Dominique Thread!

[Sylvester017]

Thanks! Cackle it is for me then. We talked it over around here and concluded we probably aren't going to renew the flock until our Black Star dies of old age - or at least for another year or two. She's had enough changes around here, especially since her best friend was euthanized because of cancer last year, this was after her other remaining original flock mate had to be rehomed because the sick bird was being starved by the tumor and she took to eating all of the feathers off the other original flock mate.

Had we known what was wrong, we would have euthanized her earlier and kept the other flock mate; but when we first took her to the vet he suspected parasites, not a malignancy. Unfortunately, it wasn't until the other flockmate had been rehomed that we realized that the disease was a malignancy, not parasites.

If you order hatchery chicks there's always the possibility to some deaths in shipment. Not always but it CAN happen just because chicks are so delicate and die even if they aren't being shipped. So be prepared for that - it's not the hatchery's fault. This is one of many reasons I try to find breeders that ship juveniles rather than chicks but it's harder to find those.

Feather picking - we had a mean Marans that asserted her sneaky dominance by roosting every night right next to a little Silkie and chewing off the little bird's crest bald and then started chewing the little walnut comb. We thought the poor Silkie was moulting - thank goodness her crest re-grew but her comb was forever damaged. Later the Marans claw-attacked another Silkie pullet and we got the Marans rehomed to a friend's layer flock immediately. Her new owner says she's still unpleasant but she's in a dual purpose flock and can't pick on small birds now.

How old is your Black Star now? It's sad you had to go through all those old bird changes - it happens to all of us eventually.

If I lose a bird I'm going to contact CalPoly Agricultural to see if they will necropsy a bird for me. I think they use the donated carcasses for their classes and you get a free or nominal-fee report of the findings in return. Hope they still do it when I need them!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

If you order hatchery chicks there's always the possibility to some deaths in shipment. Not always but it CAN happen just because chicks are so delicate and die even if they aren't being shipped. So be prepared for that - it's not the hatchery's fault. This is one of many reasons I try to find breeders that ship juveniles rather than chicks but it's harder to find those.

Feather picking - we had a mean Marans that asserted her sneaky dominance by roosting every night right next to a little Silkie and chewing off the little bird's crest bald and then started chewing the little walnut comb. We thought the poor Silkie was moulting - thank goodness her crest re-grew but her comb was forever damaged. Later the Marans claw-attacked another Silkie pullet and we got the Marans rehomed to a friend's layer flock immediately. Her new owner says she's still unpleasant but she's in a dual purpose flock and can't pick on small birds now.

How old is your Black Star now? It's sad you had to go through all those old bird changes - it happens to all of us eventually.

If I lose a bird I'm going to contact CalPoly Agricultural to see if they will necropsy a bird for me. I think they use the donated carcasses for their classes and you get a free or nominal-fee report of the findings in return. Hope they still do it when I need them!

I've had chickens off and on since I was in high school in the late 1960s - early 1970s, and the sad thing is that chickens die. Bird On Hand, the Black Star is special; she is my husband's special pet and is named for her favorite place to be in chick hood - on my husband's hand; as an adult she finds his wrist more comfortable. She's three, and will be four at the end of this January. She still gives us eggs on a fairly regular, although less frequent, schedule.

UC Davis does the necropsies in California through the veterinary school and California Agriculture. They have satellite labs in other parts of the statel. If you contact them, they will give you a code for reduced cost overnight shipping for the carcass. This makes the difference between $10-$12 and as much as $70.

 

[Sylvester017]

I've had chickens off and on since I was in high school in the late 1960s - early 1970s, and the sad thing is that chickens die. Bird On Hand, the Black Star is special; she is my husband's special pet and is named for her favorite place to be in chick hood - on my husband's hand; as an adult she finds his wrist more comfortable. She's three, and will be four at the end of this January. She still gives us eggs on a fairly regular, although less frequent, schedule.

UC Davis does the necropsies in California through the veterinary school and California Agriculture. They have satellite labs in other parts of the statel. If you contact them, they will give you a code for reduced cost overnight shipping for the carcass. This makes the difference between $10-$12 and as much as $70.

CalPoly and another Agricultural College is in driving distance so I'll contact them first but definitely will keep your info as back-up! Thanks

3 years old is still a young chicken altho Sexlinks tend to get egged out early in life because of being such prolific layers. Our friend has found the prolific layers and Sexlinks get a lot of problems like prolapse, eggbound, etc. Leghorns are also prolific and have the added advantage of having a lot more years of decent laying but by aged 4 can have reproductive issues and 45% get some type of reproductive tumor/cancer. However if they make it past their critical 4th year without issues they can lay decent for many more years.

Because of the reproductive issues of Sexlinks or non-broody prolific egg-layers I am leaning toward breeds like Dominiques - I may not get 5-6 eggs/week from a broody heritage breed but I think the reproductive issues would be less prevalent to deal with. Just thinking out loud.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

CalPoly and another Agricultural College is in driving distance so I'll contact them first but definitely will keep your info as back-up! Thanks

3 years old is still a young chicken altho Sexlinks tend to get egged out early in life because of being such prolific layers. Our friend has found the prolific layers and Sexlinks get a lot of problems like prolapse, eggbound, etc. Leghorns are also prolific and have the added advantage of having a lot more years of decent laying but by aged 4 can have reproductive issues and 45% get some type of reproductive tumor/cancer. However if they make it past their critical 4th year without issues they can lay decent for many more years.

