Dominique Thread!

[Sylvester017]

Wow, If I only got 1 in a 100 from my showbirds I would find new breeder stock. I get at least one in 10 many times more in my Doms. I run lower in my SS but the stock is poorer, but I still beat 1 in 100 by a long ways. My PC are about 1 in 15-20 that are my worst but Partridge color can be tricky to get right.

I had over a half dozen Doms picked from cull pen and for the most part they were winners at the fairs and shows they went too.

I must be watching the wrong show judge videos because seems no matter what chicken wins, the judge will make a comment about some minor flaw that still could be improved. Like I said, the judges can be very subjectively critical but that doesn't deter from the chicken still being the winner of that particular showing -- depending on how many entries per breed and what type of show. It just seems that a judge is never quite 100% satisfied. Still, like you said, a winner is a winner. We don't get any poultry shows close to us so I rely on watching judging shows. Midwest seems to have the best and largest shows but where I live nothing but possibly a local county fair once a year, and then, not much in the way of poultry showing -- just large livestock.

 

[duluthralphie]

No bird is every 100% perfect SOP...the flaws are very minor though.

I did have a judge write "most perfect bird I have seen" on a cockerel....this year he changed enough to not win BB. His son beat him,,,with no note on the card

 

[Chickassan]

I don't know if y'all are interested in this or not but here is Miss Hobo and her flockmates getting some superworms this afternoon.

 

[Sylvester017]

I don't know if y'all are interested in this or not but here is Miss Hobo and her flockmates getting some superworms this afternoon.

You have a lovely flock of nice breeds. I expected the Favie roo to drop tidbits for his ladies but I guess the worms were too tasty to share LOL! Miss Hobo is gorgeous! The Blue Ameraucana is beautiful. I had a Blue Am shipped to me from Waltz's Ark but she arrived w/ Marek's and the vet had to finally put her down in a couple weeks. You have sweet mild-temperament breeds together. That's not to say there isn't a pecking order established but I find the gentle breeds less brutal in their pecking battles.

When Violet the Silkie was isolated from the flock because of contracting a case of dry pox for several weeks she was eventually re-introduced outdoors -- but she was attacked by the Cuckoo Breda who didn't remember her. Then we had to isolate the Cuckoo Breda for about 3 weeks to let Violet get re-established as top hen. Today we re-introduced the Breda back into the yard and it was a peaceful transition with the old Silkie back as top hen.

Wasn't quick enough to get a shot of these two (Silkie and Breda) standing together but here they are rushing to see me.

The Dominique chicks are all inside the old garden bed while the Cuckoo Breda is at the front -- the Cuckoo Breda blends well with the Dominique chicks' feathers. The Doms still have small pink undeveloped combs and hardly any wattles so they currently look much like the Breda (except no feathered feet of course). Dominiques tend to have a U-shaped stance while our tall and statuesque Cuckoo Breda will have a stance that holds her head high with a slanted back -- she gives the appearance of always being on alert (which she usually is because of her skittish nature).

This was the peaceful transition we were hoping for when putting the Cuckoo Breda back outside -- she has returned to being submissive to the old Silkie and so far there hasn't been one squabble between them. The Silkie makes sure the Dominique chicks and Breda stand back when she's first at the treats.

 

[Chickassan]

He did try to feed his ladies at first, he's taking worms and placing them on the ground he did it a couple of times before he figured he'd better eat if he was going to. He's a really good boy. I love my little flock, there are squabbles now and then but nothing major for the most part eveybody gets along pretty well.

You have a lovely flock of nice breeds. I expected the Favie roo to drop tidbits for his ladies but I guess the worms were too tasty to share LOL! Miss Hobo is gorgeous! The Blue Ameraucana is beautiful. I had a Blue Am shipped to me from Waltz's Ark but she arrived w/ Marek's and the vet had to finally put her down in a couple weeks. You have sweet mild-temperament breeds together. That's not to say there isn't a pecking order established but I find the gentle breeds less brutal in their pecking battles.

When Violet the Silkie was isolated from the flock because of contracting a case of dry pox for several weeks she was eventually re-introduced outdoors -- but she was attacked by the Cuckoo Breda who didn't remember her. Then we had to isolate the Cuckoo Breda for about 3 weeks to let Violet get re-established as top hen. Today we re-introduced the Breda back into the yard and it was a peaceful transition with the old Silkie back as top hen.

Wasn't quick enough to get a shot of these two (Silkie and Breda) standing together but here they are rushing to see me.
View attachment 1202317
The Dominique chicks are all inside the old garden bed while the Cuckoo Breda is at the front -- the Cuckoo Breda blends well with the Dominique chicks' feathers. The Doms still have small pink undeveloped combs and hardly any wattles so they currently look much like the Breda (except no feathered feet of course). Dominiques tend to have a U-shaped stance while our tall and statuesque Cuckoo Breda will have a stance that holds her head high with a slanted back -- she gives the appearance of always being on alert (which she usually is because of her skittish nature).
View attachment 1202318
This was the peaceful transition we were hoping for when putting the Cuckoo Breda back outside -- she has returned to being submissive to the old Silkie and so far there hasn't been one squabble between them. The Silkie makes sure the Dominique chicks and Breda stand back when she's first at the treats.
View attachment 1202320

 

[Faraday40]

You have a lovely flock of nice breeds. I expected the Favie roo to drop tidbits for his ladies but I guess the worms were too tasty to share LOL! Miss Hobo is gorgeous! The Blue Ameraucana is beautiful. I had a Blue Am shipped to me from Waltz's Ark but she arrived w/ Marek's and the vet had to finally put her down in a couple weeks. You have sweet mild-temperament breeds together. That's not to say there isn't a pecking order established but I find the gentle breeds less brutal in their pecking battles.

