Dominique Thread!

[buffalogal]

Thanks so much for the advice!We are pretty sure it was a raccoon. They are eating, drinking and trying to move around.Their names, by the way, are Sunny,who is the one with the most toes, Cowgirl and Georgia. Cowgirl and GA are the worst and all they have are little nubs

If it was a Raccoon, those are some lucky chicks, as a raccoon will rarely leave any bird they can get ahold of alive. They tend to snag a bird with their "finger" and pull it through the wire, and it is astonishing how much chicken they can pull through a 1 inch opening.

A raccoon usually will not stop with just the back toes, they would have pulled the bird through and at minimum, ripped off one or both legs to the body. OTOH, a rat can only eat what is hanging out, they rarely pull their victim through the wire, but if the bird was close to the side, they will reach in and hold it down while they eat what they can. I'd be making sure they are locked inside the solid box part at night, and if you can get one, a fence charger and with the legs of the coop wrapped with hot wire (insulators on the posts) will deter raccoons.

 

[itspebbl]

They are great to day. Sunny jumped up on my hand and now i have some more scratches. I thought I'd never have scratches from the chicks little claws again. Cowgirl is standing on both feet for short periods,

so thats good. Also the hutch was right outside the house and the raccoon may have been startled by a sudden turning on or off of lights. Thanks again for all of the advice!!!!!

 

[centrarchid]

They are great to day. Sunny jumped up on my hand and now i have some more scratches. I thought I'd never have scratches from the chicks little claws again. Cowgirl is standing on both feet for short periods,

so thats good. Also the hutch was right outside the house and the raccoon may have been startled by a sudden turning on or off of lights. Thanks again for all of the advice!!!!!

Upgrade the hutch today. Raccoon will be back. Consider setting out a live-trap. Proximity to house will not provide protection from raccoons or opossums.

Upgrade can come in the form of making so birds are not in contact with wire as they sleep. A good 1 foot gap usually does trick. Make so they can roost on a piece of plywood if they can no longer hang on to a roost. A box within a box I use even when dogs and electrified fencing are keeping bad guys away from cages.


If you do things right with respect to predators, your biggest concerns will be disease, nutrition and simply doing the right thing.

 

[ebinion]

I have a few Dominique pullets and was wondering at what age do they usually lay. A friend told me they didn't lay until they were a year old

 

[centrarchid]

About six months unless it is really cold, then add another month. If nutrition is poor, that can really delay start of lay.

 

[Cooptopia]

I have a few Dominique pullets and was wondering at what age do they usually lay. A friend told me they didn't lay until they were a year old

Mine have all started about 5 months, but am in the south with more light and warmer days.

 

[OldBiddie33]

[/IMG]
One of my 12 week old Dominique pullets. They are huge! Also, I never appreciated how deep their voice would be.

 

[Shawneegyrl]

My only remaining Dominique Bantam girl. She is 13 weeks old now.
Meet Magica!

 

[Alaskan]

Very cute girl.

 

[centrarchid]

Lets pick these birds apart based on what you see. Birds at center of a given image of concern. Try to ignore other items in view. Not all are pure to make imperfections more evident.