does anyone know about dominiques

[chickenbottom]

ok i need to know everything about dominiques about laying age everything basicly and pictures too my chicken is about 9 months old and not laying so thats why
thank you

 

[dancingbear]

Here's a link to a chart that shows many breeds,
Dominiques included. They also have links to other sites where you can find more information.http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

I don't know how much help this will be to you, though. All breeds, including yours, lay where they are ready. How long that takes depends on many things. One of the most important is what they eat.

When you described her diet in an earlier post, it sounded like she wasn't getting anywhere near enough protein. If that was accurate, even if you have corrected that now, she's not going to finish developing overnight. You'll still have to just wait.

What changes did you make with her diet? How much protein is she getting, now? Do you keep the feed available to her all the time? Does she run around outside?

There are so many things that can make a difference, I don't think anybody can tell you when your hen will be ready to lay eggs.

But good luck anyway, I hope it's soon.

Oh, here's another link, to Feathersite, you might enjoy.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGD/Doms/BRKDoms.html
This is their page about Dominiques. They have nice photos of a lot of breeds, and most have pictures of chicks of that breed, down at the bottoms of the pages.

 

[dancingbear]

I just read one of your other posts, you said some of your hen's feather's were falling out.

It's possible she may be having her first molt before her first egg. That doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

If that's what's going on, she'll probably start laying soon after her nice, new feathers grow in.

Keep feeding her the laying pellets, and if you can get some black oil sunflower seeds, give her a little bit of those every day. A big bag is expensive, but you can just get a smaller bag of them that they sell for wild bird seed. Since you just have the one chicken, they'd last awhile.
Don't give her too many, though, just a handful along with her other feed.

Don't give her salted sunflower seeds like people eat, too much salt can be very bad for her! But if you have raw, unsalted ones, that would be fine, but you'll have to take them out of the shells. The black oil sunflower seeds have much smaller, thinner shells, and she could just munch them up.

I know you're worried about your hen. I think she'll be ok. I know you're doing your best to take care of her.

 

[chickenbottom]

what is a molt exactly and she is still losing em ive kept all the feathers she has lost its about 26 of them and they are really fluffy feathers and she lost one on her right wing the longer feathers

 

[dancingbear]

Molting is part of what normally happens with all chickens, usually once a year. They shed the old, worn out feathers, and grow a nice, new set. Hens, if they're laying eggs, usually stop or slow way down while molting. Shortly after they finish growing the new feathers in, they begin to lay eggs again.

Sometimes, depending on when she was hatched, and weather, climate, diet, etc., a young pullet, like yours, will have her first molt before she's a year old. I had 5 this year that did just that. They finally just finished molting and now they've started laying. Since you're in a different climate, the timing's just a little different than here, with mine. The length of time it will take varies a lot, could take a couple of weeks, could be a month or longer.

Keep giving her the higher protein, she needs it do grow the new feathers. Black oil sunflower seed is supposed to help them get through molt faster, too.

 

[chickenbottom]

ok ya she is nine months and ive never herd of molting before laying so its sorta new to me and can i find those sun flower seeds at a farm supply store?

 

[dancingbear]

Yes, they have them at any feed/farm supply store. They cost around $20 for a 50 lb. bag, which would last one hen a very long time, but you can also get much smaller bags that are sold as wild bird feed. Sometimes straight, sometimes mixed with other seeds. The price per pound if higher, but I don't know how much room you have to store anything.

I don't want to offend you, but I am wondering, if you are an adult or a child?

 

[rainbowgardens]

I started raising chickens last year and chose Dominiques based on an article I read in Backyard Poultry Magazine.
I don't know how to do links but just google the magazine. Click on "Library." There will be lists of past articles you can read. One of them is on Dominiques. Save this site to your favorites list because it is full of all kinds of useful articles.
My husband bought me a subscription to the magazine for my birthday.
I don't know if I would have been brave enough to plunge into chicken raising without this magazine. Of course this forum has been a big help, but I only recently discovered it.

 

[chickenbottom]

im old enough to vote i just have never owned chickens before and through my writting it shows lol

 

[dancingbear]

Ok, cool, I just wanted to know before I made more suggestions about things to feed her, etc. You can say different things to an adult with their own resources, than a kid who may not be able to go out and buy stuff, you know, waiting for parents to provide transportation, maybe allowance money being used, and so on.

I didn't want to suggest you get your parents to help you, with whatever, if you're an adult, either!

I had 5 pullets molt this year, starting in late Sept, maybe Oct., and they're done with that now, and laying. I'd never had young pullets molt before this year, or maybe I just didn't notice. I was working full time until a couple of years ago, so I have more time to pay attention to the details now.