Dominique Thread!

[centrarchid]

I hear you, but we do not have many if any of the great horned owls, we do have an abundance of crows and blue jays that team up on owls and run them out of the area, but your point is well taken

I have been down you way. You have owls and they eat crows and blue jays after dark. The owls will not call during daylight when the songbirds have the upper hand.

 

[topdog24]

Are the same age?

It looks like the doms are way more feathered in than the sex-links. Are they?

The Doms are 1 week older, The Doms were close to 3 weeks and the Blacks were close to 2 weeks in this photo, these photos are about 3 weeks old now, I work in the gulf 14&14, i will be home Friday, my wife says they try to escape the brooder everyday when she feeds them, she says they have out grown the brooder and for me to move them to the coop or she was going to quit feeding them, she is tired of being attacked when she opens the door,lol

 

[Sylvester017]

The Doms are 1 week older, The Doms were close to 3 weeks and the Blacks were close to 2 weeks in this photo, these photos are about 3 weeks old now, I work in the gulf 14&14, i will be home Friday, my wife says they try to escape the brooder everyday when she feeds them, she says they have out grown the brooder and for me to move them to the coop or she was going to quit feeding them, she is tired of being attacked when she opens the door,lol

Those Doms are super friendly and not afraid to approach humans for their feed and treats!

 

[Sylvester017]

No offense taken, in fact that is very good information to pass along, I know what you are saying and avised others with the same advice, the one thing i worry about is the hawks, the fence is only to keep them in, i have a 95 lb boxer that would just love for a varment to come anywhere near, or a wild house cat which is my biggest predator threat, he does not bother the squirrels that play around him, he thinks they are ammusing, but when i upgrade, extra precautions are in the works.

Fantastic that you are taking extra precautions!

Sad to say a lot of BYCers report their family dog or cat attacking their chickens and after being around them for several years. Some dog breeds are good herding, flock, or poultry guards. However we've gone through 3 Rottweilers who are an aggressive breed about chasing off intruders but if they are snoozing, in a deep sleep, they can miss a stealthy predator until it's too late. I love dogs but not 100% reliable as much as we love them. When we were home they were alert and showing off what good guard dogs they were. If we were gone they slept right through our returning home! And these were trained guard dogs LOL. Having 2 dogs in tandem for guarding is best. It takes the pressure off one dog to rest while one is on alert. And if there are 2 dogs they use the circling maneuver in tandem against instruders.

Your aerial predators will love diving into your open pen but the chickens will be smart to hide/dive for cover if provided with some bushes or lean-to's or doghouses and more than one kind of shelter. The chickens are smart to figure which cover is best. Once saw all 4 of our hens dive into the doghouse for cover when the Cooper's Hawk showed up. Those girls learn how to be predator savvy real quick but we have to be responsible to provide them the shelters.

Crows and hawks love to pick off chicks. As long as there are no chicks in the big pen it won't be tempting for the predators' to swoop. Crows generally don't bother adults but WILL go after chicks or ducklings. Otherwise Crows don't bother. Hawks on the other hand are looking for open prey but chickens are too savvy to stay in the open. We never had Owls but maybe because our Crows chase them off like one chickeneer stated.

We picked up a used doghouse at the thrift store and begged, borrowed, or picked through trash days in the neighborhood to find old coffee tables, planks from broken furniture, etc, and set them on cinderblocks as low shelters for the chickens. Not pretty at first but at least there's cover. It also helps to have several covers available so that chickens can split up in their own little clique groups at snooze times. Some days some chickens are cranky and just want to be alone when snoozing under cover while the rest of the flock are under another section of cover.

So jealous you can have so many chickens! We are limited in the city and can't have roos! Hope you enjoy your girls as much as we do.

 

[ameeks]

We just got 2 1 year old Dominique hens given to us by a friend of my DH's uncle. I couldn't believe he was giving them away! I'm sure glad he did though. The poor girls are molting and one is sunburned above her tail. He had them in a small 6 x 6 dog kennel, obviously with no shade. Now they have a 2,000 square foot run to share with our 7 Cinnamon Queens, 7 Red Pullets, and 3 Dixie Rainbows. They've spent the past 2 hours enjoying the grass, shade, and yummy treats
Thelma

This is her sunburn

And Louise

 

[ameeks]

Well, crap. Just did some more looking and figured out I'm one the "ignorant" ones that can't tell a Dom from Rock. Oh well, sorry to spam y'all's thread. I guess I'll head over to the Barred Rock club now.

 

[Sylvester017]

Well, crap. Just did some more looking and figured out I'm one the "ignorant" ones that can't tell a Dom from Rock. Oh well, sorry to spam y'all's thread. I guess I'll head over to the Barred Rock club now.

That's ok. Did you know Doms were infused with Malay and other breeds to create the larger Barred Rocks? We've had BRs and Doms both and I still prefer the active, lighterweight, economical Doms but as chicks both are almost identical in personality.

I hope the red on the poor hens' skin isn't bloody as the other hens will peck them to get at the red. You may want to give them a couple weeks to heal and grow back some feathers before showing raw skin to the other hens. We don't like it but chickens are cannibalistic.

 

[ameeks]

That's another reason I thought they were Doms at first, they are so small. I was told they were 1, but, the guy I saved them from didn't know anything. Since they are molting he is probably close though. I just saved them from the stockpot. As for the red, it's not bloody thank goodness. I felt so bad for the poor baby when I saw it. I've been outside with them all day and haven't seen any pecking yet. I am going to put the 2 new ones in a large dog carrier in the coop for the next couple of nights just to be sure and give everyone time to adjust.

 

[Alaskan]

My doms, with their "mom" a white Cochin.

 

[Alaskan]

They are so happy to be on dirt!