Dominique Thread!

[mother o' chicks72]

This is my pretty Dominique. Her name i Peony, we bought her as a day old February 18th 2011 from a feed store. What quality do you think she is? I'm 12 and I'v been thinking about doing 4-H and deciding my nicest bird so I guess I wanna know what you think.

 

[NYREDS]

Looks like a healthy, well cared for hen. She should serve you well in 4H.

 

[mother o' chicks72]

Quote:
she's a sweet girl too. I also have an australorp, a buff orp, a polish, a BLRW and BR. not sure which would do best.

 

[RedDrgn]

Quote:
They lay quite well - as any breed the individual bird can make a difference, but in general mine usually lay well. I have had pullets begin to lay in the middle of january.

Cool, I had heard they were considered winter layers, but wasn't sure how far that went. Ours won't reach lying age until the end of November, so I was curious. Thanks!

 

[gootziecat]

Suzette, do you have any updated photos of your NYRED birds? We'd love to see them.

 

[KenK]

This question may sound strange and I've hesitated to ask it before. My oldest (almost six months old) Dominique cockerel has what seems to me to be a very odd gait. Never seen any kind of chicken run like this. It's hard to describe but the closest I can come is to say it is a two legged gallop.

So, has anybody ever noted that their Dominiques run funny?

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Ken,

When my birds gallop, it often because one of the legs is sore. The trailing leg is the sore leg.

 

[Terri O]

I have a cochin that does this...we did a bumblefoot surgery on his foot and now he is limping on the other one...I will check him out tomorrow when it is time to remove his bandage.....Terri O

 

[flitter]

KenK... hope your bird is improving. We all get such good advice on this forum.

I'm hoping for some opinions on which of 3 cockerels to keep. They are 16 weeks old. I'd like to keep 2 through the winter if they stay nice to each other. I do have a place to move one to if that doesn't work. I'm really looking at body type more than anything else. None of them have obvious DQs. #2s comb is maybe slightly hollow. I'd appreciate an expert opinion before I make my final choices. Thank you so much! Jan aka Flitter
The cock in back I'm calling #1, in front is #2

#2 again

#3

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Still contemplating bantams from Purely Poultry or Cackle, both said to be from Mark Fields line. Is his a fairly easy strain to sex? The sexability of hatchlings is one of the determining factors of getting into the breed, for me.

I don't suppose anyone has bantams from his lines that could comment on what the eggs are like? We don't eat many at my house, so I'm sure whatever it is would be sufficient, but I am also getting them to raise for re-sale and everyone wants to know about how often/early/big they lay.

I find myself very attracted to the bantams since I live in the city, but...are the standard size much bigger? They tend to be a smallish LF, don't they? Are the Cackle LF birds decent? I will have to farm my roo off to a friend and won't be able to do much as far as growing birds out to choose from for selective breeding, so I want to be sure I get a nice productive strain that at least is clearly "Dominique" and not barred rock or Wyandotte or anything else, even if it's not totally dialed in as far as type and color.