Dominique

Love the size of these birds. Not as big as a standard but not as small as a Bantam. Great egg production, dual purpose and they don't eat me out of house or home.

I have one Dominique in my mixed flock and she is my favorite. Paula Deen loves treats and has a huge personality. She is more laid-back than my RIRs, but will let you know she should get treats first. She was a foodie from the start hence her name. She is really sweet. I decided to get one as I learned there are not many of them and they are considered a heritage breed and are critically endangered.

I know I shouldn't choose favorites, but my 3 Dominique hens really are my favorite chickens. Each one of them has tons of personality. One will peck my pants until I go and get a treat. Another will be sneaky and get around behind me and peck my butt (while the first one is still pecking my pants) until I get a treat for them.


They each lay 4-5 eggs/wk and are very friendly, they even come up on the driveway to greet me when I'm trying to back my car out (in the summer). I often have to get out and shoo the chickens away from the car so that they're not dead chickens.

Dominiques are very calm birds, they don't get scared easily. Unfortunately, my one Dominique often likes to go off by herself. So I'll look out the window and I'll see eight chickens. An hour or so later, there'll still be eight chickens. At this point I'll realize that the one hen isn't nesting so then I have to go out and find her. After fifteen minutes or so I'll find her just kind of standing in a bush eating raspberries or something. It gives me a scare every time because I keep thinking, 'A hawk got her, she's dead this time.' Then I'll find her just sitting in a bush calmly eating bugs or berries and I'll admit, I get kind of mad. She makes up for it, though.

My rooster is very sweet and calm but is always crowing. The hen is incredibly friendly and sweet. She loves humans and is very kind to the other chickens.