Dominique Club of America

June Message from the President

2009-06-14T20:19:00.000-04:00

Summer Greetings from the Dominique Club of America

Many of you are probably in the midst of raising this year’s birds. Some of you are still setting eggs and looking for those best replacement or show birds. No matter if you’re finished or not, there are a few things that you might want to contemplate.

The Dominique hen is a dual purpose chicken (eggs/meat) and yet she can lay for most of the year. If your birds have been in production since late January, February or March, they have used any stored body calcium for egg shells long ago. Even with the best of available laying feed it is still good to provide extra calcium to the hens as oyster shell or in some other source.

If you are selecting hens for egg laying abilities, the summer and fall are the times to look over your hens and see which ones are still laying eggs and have not gone into early moult. The longer a hen waits to moult, the longer she lays in the season. So, selection for egg production is not just about size of the egg as you also need to make sure that the hen lays most of the year.

Odd shaped eggs, rough textured egg shells, thin egg shells and other unusual things should be avoided. You might want all of your eggs to be one shade of brown, but that is a hard thing to breed for specifically in Dominiques. Egg size can vary and nobody likes little eggs. Just be sure that when you cull for egg size that you do not cull your best type birds. You can always slowly increase egg size over the generations by breeding hens that lay smaller eggs with males that are selected from the larger hatching eggs.

Older hens will usually lay fewer eggs. If you have a top notch hen, it will be worth keeping her as a breeder with fewer eggs. You really should only compare hens of similar ages in egg production.

The final thing that has been researched and proven is that adult weight of breeders increase with selection for larger eggs. Check the standard and weigh a few of your birds to be sure that your goal does not get you out of range with standard weights.

Thanks for visiting the club’s web site.

Eddie

February Message from the President

2009-02-26T21:50:00.004-05:00

Hello Dominique enthusiasts and club members,

Spring is almost in the air in the warmer climates and it is time to be stirring around in the hen house. The club will have a double sized newsletter out to you in March. It will have the useful articles that you have grown to expect as well a show report from the Nationals in Ohio and much more. I truly apologize for the tardiness of the newsletters in the past few quarters.

Some of the officers have been hindered with family health issues and other matters. Let me thank you for your patience with the delays. The club will do all that we can to get the publishing back on a timely schedule. The officers are open to suggestions, so let us hear from you on this topic.

Some have already suggested going to just two “double sized” newsletters per year. Other club members have volunteered to write an article or send in pictures. Please consider what you can do to flesh out the newsletters and to, generally, get the message out that the Dominique breed is alive and growing. Let us know what you are doing, too. We can get your accomplishments in the next newsletter so that others can build on your success.

What would be a useful tip to all of us at this time of the year? Are you setting up the early breeding pens? As you begin this process, be sure and cull any hens and pullets that lay poor quality or misshaped eggs. It will save you feed, it will give your roosters only the best hens to breed and your hatching percentage should go up. Boost the oyster shells or calcium supply to your hens to keep those egg shells as thick as possible.

Thank you for your interest my favorite breed of chicken.

Eddie Martin, Club President

DCA National Meet

2008-09-30T00:34:00.004-04:00

The Dominique Club of America National Meet/Show will be held at

The Ohio National
November 8th and 9th, 2008
at Columbus, Ohio.
www.ohionational.org

National Show Awards:

Champion Dominique Large Fowl: large gold cup by Dominique Club

Reserve Champion Dominique LF: large plaque by Ohio National

Best Display of Dominique LF: large gold cup by Dominique Club and $100.00 by Mike Stichler

Champion Dominique Bantam: gold cup by Dominique Club

Reserve Champion Dominique Bantam: large plaque by Ohio National

Best Display of Bantam Dominiques: large gold cup by Dominique Club and $50.00 by Mike Stichler

Plus the assortment of rosettes and ribbons

for Best Opposite sex and Juniors showing Dominiques

Displays will be by APA rules ---at least 7 birds including cock,hen,cockerel, pullet, and a trio (young or old)

There will be a Dominique Club meeting sometime on Saturday - time to be posted.

Please contact the Club Secretary for additional information.

Dominique Club of America
c/o BRYAN K. OLIVER
948 West Bear Swamp Road
WALHALLA, SC 29691
BRYAN_K_OLIVER@yahoo.com

Website Updates

2008-04-12T23:46:00.003-04:00

A handy Toe Punch Chart was added to Articles section.

The Membership Roster has been updated in the Members Area.

Avian Encephalomyelitis Alert!

2008-03-26T08:16:00.004-04:00

I received the following email from a farming list and thought I'd pass it on for those who may have recently gotten chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery.

----------
Just a heads up for anybody who ordered chicks in March from MM and had some sick. Necropsies are coming in and it looks like AE, Avian Encephalomyelitis.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=10

There are several threads there about chicks dying and being tested by various state labs.

Dominique Decorating

2008-03-26T07:58:00.003-04:00

For y'all who may love to decorate with rooster themes, I recently found some great peel and stick wall accents that include our favorite breed! Yes, there is a Dominique, as well as what looks like a New Hampshire, Salmon Favorelle, Partridge Rock, and a Columbian Wyandotte. The set also has feather and egg/nest accents to go with the roosters (what, no hens? :)

Here is a link to the LTD Commodities website, where you can purchase this set: www.ltdcommodities.com (Just type in "rooster" in the search box at the top of the page, or the item # 437141-5PWL). The sets are $7.95 each plus postage & handling.

2008 Breeders Directory

2008-03-07T17:06:00.002-05:00

To all DCA members:

If you would like to be placed in the 2008 Breeder's Directory, to please let Bryan know by the end of March. The last day of March will be the cut-off for being placed in the 2008 directory.

You can email your information for inclusion in the Directory to Bryan at bryan_k_oliver@yahoo.com

Thank you.

Website Updates

2008-01-28T12:32:00.000-05:00

A new article by Mark A. Fields entitled "Origin & Evolution of the Dominique" has been posted in the Articles section.

The January 2008 issue of the Club Newsletter is now online in the Members Area.

Dominiques in Backyard Poultry Magazine

2007-12-03T07:58:00.000-05:00

The latest issue (December 2007/January 2008) of Backyard Poultry magazine features an article entitled "The Delightful Dominique: America's First Breed." On the cover is a beautiful photo of a Dominique cockerel profile by Bryan K. Oliver.

The current issue also features the annual "Backyard Poultry Photo Contest Vote." Show your love of Dominiques by voting for Bryan's photo!

If you are a subscriber to Backyard Poultry magazine, be sure to check out the article. If you are not a subscriber, visit www.backyardpoultrymag.com and subscribe today!

Welcome

2007-11-27T15:14:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the new Dominique Club of America website at www.dominiqueclub.org.