Dominiques - America's First Chicken - Part 1

            Looking for a good chicken?  How about Dominiques?  They have good feed to egg conversion and are good at foraging, but tend to return to the henhouse to lay and roost.  They have an excellent reputation for broody hens and good mothers, and they’re America’s first breed of poultry.

            Dominiques – sometimes known as Dominecker --are a dual-purpose breed, recognizable by their rose combs and the barred pattern of their slate and white feathers.  Their heavy plumage protects them in cold weather, and historically provided material for pillows and featherbeds.  The rose combs, too, are a cold weather advantage since they’re not prone to frostbite.  The males typically have long, sweeping tails, a bright red comb, face, ear lobes, and wattles, and they weigh about 7 pounds.  The females are usually a bit darker and smaller, about 4-5 pounds.  They’re reasonably good layers of medium to large brown eggs.  Smaller, bantam strains of Dominiques also exist.

            The chicks carry a sex-linked gene which allows you to separate the males from the females at hatching.  Pullets have a yellow spot on the top of the head, and dark gray or black toes.  Cockerels have yellow toes and shanks, and their heads are a blend of yellow and black.

Both rose and single combed barred chickens were common in parts of the eastern United States as early as 1750.  In time, these barred chickens were bred for uniformity in size and type.  Eventually, those with the rose combs came to be known as Dominiques, and the single comb types became known as the Plymouth Barred Rocks.  The popularity of the breed grew and declined, as these things generally do.  Asiatic breeds were imported and crossed with domestic breeds, new breeds developed, creating new trends. 

During the Great Depression, the Dominique’s hardy and thrifty nature won the breed a reprieve.  By the end of World War II, though, commercial operations were taking over what had been the farm flock’s role of providing eggs and meat for the populace.  The trend swung again, and farmers replaced older breeds with new, improved production breeds.  By 1970, there were only four known flocks of Dominiques remaining.  Thanks to a concerted effort by breeders and conservation groups, the situation has improved significantly.    They’re no longer considered a lost – or nearly lost – breed, but