Dominique Thread!

[Faraday40]

My sweet Demaris is laying an egg almost every day. She's the friendliest, sweetest chicken imaginable. She and a Wyandotte, Jane, both insist on using the same corner of the nest box. I was peeking one day and saw Demaris actually crawl under Jane to get to the prime corner location.

Pic is so cute!

We also have a fav nest box. I have often seen 2 hens trying to use it at the same time.

 

[Faraday40]

Here are some updated pics of Bubbles- over 4 months old now. (Hatched July 3rd)
Her BFF (Trouble - a Sebright) is pictured at the bottom.








The two are a good match but have learned some interesting behaviors from each other. The Dom thinks she's a Sebright & likes to fly up to a tree branch, tabletop, chair, etc, to meet me at eye level. The Sebright has learned that jumping up into my lap for snuggles or following me around may get her extra treats. Neither of them dig around & compete with the flock for the scratch. They both prefer to beg & have it hand fed directly. (Most of that is due to their smaller size.) Of course if it's stale bread, all bets are off! Those little birds can move FAST!

 

[THeelChickinKY]

@Faraday40

They're both adorable! How are Sebrights with people? Are they friendly? I've always thought they were beautiful and it looks like they get along well with Dominiques!

 

[Faraday40]

Sebrights have a lot of personality for such little birds. I was so worried that she'd be flighty since she's such a great flyer, but she flies TO me, not away. She thinks she's a parrot & when I offer my finger, she hops on. She's also rather chatty. If I talk to her, she chatters away in all sorts of noises as if answering my questions. I have mostly XL breeds like English Orpingtons, Bielefelders, and a couple mixes & EEs. The Dom & Sebright are the smallest. The big girls are not always nice about sharing food, so I have multiple feeders & drinkers around.

The Dom egg was hatched in an incubator & the Sebright egg was hatched with the broody group. It was my kid's experiment. I was hoping the broody would adopt all of them, but we had to keep them separated instead. When the hen started laying & abandoned her brood, we sold all but my daughter's 2 favs. Because they both missed their hatch mates, they bonded instantly and are now inseparable BFFs. Technically, I only agreed to keeping the Dom but she needed a buddy to help with integration into the flock. My daughter says that since the Sebright is so small, she shouldn't really count as a chicken. (Talk about "chicken math!")

Anyway, we enjoy the little Sebright. She's so different, it's fun. She's very friendly when she wants to be. She prefers not to be scooped up & cuddled, but will sit on my shoulder, arm, lap, etc & get stroked. She doesn't do the chicken run/ waddle when i call. Instead she flies.

 

[THeelChickinKY]

Thanks for the info - I'll have to think about a few for the spring hatches!

 

[gosselinfarm]

Have to jump on and say "hello" and a huge "thank you" as this site has been amazingly informative and educational. I am new to poultry in general and started with Dominique as I knew I wanted a dual purpose heritage breed. I nabbed nine, day old chicks from a local breeder and ended up with 4 roos and 5 pullets. They are almost 6 weeks old now and have just been fantastic to raise! The personalities on these guys is amazing! Anytime I reach down to do anything with their feeder etc they hop up and roost on my arm.
It's kind of a catch 22, like kids they grow so fast yet I'm excited for them to mature so I can see their type. Hoping to be able to show one or two eventually as well as breed if they are worthy. In the meantime I am just enjoying being around them everyday.
Some of my crew:

 

[Faraday40]

Very pretty Doms & very lucky to find them.

 

[cupofJoelene]

My girl Loretta laid our very first egg today!

 

[Faraday40]

My girl Loretta laid our very first egg today!

 

[cupofJoelene]

20 weeks