managing manure so farms and gardens
get the best productivity. Great for anyone with livestock: chickens, ducks,
turkeys, donkeys, goats, cattle, sheep, horses, rabbits, etc.
"In our family we have a standard joke that every conversation, even
around the dinner table, eventually winds up about manure. And Gene Logsdon,
in his naughty and inimitable style, has captured the essence of soil building,
pathogen control, food ecology and farm economics by explaining the elegantly
simple symbiosis between manure and carbon. What a great addition to the
eco-food and farming movement. Logsdon's deep bedding approach for livestock
housing, elegantly explained and defended, is the primary fertility engine
that drives all of us beyond organic farmers." —Joel Salatin, Author
of "You Can Farm" and "The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer"
Check out Gene Logsdon's blog, "The
Contrary Farmer". It has insightful accounts of his farming
and the downside of large agribusiness. Frequently humorous.
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Buy Standard-Size Dominique Hatching Eggs
Buy Bantam-Size Dominique Hatching Eggs
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Dominique
Chicken Personality: Friendly
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