The Dominique Chicken
The Dominique chicken is another wearer of the stylish black and white barred feather pattern.
They are one of the oldest chicken breeds around and have been kept in the US since the 1800s.
If you live in a colder climate and are looking for a dependable egg layer then look no further. Dominiques are also excellent mothers and are perfect if you want to hatch your own chick from eggs.
The Dominique is a low maintenance bird that loves to forage for its own food.
They are perfect for beginner chicken keepers and for those who do not want to spend a lot of money on chicken feed. This breed is also excellent for gardeners as Dominiques love to eat pests that eat common garden plants.
She has a calm temperament although they can be aggressive when they feel threatened.
With humans they will always maintain their composure.
These chickens have thin black and white bars on their feathers – there are no other color varieties for this breed.
You can expect this little hen to lay around four brown eggs a week.
They tend to be broody and are known to be excellent mothers.
Due to their calm temperament this breed is good with children and other pets in the family.
Overall the Dominique is excellent if you are looking for a high performance and fashionable dual purpose chicken.
The Dominique chicken is commonly confused with the Plymouth Rock.
Upon a quick glance it is easy to see why.
They both sport the iconic black and white barred pattern.
The most accurate way of telling the two breeds apart is by looking at their combs.
Dominiques have a flatter rose comb whereas Plymouth Rocks have an upright comb.
Another way to tell the Dominique and Plymouth Rock apart is their barred pattern – however this is more difficult to spot. The Plymouth Rock’s barred patterning is very crisp and true black/white while the Dominique has a more jagged pattern with less contrast between the black and white colors.
Dominiques are medium sized chickens.
Their comb, wattles and earlobes are all red – they will have short and yellow beaks too.
This is a yellow skined bird that is known for their featherless legs.
This breed enjoys searching the fields and ground for bugs and plants to satisfy their hunger. This means they will eat less feed than the average chicken making them perfect for chicken owners on a budget.
You will often find them foraging from dawn until dusk.
It will be rare to find your Dominique sick. They are very hardy chickens and can thrive in both warm and cold climates.
She has an excellent temperament, like Buff Orpingtons.
They are calm and well-mannered and are always well behaved with their owners.
Due to their calm temperament, Dominiques are excellent with families with children and other pets.
Personality
Dominiques are known to be a very calm breed.
It is one of the breed’s best qualities and a major reason why people want to keep this chicken.
Keep in mind that just like many other breeds the roosters can be aggressive and may fight other roosters and hens if they feel threatened.
However despite the possible aggression to other roosters and hens, Dominique hens are calm with their owners.
Chicks in particular are extremely friendly and will love to run up to your feet.
Facts About This Breed
They are also known by different names such as the Dominicker and Pilgrim Fowl.
Dominiques are one of the oldest chicken breeds in America.
Because of their rose comb and feathers they are cold hardy.
She is a versatile and dual purpose hen that can lay lots of eggs.
Historically their feathers were used in pillowcases.
The name Dominique is of French origin.
Dominique Breed History
This breed is considered the oldest American chicken breed.
They were named and generally referred to as Dominique chickens but they were also referred to as Pilgrim Fowl. This is because some people believed that at one point the pilgrims brought the chickens to the country.
It is thought that the ancestor to the Dominique came from the Island of San Domingo or Saint Domingue.
From there the bird was crossed and bred with other bird breeds in the area and eventually the Dominique breed was developed.
As you may have noticed the Dominique and the Plymouth Rock are strikingly similar in appearance.
They look so similar that booth breeds would continue to be confused with until the year 1870.
In 1870 the New York poultry officially declared that Dominiques would be determined by a rose comb. This made it significantly easier to differentiate the two. Finally there were set guidelines on how to tell the two breeds apart.
Any bird with an upright comb would be called a Plymouth Rock.
Sadly after their popularity boom in 1875 they began to fall in popularity due to the increased interest in the Plymouth Rock.
This got so bad that in 1970 only four flocks of the Dominique chicken were documented to exist. To avoid the extinction of this breed, the flock owners were contacted and began a breed rescue program. Thankfully they agreed and the Dominique breed slowly began to revive itself.
To this day Dominique chickens remain a dependable but slightly unpopular breed due to being overshadowed by the iconic barred Plymouth Rock breed.
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