Dominique Thread!

[LilBeaverDoms]

Whew! I made it through all 1730 posts! I just didn't want to re-ask questions that had been asked over and over again. It was actually a great read and now I don't have even have any questions lol.
So an updated version of "my new addiction" (LOL Buffalogal.. you hit that on the head!) is... 4 brown leghorn pullets, 2 bl austra pullets, 4 easter egger pullets, 2 RIR cockerals, 1 barred rock cockeral, 7 dominique cockerals, and 6 dom pullets. The br leg's are from Ideal, the austra's, EE's, RIR, and BR are from Estes, and the doms from McMurray.
Br legs are the flightiest but taming down... just not a 'petting' bird.
bl austras tolerate us lol.
EE's are the friendliest and spunkiest
RIR's and most of the dom males are going to be supper.
BR was bought with intention of being supper too, but man, he is the friendliest, bravest, chick with the most personality of any of them... soooo... i don't know yet.
And my doms... kind of standoffish, but eating from my hand and a few of the roos don't mind being handled. Most of the pullets still alarm putt when picked up but generally put up with it.
I have been putting them outside when the weather is nice and they enjoy the heck out of it. The leghorns are nearly fully feathered and will go OUTSIDE (YAY) at the end of this week when the rain quits and it warms back up.
Here is a pic from a couple of weeks ago with everyone getting socialized

Thanks again for all the wonderful post on the thread.
Jason

 

[LilBeaverDoms]

Ok, I lied.. There is a question or two I have...

I have one of my Dom cockerals that feathered out much faster and carries himself upright, with the tail already high and tho I know it is too early to acurately judge his true form, I would like to mark him so I can tell him apart from some of the others later on. How long does permanant marker stay on them, or is there a better way? I don't want to do wing bands, and buying a bunch of leg bands to mark a couple of birds seems like overkill.
And..
I am gearing towards a free-range flock that is locked in a communal coop at night. I plan on having two or three roosters in with them. I was wondering if I should seperate my cockerals into a grow out pen now, or just let them all grow up together until I start running into problems and then begin eating troublemakers. Thoughts?
Thanks all!
Jason

 

[centrarchid]

Ok, I lied.. There is a question or two I have...

I have one of my Dom cockerals that feathered out much faster and carries himself upright, with the tail already high and tho I know it is too early to acurately judge his true form, I would like to mark him so I can tell him apart from some of the others later on. How long does permanant marker stay on them, or is there a better way? I don't want to do wing bands, and buying a bunch of leg bands to mark a couple of birds seems like overkill.
And..
I am gearing towards a free-range flock that is locked in a communal coop at night. I plan on having two or three roosters in with them. I was wondering if I should seperate my cockerals into a grow out pen now, or just let them all grow up together until I start running into problems and then begin eating troublemakers. Thoughts?
Thanks all!
Jason

Markers Question-

I can read colored sharpie marks through at least four weeks post hatch. I also did trial run so birds were marked all over to check for retention and readibility. Now I make marks redundant so a given bird has multiple marks on head and wings. Target white/creme patches. I use five colors; green, pink, blue, red and orange. Forty-five unique combinations can be done. Colors can be made out even on black down. To facilitate seeing marks take them into sunlight. It does not hurt to have reference colors. Down on wings easiest to read even when flight feathers in place.

 

[LilBeaverDoms]

Thanks, centrarchid! I can't thank you enough for all I've learned from you from this thread. I appreciate it!

 

[buffalogal]

Ok, I lied.. There is a question or two I have...
I have one of my Dom cockerals that feathered out much faster and carries himself upright, with the tail already high and tho I know it is too early to acurately judge his true form, I would like to mark him so I can tell him apart from some of the others later on. How long does permanant marker stay on them, or is there a better way? I don't want to do wing bands, and buying a bunch of leg bands to mark a couple of birds seems like overkill. 

I use colored zip ties until the bird is almost grown and ready for a permanent numbered leg band. Red, orange, yellow, blue, green and black, and you've covered all the pullets and six of the seven cockerels. The one you want to keep an eye on, doesn't get a band at all. I've used the white (clear) bands, but don't like them as they're easy to overlook. Bright yellow is better. Oh, and you can clip the extra 'strap" part off to make it look tidier. Just keep an eye on the bands; check once a week, and be sure to replace them as the chick grows and they'll be fine.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Yep, colored 4" zip ties. You can find them at most hardware stores. 100 in each bag for around $2.99 (I think) so not expensive. The only thing is, you can't make them snug or your birds will grow out of them in no time at all. Just make it tight enough that it can't slip over the foot. Then you have to keep your eyes on them. Like buffalogal said, check them every week, once they start getting to small, there won't be any movement to them when your bird walks. Clip them off with nail clippers and reapply another one the same color. You can band each one a different color or you can just band the one you want to watch.

 

[LilBeaverDoms]

Zip ties are a great idea! Thanks, ya'll!!

 

[centrarchid]

Zip ties in the end will require a lot of labor unless number of marked birds is very small. I tried to go that route but through trail and error found wing banding is most practical with respect to labor, retention and risk to bird health once down is replaced by feathers.

 

[LilBeaverDoms]

I will probably move to wing bands as I get serious about breeding efforts, but for now I am just wanting to mark the two fastest feathering cockerals, in case it gets down to everything else being equal when it comes to cull time.

 

[LilBeaverDoms]

Picture of fastest-feathered cockeral, in the middle..


Group shot of part of the flock..


That nosey little barred rock checking things out...



The deep litter method worked great for a while keeping the smell down... I didn't have to change the pine shavings for nearly the first two weeks... Then it went to every third day or so... Now it is change it every day and they still are smelling up the place! lol. Thank goodness for the rain, but it is time to move these ladies and gents outside!!