Dominique Thread! - Page 152

 

I'm curious. Do you make broodiness a requirement because of SOP or because you prefer that method of raising chicks?

 

Hi centrarchid,

 

I am following your progress eagerly. Can you define what you mean by a season? Is it a whole year? I thoroughly appreciate your work on breeding for utility, so many breeders focus on type alone.

 

Keep us posted!

 

Amy

Limited broodiness is a characteristic of breed that must be determined through life history monitoring.  The SOP and how it is evaluated by judges cannot by itself be used to determine if a given bird is characteristic of the breed.  Once a hen makes cut, then eggs will be run through incubator like most folks do it now to enable production of numbers not possible with a single broody hen. 

 

If I were quality on the cheap, then chicks would be hen raised.  Problem is again volume of chicks reared and increased risk to hens.  Rearing chicks is a tough and dangerous job.

Edited by centrarchid - 7/20/12 at 1:49pm

Production season for me starts January and ends roughly in August when birds commit to heavy molt of body feathers.  I get only about 5 eggs per hen per week on average during this time.

Edited by centrarchid - 7/20/12 at 9:19am

Hi!

 

Thought I would pop in here since I recently got 5 Dominique hens and one Roo, although they are **Far** from the SOP.

 

To start with, they are much larger then they should be. I would guess the Roo alone weighs 12 lbs. Not sure if this is from over feeding, but he is a large fella! (of course, my other chickens are game, so compared to them he is a giant!)

 

He has a good rose comb, but is the only one in the flock that does.

 

All the hens I had to choose from had either a single comb or a small single comb (?) I decided to look at the ones with the smallest combs that also had as close to the SOP body as possible. These hens seem to be about the correct weight. They were bought at a feed store by my neighbor as chicks, so I am sure they are more cross then pure Dominique.

Doesnt sound like purebred Doms. The Roo is 5 lbs over standard, which is saying alot; thats about 40% overweight! Too many single combs, etc.Photos?

I am the last person alive without a cell phone or digital camera. I'll have to see if I can borrow one. I am not sure on the exact weight of the rooster, but he is big. Other then that he looks right, his hens leave a lot to be desired. I am almost sure they are crosses simply due to their size.

 

Sounds like there more a Dominique/ Barred Plymouth Rock Cross than a pure American Dominique.

 

Chris

Now that egg production season is coming to a close, I am allowing the better egg producing second year hens set if they will.  So far three have committed to brooding.  Potential problem is the number of eggs in clutch prior to start of brooding.  They are getting into low twenties before setting.  Anybody seen such in American Dominques?  I am afraid so much time was taken between first egg laid and start of incubation (>20 days) that hatch rate is going to be terrible.

I wouldn't worry about it. We had a bantam hen when I was young - she hatched 32 eggs in our feed shed after laying all those eggs herself (and raised over 20 of the chicks to adulthood!). I know one case is not enough to make a rule, but I have certainly heard of far too many instances of hens secreting off and brooding large clutches to believe for a second that an old egg can't hatch. The hens know far better than we do what they are doing. If the eggs don't hatch, then they don't hatch. Not the end of the world. 

 

A bigger concern in this warm weather is that the oldest eggs will hatch a few days earlier than the youngest eggs, so you may have to incubate the youngest eggs an extra couple days or put them under another hen until they hatch. Then you can sneak them back under the original momma at night and she should raise them with the rest of her clutch, even if they are a day or two younger.