Dominiques - America's First Chicken - Part 1

they’re still classified as critically rare by both the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and the American Society for the Pre but still is considered critically rare.  

Preservationists still worry.  Surveys indicate that while orders for Dominique chicks have risen, there’s been no increase in the number of serious breeders.  That, according to Mark Fields, of the Dominique Club of America, is not a comforting sign.  Chickens, he tells me, are treated as a “throw-away product” in our highly mobile society.  An article on a particular breed may produce a spike in sales and breed organization membership.  Few, however, renew that membership or maintain the breed for more than two years, he said.

Only three hatcheries have flocks large enough to be considered self-sustaining, although there are other small “hobby” hatcheries now selling Dominiques.  Also, some hobby flocks and sustainable farming folks are maintaining a few specific strains of genetically valuable stock. 

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