Dominique

I heard a ball cat toy to bat around is fun. Hang it up and maybe one of the others will play with her...

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/c...site&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email

Compost pile CHECK
Free Range CHECK
Table Scraps CHECK
Dust Bath Area CHECK
Climbing Places CHECK (I put the old Christmas tree in the run. They climb it as well as roost between the dead branches during the afternoon.)
Old Stump CHECK
Live Crickets CHECK
Paper to shred CHECK
Melons & Squash CHECK
Cooked Spaghetti CHECK
The hen is STILL a pecking at the back door!

Great ideas! She just loves you, I guess!

I love going to the local feed store when they have Dominique chicks. You can tell the Dominiques because while the others are lazing around, the Dominiques are setting land speed records running across the brooder to look at the people looking at them.

Yes! We joke about our Dominiques having a "hive mind."

Hi Yakima Kid - Reading over your review again I noted your comment about the peck order fighting. Not so overly unusual as we found our two Silkies (who normally don't fly) jump 4 feet in the air holding onto each other's crest feathers in a cranky battle. The peck order fighting in Dominiques is no different than other breeds. But I totally can identify about the Dom characteristics that you normally don't find in other breeds and we've had a few breeds to compare. The Doms are definitely little clowns and more active than even EEs or Ameraucanas. Our Ameraucana is high-strung and jittery but still friendly and let's us pet her and talks with us. But the Dom is not nervous - just busy, curious, and constantly active and seeks out to be underfoot or sitting somewhere on your person and loves conversation - not squawking but actual conversational interraction with a human. I understand the first year Dom pullet eggs are MED but by the next year are laying LG. Our Ameraucana started out laying LG eggs and now is laying XL. So first year pullets seem to lay smaller at the beginning. Heritage Doms are lightweight birds so I wouldn't expect them to lay oversized eggs like a poor hybrid has been bred to lay. The Doms are so unique that until we had one I couldn't begin to identify with other reviews about them. This breed qualifies under so many categories - friendly pet, curious outgoing and unafraid, good layer, can brood its own, active forager, easy on the feed, alert and predator savvy, dual-purpose, gentle nature, soft to the touch feathering that are used for fly-fishing, etc.etc. People say Silkies or bantams are good children's pets but bantams do not actively seek out human contact the way Dominiques do. A child would be in fantasy heaven having a couple Doms willingly climbing all over him/her!

What was interesting about the Dominique peck order fighting was the extreme drama that looked like it should cause serious injuries but appeared to leave all pullets unharmed. The White Leghorns I had as a kid didn't look half as dramatic in their disputes, but they caused bleeding wounds in some cases. This was like watching old style local TV wrestling - lots of drama, storm and fury. B^)

I love watching Dominique chicks in a brooder with other breeds; you can pick them out very easily both by their size, and by the fact that they will run incredibly fast from one end to another to get a look at the people looking at them. B^)

We refer to ours as the Keystone Koop.

Don't forget their single minded dedication to food and foraging. We refer to ours as the Keystone Koop as they stalk squirrels, humming birds, peck at our legs in demand for treats, etc. I will note that they seem to know not to peck at bare skin, and they don't peck hard.

The Keystone Koop provides us with hours and hours of entertainment. They are always so busy with biddy business.

She likes you, and she hopes for a pat and a treat, not necessarily in that order.

50lb of feed for 18 birds across 6 weeks equates to 200g of feed per bird per week.....

My Dominique Bobbie, was the first to lay at 19 weeks and is laying @ 5 eggs a week... she is very sweet and tells me all about her laying when I get her egg from the coop.

We have 5 Dominiques. all hens. They are very inquisitive and are the first chickens around when I uncover some snacks (especially crickets!). They do seem to be the more aggressive of all of the 18 hens we have. There is one hen in particular that will peck and chase away any hen that she seems to think is encroaching on her snack opportunity. And they also like to peck the backs of my legs when they feel like they should be getting attention/snacks while I am doing other things in the yard. LOL It really isn't funny when you have shorts on. They have drawn blood!

We have 18 hens. 5 Dominiques, 4 Buckeyes, 4 RIR's, 4 Buff Orpingtons. They all get along really well. The word "spunky" is a good word to describe the Dominiques. When I am out digging up worms for them (yes..I know, I'm weird) or working in the garden, the Dominiques sneak up on me and peck my butt. They are persistent and I have to keep shooing them away so that I don't end up with wounds! LOL Our Dominiques lay medium sized eggs. Right now they are going through a pretty serious molt and aren't laying but they have consistantly laid an egg every day. They are the eggs with the richest golden colored yolks of all the eggs our hens lay.

We call ours our "pants chickens" because they will grab our pants legs in order to get attention and treats. If I am sitting outside, I will find all of the Dominiques hanging around behind me, just out of my line of sight. Invariably. one will wind up in front of me and scratch away in hopes I will take the hint and bring out a treat - and if that doesn't work, she'll grab my pants leg.

They also like to tell me all about their day.

Our Dominiques make the Black Stars, Barred Rocks, and even the Leghorns look like downright lazy foragers by comparison.

How is egg production over their lifetime?