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Dominique Chickens
Dom History: Colonial to 1900
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DOMINIQUE CHICKS (Standard & Bantam)
How to Determine Sex After Hatching

 

Dominique Chickens Have Sex-Linked Gene

It is fairly easy to figure out the sex of a chick after it hatches.

A cockerel (male) chick has yellow toes and leg shanks. (In photo at left he is the chick on the right.) A pullet chick (female) has darker (shadowy black or gray) toes and leg shanks. (She is the chick on the left.)

As they grow older the leg color differences become less.

Usually the toe/leg color is accurate but some strains of Dominique do not show this tendency as much as other strains. For some strains using the head color discussed below is more accurate.

Hatchling Beak Color

Male hatchlings usually have a clearer (yellow) beak than females (less black on the beak). And as they get older, the beaks of males become even clearer. Of course, it depends on the strain of bird.

"A year ago, I ordered my first flock of chickens, never having kept them before, or never even having assisted anyone else with a flock. My Dom's have me entirely chicken crazy." -Heidi, Boulder, Colorado

Identifying Male Chicks

Cockerels have light and scattered, diffused spot(s) of yellow on top of the head. The male spot is usually larger than the female spot. (See photo at left of all males.)

As they grow older, all chicks (male and female) lose their yellow spots.
Identifying Female Chicks

Pullets have a somewhat compact and solid yellow spot on the head. There is no black inside her spot. The yellow is usually smaller than a male spot. (See photo at left of all females.)

Dominique Chick Sexing

The chick at the left is a male. His colors are more scattered, diffuse and frosty.

The chick below is a female. Her colors are more concentrated and dark. Her feet are a little bit darker than the male's feet, though not as dark as the top photo since there is variation between strains.


How Good is This Method?

You can sex chicks using this method and get around 95% accuracy. Determining the gender of chicks is an art. You get better with more experience.

My Dominique chickens (both standard and bantam) are pure bred. They are not hybrid chickens. So this sexing characteristic is true for all future generations.


Sexing Chicks When a Little Older (2-7 weeks)

When the chicks are a few weeks old, the male comb will start to blush (turn red) sooner than females. As stated above with hatchling sexing, the age this happens varies with the strain of Dominique.

At about 4 weeks old the male wattles start to grow more and blush. The female wattles develop more slowly.

Also male legs get thicker faster than female legs.

At about 7 weeks it is easy to see a feather color difference between males and females. Females are darker.

Cockerels start crowing at about 3-4 months old.

This photo is a cockerel at 7 weeks.


Cute Dominique Chicks

"I hatched 5 healthy Dominique chicks (out of 6) a full 24 hours before any of the other breeds I set at the same time even started pipping. The friend I hatched them for loves them, and I will visit again next year to get more." -Meg, Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia.

This photo of the top of the chicks' heads is from Meg.

Pipping is when the baby bird cracks the shell to get out. It starts with the chick chirping in the egg. It moves in a circle cracking out pieces of the shell. Pipping can take up to 24 hours. You can see the end result in the photo to the right.




Prices and availability of Dominique hatching eggs.


Feed Comfrey to Poultry How to Hatch Eggs
Types of Incubators
How to Incubate Eggs
How to Help Hatching Babies
How to Brood Poultry
Make A Poultry Incubator

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