Because of the reproductive issues of Sexlinks or non-broody prolific egg-layers I am leaning toward breeds like Dominiques - I may not get 5-6 eggs/week from a broody heritage breed but I think the reproductive issues would be less prevalent to deal with. Just thinking out loud.

Call them first. The program run by Davis is free to small flock holders; the other schools may either not offer necropsies or may charge for them since the Food and Agriculture Department in the state funded the program through UC Davis and the Tulare and Turlock laboratories.

One of our Black Stars, Big Bird, died of what was apparently started as a reproductive tumor; she was by far our heaviest layer. Bird On Hand, our other Black Star, is a good layer, but not as heavy, and will be four in late January.

 

[Sylvester017]

I've had chickens off and on since I was in high school in the late 1960s - early 1970s, and the sad thing is that chickens die. Bird On Hand, the Black Star is special; she is my husband's special pet and is named for her favorite place to be in chick hood - on my husband's hand; as an adult she finds his wrist more comfortable. She's three, and will be four at the end of this January. She still gives us eggs on a fairly regular, although less frequent, schedule.

UC Davis does the necropsies in California through the veterinary school and California Agriculture. They have satellite labs in other parts of the statel. If you contact them, they will give you a code for reduced cost overnight shipping for the carcass. This makes the difference between $10-$12 and as much as $70.

Call them first. The program run by Davis is free to small flock holders; the other schools may either not offer necropsies or may charge for them since the Food and Agriculture Department in the state funded the program through UC Davis and the Tulare and Turlock laboratories.

One of our Black Stars, Big Bird, died of what was apparently started as a reproductive tumor; she was by far our heaviest layer. Bird On Hand, our other Black Star, is a good layer, but not as heavy, and will be four in late January.

A friend of ours went to UC Davis about 25 years ago but couldn't tell us about the animal practices there since his major was Medicine and not Agriculture but he said UC had an Agricultural Dept and that CalPoly Pomona and MtSac College in Walnut (I'm in SoCal) had one also. So yes I'll definitely call beforehand. My oldest hen is 4 years next April so hope there won't be any need to use necropsy services for a lot more years but sh*t happens and I want to be prepared. The way Dept state budgets are cut all the time who knows if those services will be valid in 5 years time! My vet I'm sure would do it since he does his own surgeries but he gets enough money from me from our LIVING girls!

Those girls can really get to us. Had a Leghorn who liked to hop on my arm to eat her treats before we had to rehome her due to her obnoxious flock behavior. The Silkies want to jump up too but they can't fly high so we pick them up to set them on our lap when we sit down. They don't know they're shrimps and want to be like the big girls. When I garden using a hoe or shovel one Silkie will sit on the tool to watch while I'm digging so I have to screen her off from the work area - she is so trusting I don't want to injure her. She'll follow me around the yard when she sees a garden tool in my hand.

Thanks for all the helpful info.

 

[lazy gardener]

Today, I had my 8 y.o. helping me in the garden as we harvested the potatoes. We also had 17 little helpers. It was difficult to dig without impaling chicken feet with the garden fork. I found it interesting that the Doms were hanging out, and letting the 8 y.o. pet them. The other girls do not seek attention, or accept attention as well as the Doms.

 

[buffalogal]

To be fair, if they sell chicks and/or eggs at all, most breeders have everything spoken for by April. Late summer into fall you can find started birds, but not everyone ships. I've driven 5 hours one way specifically to pick up chickens, and when my daughter and I drove from Oklahoma to Kentucky to buy a buck, we swung by and picked up a cock too. Sometimes, you just have to go out of your way to get what you want.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

To be fair, if they sell chicks and/or eggs at all, most breeders have everything spoken for by April. Late summer into fall you can find started birds, but not everyone ships. I've driven 5 hours one way specifically to pick up chickens, and when my daughter and I drove from Oklahoma to Kentucky to buy a buck, we swung by and picked up a cock too. Sometimes, you just have to go out of your way to get what you want.

I'm going to try some sustainable Poultry folks who are in Carpinteria.

The problem I have is that chick season and when I can arrange to travel long distances just don't coincide. I no longer drive long distances alone because if I am spending the night in outer Jackrabbit Leap and have an extremely bad vertigo attack I need a knowledgeable traveling companion or an ambulance and an emergency room. The latter leads to expensive bills.

 

[Gardenlady2]

What's the going price for a Dominique cockerel? I have 3 that are 3 weeks old being raised by a broody. I plan to try to sell them once mama cuts them loose, but don't know what price to ask. If it makes a difference, they've been raised exclusively on free range & organic feed.
Also, if I'm unable to sell them, at what age should I "harvest" them for the dinner table? I really don't want to, but can't add more roosters to my flock.

 

[EastNashChick]

I'm not sure where you're located but here they range from $5-$15. We couldn't sell ours as it was early summer so we dressed him at 18 weeks. We could've waited until 20, but I think he was beginning to get stringy so I wouldn't go over that next time. We roasted him, and it was great, but due to the early stringiness, I'd suggest chicken and dumplins, gumbo, coq au vin or the like.