Dominique Thread!

[ThatFarmerChick]

I agree...

Dominiques are VERY practical

That was my first reason for wanting them. I love practical.

 

[Sylvester017]

Aww. Losing birds is never easy. My son just lost his Salmon Faverolle male. He was suppose to show him this summer. He took it pretty hard. He does have a trio of Doms to show. He and a few buds from his 4H club began a program to breed chickens that were are considered heritage and have dwindling numbers in America. My son chosethe Dominique.

He and his group will be showing the birds, raising awareness, breeding the birds, and selling chicks to backyard flock keepers.

My 'puter updated right in the middle of my post so here goes again! Yes, losing birds is never easy. Glad to see you went with the more predictable temperament Doms instead of Barred Rocks which have had Malay and game bird infused in their history making their temperaments a bit more unpredictable. I like the active talkative curious outgoing Dom chicks with the rose combs. Our flock is void of any straight or flopped combs and it is so much easier not to deal with big combs in the winter. Why ppl choose BRs over Doms is beyond my comprehension but then that's just me. Everyone seems to have their ideal breed and my best all-purpose choices are the Dom and the APA Ameraucanas.

I agree...

Dominiques are VERY practical

I am so glad to see these personable Doms fill all criteria of pet, broody, meat, egg-laying qualifications. Not too many friendly heritage breeds meet ALL those parameters.

That was my first reason for wanting them. I love practical.

Some European Continental and American heritage fit some practical criteria but Doms are the only one I know of that is so versatile either as pet or utility - not too big to need a large feed bill and not too small to lay a decent egg. As with our Ameraucanas Doms bond quickly with their humans. Our Ameraucanas are jumpier than Doms but both are very sweet-natured hens. Can't say anything about roos since we're not allowed but our friends love their hardy Dom quad in Colorado.

 

[ThatFarmerChick]

We finally have a roo. I will let you know how they are. As a chuck he can be just as friendly and clingy as the girls. Personally, I love the barring on the Dominiques vs the barred rock. That bold black and silver is perfect. The comb needs no care. Our girls have done great at only ranging and eating fodder. I have a friend that keeps trying to get me to take some br chicks from her, and she is the only one that free ranges her br. Hers do okay, but AR not as friendly as my barred babies.

 

[THeelChickinKY]

Oh, and I can't say enough about the roos! We have 3 Dom roosters who were hatched out together and we love all three. They are our sweetest pets, and one races up to us to fly into our arms whenever we go out. One insisted upon staying in the coop with our broody hen was she was raising her chicks and then escorted mom and babies for weeks. They are sweet to us but aren't pushover - they keep the flock where they're supposed to be, they go back out every night to get a persistent errant hen back in the coop, and the three of them work together in tandem easily. Love, love, love our Dominique boys!

 

[Alaskan]

Yep, my Dominique cock is very nice.

 

[Zone3Dakota]

I'm wondering how far from the coop do Doms range, without being fenced in? Our property really only has one small mature tree. The nearest neighbors are 1 1/2 miles away and they have big shelterbelts. We have some 'cover' places, like an old hay wagon, though. Will Doms stay close or gravitate to the trees?

Also, I'm pretty certain that the hawk family that hunts our yard is classified as Northern Harriers. Anyone have experience with these?

 

[Zone3Dakota]

Also, our well water is rather high in sodium and chloide and sulphur, with practically no calcium or magnesium. comments?

From what I've seen with the Harriers, is that airborn birds do not seem to be in any danger. But, when the hawks hit the ground, the ducks that are feeding (nesting?) there leave in a hurry. So, I think that any birds out there that are sticking to a nest are possible targets, and definitely the eggs or young'uns.

 

[THeelChickinKY]

Our Doms forage within view of our house. They respect, amazingly, the natural boundaries of our property. We have about 3 acres cleared as lawn surrounding our house, and they work in a counterclockwise pattern every day around the extent of our cleared property. They have never wandered out of sight of our house, and we've had other breeds that did. Until last month we had no sort of enclosure whatsoever, either.

 

[Alaskan]

I'm wondering how far from the coop do Doms range, without being fenced in? Our property really only has one small mature tree. The nearest neighbors are 1 1/2 miles away and they have big shelterbelts. We have some 'cover' places, like an old hay wagon, though. Will Doms stay close or gravitate to the trees?

Also, I'm pretty certain that the hawk family that hunts our yard is classified as Northern Harriers. Anyone have experience with these?

I have my reject chickens in my vegetable garden (yep, I haven't planted anything yet... clearly I have to kick the chickens out before I do, but they do an excellent job of cleaning up the garden...anyway), one of the rejects is a Dominique that has a bent back... just haven't killed her yet. The entire garden has netting over the top, except for a tiny opening right next to where the gate opens into it. That one Dominique keeps popping straight up out of that hole (none of the other chickens, old ones, young ones, both sexes, but that is the only Dominique).

She then usually flies into the duck yard and hangs out with them, or flies out to the open area and plays under the cover of some thick spruce trees. I am not sure where she is sleeping, but she is laying in the duck area on top of the duck eggs.

She hasn't gotten herself killed yet, which boggles my mind, since I have EVERY raptor known to man, and some other predators too. She is pretty smart, I never see her out in the open, she stays in the edges, and close to cover.

So...... make sure that you have lots of cover, and hope that you get some smart Doms that know how t take care of themselves. My bent back girl was from Cackle. (From the Cackle order 2 Dominiques and 2 Hamburgs had bent backs.... my first ever bent back chickens).

 

[centrarchid]

I'm wondering how far from the coop do Doms range, without being fenced in?  Our property really only has one small mature tree. The nearest neighbors are 1 1/2 miles away and they have big shelterbelts.  We have some 'cover' places, like an old hay wagon, though.  Will Doms stay close or gravitate to the trees?

Also, I'm pretty certain that the hawk family that hunts our yard is classified as Northern Harriers.  Anyone have experience with these?

Larger trees generally are not good cover from anything except eagles and Northern Harriers. Northern Harriers winter birds here and never been a problem. I like lower and thicker vegetation that hawks cannot fly under or see through from above. A wagon can be a little better and greatly enhanced if made so hawk can not see chickens underneath when using a low approach.


Ranging habits vary greatly with forage availability, what you feed, season and how cover is distributed. I have had American Dominiques in the company of games range as far as 900 feet from roost but generally much less when no games.