The Dominique
From: The Mating and Breeding of Poultry
Harry M. Lamon and Rob R. Slocum (USDA)
Orange Judd Company, 1920
The Dominique is in type much on the Leghorn or Ham burg order, but larger in size. The carriage is upright, with a general appearance of alertness. The tail is carried slightly higher than in the Leghorn or Hamburg. It is well spread and in the male is furnished with long, curved, sweeping sickles. The comb, which is rose, should be practically the same as that of the Hamburg, although larger in proportion to the size of the fowl. The spike, like the Hamburg, turns up slightly at the end.
In color the two sexes are different. The female has a color scheme of dark bluish slate approaching black, and very light slate approaching white, arranged in alternate, irregular patches or bars across the feather. The light and dark markings are about equal in width. The under color is slate, with indistinct barring. The male is one or two shades lighter in color than the female, this being caused by the fact that the light markings are wider than the dark. The markings as a whole are narrower in all sections than in the females.
In mating this variety, only the single or standard mating is used. While the tendency is the same here as in Barred Plymouth Rocks, for the males to come lighter than the females, the single mating is possible because the standard calls for a male showing this lighter shade of color.
For the mating, select medium-colored females, with rich yellow legs and red eyes. Discard the females which have a tendency toward more of the dark slate than the light slate markings, as they are too dark in color and also nearly always show black on the front of the legs. Do not use a female which has not a well-spread tail.
Select a male one or two shades lighter than the females. He should have upright carriage, long curving sickles carried well out, clean legs and red eyes.
Care should he taken to see that the comb and head are good in both sexes. It must also be remembered that the breed is of medium size; therefore birds of both sexes should not be over standard weight.
The following defects must be guarded against, in so far as possible, in mating this breed: pinched tail; too large comb; comb not straight on head; comb with hollow center or hollow along sides; too dark color in females; light eyes; dark or black on legs of females; stubs; shafting; brownish tinge or metallic sheen to plumage.