When Violet the Silkie was isolated from the flock because of contracting a case of dry pox for several weeks she was eventually re-introduced outdoors -- but she was attacked by the Cuckoo Breda who didn't remember her. Then we had to isolate the Cuckoo Breda for about 3 weeks to let Violet get re-established as top hen. Today we re-introduced the Breda back into the yard and it was a peaceful transition with the old Silkie back as top hen.

Wasn't quick enough to get a shot of these two (Silkie and Breda) standing together but here they are rushing to see me.
View attachment 1202317
The Dominique chicks are all inside the old garden bed while the Cuckoo Breda is at the front -- the Cuckoo Breda blends well with the Dominique chicks' feathers. The Doms still have small pink undeveloped combs and hardly any wattles so they currently look much like the Breda (except no feathered feet of course). Dominiques tend to have a U-shaped stance while our tall and statuesque Cuckoo Breda will have a stance that holds her head high with a slanted back -- she gives the appearance of always being on alert (which she usually is because of her skittish nature).
View attachment 1202318
This was the peaceful transition we were hoping for when putting the Cuckoo Breda back outside -- she has returned to being submissive to the old Silkie and so far there hasn't been one squabble between them. The Silkie makes sure the Dominique chicks and Breda stand back when she's first at the treats.
View attachment 1202320

Wow! A silkie as top hen!

Here my 5 yr old EEs are top with a 3 yr old Dom #2, followed by an 8 mo old SS. I actually don't like how the SS is more aggressive, but she's DS's "baby" and must stay. The orps are middle managers and don't seem to care about pecking order. The bantams are all sort of loners. They each have serious attitudes and act entitled. I would think they'd hang out together, but each is a queen in her own way.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Little Napoleons?

 

[Faraday40]

Little Napoleons?

Yes. That about sums it up!

 

[Sylvester017]

Wow! A silkie as top hen!

Here my 5 yr old EEs are top with a 3 yr old Dom #2, followed by an 8 mo old SS. I actually don't like how the SS is more aggressive, but she's DS's "baby" and must stay. The orps are middle managers and don't seem to care about pecking order. The bantams are all sort of loners. They each have serious attitudes and act entitled. I would think they'd hang out together, but each is a queen in her own way.

The little Silkie "Violet" is our oldest hen almost 7 yrs -- she's been used and abused over the years by other breeds of hens so she's earned top rank IMO. When the tall Breda didn't recognize Violet when we re-introduced Violet back into the flock after 6-weeks' isolation illness, we then isolated the Breda to give Violet time to get back to top rank w/ the Dom chicks. The Breda has been respectfully submissive again which is where I want it. A Silkie is only 2 to 2.5-lb and can't do much damage as top hen while a top hen of 5 to 6-lb can do a lot of pecking damage to a soft skull Silkie or Polish. The Dom chicks are still young and try to get away with sneaking treats and have learned to maneuver around the old Silkie and adult Breda to steal from them. It takes two of us to feed 5 birds -- one to feed the chicks in one area and one to feed the two slow adults in another area. I have to remember this problem whenever I get the stupid itch to add another chicken to the flock!

Loved our Ameraucana and her blue eggs but she couldn't take our humid SoCal climate and we lost her at 3-yrs -- our unbearable climate is why I don't get heavy fluffy breeds like Orps, Lorps, EEs, Brahmas, Cochins, Bielies, Favies, etc. A friend wanted to give me a FREE pair of Coronation Sussex but only if I continued breeding them but I'm not zoned for roos. Our heavy mean Marans and aggressive Leghorns have long-been re-homed. Bantams are adorable but reading how broody they are I nixed getting the little cuties. The Partridge Silkies were a friend's school hatching project so I got 2 of them for free -- but after 7 yrs of Silkies don't know if I'll get any more after we lose the last one. Silkies are so danged good as pets but forget egg production. The one great Silkie layer we had died of ovarian issues so that wasn't fun. So far the one remaining Silkie is our longest lived bird so who knows how many good years she has left -- we had to put down the 6-yr-old Silkie because of her ovarian cancer -- so sad because she was a sweet clown and constant buddy to the old remaining Silkie.

Birds are so much one-of-a-kind. One can be so special but keeping one of its offspring may not necessarily illicit the same personality as the parent. We had 3 male Rottweilers each one from a separate year litter of the same sire and dam yet all 3 Rott boys were as different as night and day.

 

[Faraday40]

Not Dom related at all, but I wanted to share because I mentioned my silkie on this thread before.

and more


Click below:

Spoiler: RIP my sweet Gilfie

Oh My!!! What should have been a great day turned out terrible.

We discovered (just moments after it happened) that a hawk killed DD's black silkie, Gilfie! The body was ripped apart & still warm. We're all pretty devastated. DH wasn't home yet, so I asked a neighbor to come over to help me with the burial. Out of all our chickens, why Gilfie!?!

Both kids cried a lot of course. This chicken was more like a pet dog than livestock. DD hatched & cared for this bird. It bonded to her as mama and followed DD everywhere. The chicken spent more time in the house than in the yard and was extremely fond of road trips. Gilfie went with DD to several schools, parks, special events, and was well known throughout the town. (In fact, at Easter the line to pet the famous Gilfie was longer than the Easter Bunny's line!)

I always joked about Gilfie being one of our "useless chickens" but I find myself still crying and in shock. Just an hour before she was killed, she was gently & persistently pecking on my ankle which was her way of asking to be picked up. (A bad but endearing habit of our spoiled chicken.)

RIP, sweet Gilfie.

Taken Wednesday:
(An especially sad photo because this was also the exact spot where she was killed today.)

Using her allowance, DD even bought a present for Gilfie's 1st Christmas = some mealworms.