Dominique Thread!

[Jungleexplorer]

I am not a Dom expert. Maybe somone who is can comment. I can tell the gender of my chicks when the hatch for most part. Some are obvious, some are not. At six weeks there is no doubt.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Hey Buffalogal. Look at the comb on this cockerel.

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

Looking at the head I would be more concerned about the deformed beak.

 

[centrarchid]

Looking at the head I would be more concerned about the deformed beak.

Agreed, beak would remove him from consideration for breeding pen. Comb looks fine for level of maturity but shots showing from front and top are also informative. Symmetry is very important on the comb. I am still trying to learn how to take good picture of that. I do not like tail but sometimes with cockerels in blood feather that is a tough call unless bird is in hand. Feather alignment needs to have vanes of feathers forming a proper fan and not look like the way I brush my hair.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Yeah. I had a lot of problems with deformities in my Dominiques because of improper incubation settings. Some beaks are worse then this one. But the question was specifically about the comb and has do to do with a private cinversation between me and buffalogal. There is a backstory here that is too long to go into. But thanks for the cretic anyway.

 

[Julic]

I am a newby to chickens. Have had them about 7 months now and am hooked. My two hens came to me as adults (RIR and Leghorn). I recently got a very young Dominique that still chirps like a baby. She is little but has feathers and is growing every day. Can someone tell me when they get their voice? The two hens are not a fan and the Leghorn chases her every time she makes a peep. I am hoping that once she sounds more like a chicken then they wont be so agitated with her.

 

[centrarchid]

The adult voice is approximated after about 18 weeks in mine. Chicks also get a juvenile voice when about 5 weeks of age. Changes are not always discrete. Even after getting adult voice, voice still changes. In some of my birds I can distinguish a 2 year old from one that is 9 months old, especially with males.


Voice change is not required for birds to get along. Force them to roost together after lights off to promote bonding.

 

[Julic]

Thanks so much centrarchid. I am slowly working them together but am afraid to put the little one in the roost because of what the Leghorn might do when she wakes up and realizes the little one is in there. She really goes at her and shows no mercy. I just thought maybe if she got her voice it might build some confidence. She is so afraid of them.

Even when the hens are not going at her, she runs away if they get near her. She also won't follow them in the yard. They free range but the little one stays right at the coop. I am assuming staying close to the coop is not a Dominique trait but probably just fear of being attacked again.

I kept them all in the run for a week but she spent most of her time away from them up in the coop. She tries to avoid them as much as possible. The hens were going nuts so I finally let them all out to free range. I would think after two weeks they would be getting along better. I am still taking the little one into a box in the garage in the evening because the Leghorn chases her out when she tries to go into the coop at bedtime.

Learning everyday.

 

[Shawneegyrl]

I would try to break up the "mean girls" club by putting the leghorn in time out in the box in the garage and let the new girl have a chance to get aquainted with the other chicken. Give them days, even a week to sleep together and range together without leghorn. Keep her in the box or locked in the coop when the others are out. That will also kind of "throw" the RIR so that without the leghorn, she will be glad for other company. If they bond, then the leghorn can be added back in. She may get picked at a little but will be fine.

I have 5 full size and 4 cochins now. When I got the 4th cochin, they were all really mean to her, so I separated 2 cochins into a pen (one was brooding) and gave them a chance to bond and then put everybody together after a week. The 3 cochins are at the bottom of the pecking order but they are OK with the others. The broody cochin ironically is the "boss" of everyone. She is little but feisty!

Does raising a clutch of chicks elevate a girl's status, I wonder?

 

[Lacy Blues]

Thanks so much centrarchid. I am slowly working them together but am afraid to put the little one in the roost because of what the Leghorn might do when she wakes up and realizes the little one is in there. She really goes at her and shows no mercy. I just thought maybe if she got her voice it might build some confidence. She is so afraid of them.

Even when the hens are not going at her, she runs away if they get near her. She also won't follow them in the yard. They free range but the little one stays right at the coop. I am assuming staying close to the coop is not a Dominique trait but probably just fear of being attacked again.

I kept them all in the run for a week but she spent most of her time away from them up in the coop. She tries to avoid them as much as possible. The hens were going nuts so I finally let them all out to free range. I would think after two weeks they would be getting along better. I am still taking the little one into a box in the garage in the evening because the Leghorn chases her out when she tries to go into the coop at bedtime.

Learning everyday.

I would try to break up the "mean girls" club by putting the leghorn in time out in the box in the garage and let the new girl have a chance to get aquainted with the other chicken. Give them days, even a week to sleep together and range together without leghorn. Keep her in the box or locked in the coop when the others are out. That will also kind of "throw" the RIR so that without the leghorn, she will be glad for other company. If they bond, then the leghorn can be added back in. She may get picked at a little but will be fine.

I have 5 full size and 4 cochins now. When I got the 4th cochin, they were all really mean to her, so I separated 2 cochins into a pen (one was brooding) and gave them a chance to bond and then put everybody together after a week. The 3 cochins are at the bottom of the pecking order but they are OK with the others. The broody cochin ironically is the "boss" of everyone. She is little but feisty!

Does raising a clutch of chicks elevate a girl's status, I wonder?

I haven't tried this before but have done something similar. I have some orpington bantams and needed to move one little girl in with two older girls and a rooster. I ended up taking all the older birds out of their pen and bringing in the new girl for at least a week... until she started acting completely comfortable with her surroundings. Then I brought in one of the older girls, the one on the bottom of the pecking order. After about a week, when they were getting along, I brought in the dominant girl. There was some squabbling but they settled down fairly quickly. A couple days later, I brought the rooster back. Now they're all living happily ever after in their little orpy coop.

I was going to suggest that Julic get a couple more young birds but if Shawneegyrl's idea works, then you won't need them.