Dominique Thread!

[dominique man]

I've got two of them and am planning on using one of them for showing this year or next year until I can get some salmon faverolles or something like that to use. My experience with them is that they are very sweet, smart, calm, and just great all around birds! They don't lay quite as well as my golden sex link but they aren't that bad at all in the laying department. I just love everything about the Dominique chicken!

 

[Alaskan]

I've got two of them and am planning on using one of them for showing this year or next year until I can get some salmon faverolles or something like that to use. My experience with them is that they are very sweet, smart, calm, and just great all around birds! They don't lay quite as well as my golden sex link but they aren't that bad at all in the laying department. I just love everything about the Dominique chicken!

Well, keep us updated as to how they do in the show, and post pictures!

Here is a picture of my two month olds. Think they are looking good!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Mark was not the gentleman I contacted but a Daniel was who I spoke with. I too was considering the Cackle Dom bantams because they had acquired Mark's stock for their breeding program. Cackle tries to keep their breed lines going but must really be overwhelming having to care for so many different breeds with any continuing standard accuracy. What prevents me from ordering is that there is no way I can get a minimum order since city folks aren't that into raising chickens to split an order and I can't use 15 minimum bantam chicks that may turn out mostly roos when full grown. I don't know why Cackle has to sell the Dom bantams as straight run when the pullets are easily identifiable from the cockerels at day-old

I have a DCA bantam Dom breeder contact but very far away and as always these private breeders will not ship live birds

Cackle now sells sexed bantams.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

There ongoing curiosity and activity lead to ours here at the Cirques des Poulets being known as the Keystone Koop. there antics are hilarious. As chicks they have plump round bodies and round heads and are adorably cute. They all rush to the side of the brooder to check out visitors. They run at breakneck paces around the brooder, and if brooded with other breeds, the others look lazy in comparison.

I used to take them out hold them loosely in my hands until they settled, and wait for them to fall asleep. When they discovered they could fly I had many days where I had to get a step ladder to get one or more off of the top of our bookcases since they would suddenly decide they really needed a higher perch than any portion of me!

As they age, they tend to come over, greet you, hang out a bit, and then return to foraging. When people say that Dominiques are active foragers, they mean extremely active foragers. Our snail problem seems to have almost vanished with the Dominiques foraging activity. They go under our deck, a bare 18" high, and remove the snails that cling to the underside during the daylight hours. They are thorough, and they are fast.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

That should have been "Cirque des Poulets."

 

[Sylvester017]

Well, keep us updated as to how they do in the show, and post pictures!

Here is a picture of my two month olds. Think they are looking good!

STUNNING AND GORGEOUS! IS THAT 2 ROOS IN FRONT OR IS THE SHADING IN THE PHOTO A LITTLE OFF? PLEASE DO ENJOY THEM FOR ME!

 

[Sylvester017]

Cackle now sells sexed bantams.

Question: Is Cackle just selling the Dom bantams sexed or ALL bantams sexed? And isn't it dangerous to sex bantams other than the outwardly recognizable day-old Dom or BR?

 

[Alaskan]

I tried to get all of mine in the same photo... Didn't work...but I did get more.

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

If you are planning on free-ranging your flock of Doms then have more than one roo.  The roos will fight predators to the death to save the hens.  Also provide a lot of low lean-to shelters around the property or large doghouses or several pop-up canopies anchored in soil to keep from para-sailing away.  These numerous scattered shelters give the chickens a lot of snoozing/hiding places from aerial predators who don't go after hiding chickens - they prefer to swoop down in open areas.  And don't clip the chickens' wings so they can fly out of harm's way of a ground predator.  Doms are alert, quick, active fowl and were used by Colonials for all these desirable traits but it takes our good sense to provide adequate shelters.  Shelters are crucial if you are open-ranging mommas and chicks since chicks are prime predator bait - or else keep them confined until the juvies grow out at 4 or 5 months before allowing them to free-range.

If you want to keep chickens within an open-range parameter than you will have to consider moveable fences that commercial poultry farms use to keep the chickens from wandering off during free-range pasteuring.  Just be mindful to provide a lot of shelters for them in open fields.  We have seen some open-range farms provide perches under canopies so chickens aren't ground targets for ground predators like dogs or foxes.  These are just some ideas to give an open-range flock some security.  Electric fencing is another good method.

. I have never seen a Dominique Cock or Cockerel fight predators to the death. The predators eat them just as fast as the hens. I have had hens free range fine with out a male.

 

[lazy gardener]

Am I seeing total of 10, 5 girls, 5 boys?