Dominique Thread!

[NYREDS]

Quote:
Just listed another auction.

 

[buffalogal]

gootziecat, could she be sneaking off and hiding eggs, or is there possibly an egg eater? If she's not moulting, a month is a long time for a hen to hold up an egg.

 

[gootziecat]

Buffalogal, I've been scratching my head on this one myself. She's with 2 other hens and I get eggs from them like clockwork. No egg eater here near as I can figure. Also, they are confined presently to the henhouse and a large kennel run. I see her on the nest now and then, only to find nothing there when she gets off. I'm puzzled. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to spend my days in the coop to keep super close track of things, but I will keep observing the best I can. Maybe I'll put food coloring dye around her vent. That may tell the tale.

 

[buffalogal]

Maybe she's the egg eater? Do either of the other hens hang around while she's on the nest? I call that "stalking"; she's just waiting for the other bird to get up so she can get the egg. Egg eaters are like snakes; you won't find anything because they eat all the evidence. sometimes, if t's another hen, you'll find a wet spot in the nest, but that' about it. When they get really good at it, they just peck a hole on top, drink the contents and then carry off the shell.

I'd try the food coloring in the vent trick on two out of three just to be sure who's laying and who's not.
We had a drop in eggs a couple of weeks ago, and I knew something was eating eggs, but couldn't catch the guilty party. I just happened to catch my LGD sauntering into the coop, nosing up under a protesting hen on the nest, and delicately removing an egg to have for lunch.

She's a great dog with the birds (and baby goats, and cottontail bunnies and squirrels) otherwise, so I just keep her locked out of that immediate yard. The pathetic look she gives me sometimes...

 

[buffalogal]

Quote:
Any luck?

 

[gootziecat]

Buffalogal, I'm still wanting to do this, but haven't had the time. Maybe tonight. Thank you for asking! It gave me the extra shove I needed.

 

[NYREDS]

Just posted another auction. This may be the last one of the year!

 

[flitter]

Just had to share... 4 new Dominiques in the world... from shipped eggs (14). Not a great result but better than zero. I think there are 3 mini roos and a ?

 

[wsmith]

 

[mprivett]

My Dominique chicks are only 4 weeks old and their mama has already started laying again! Is this normal for this breed? Should I move mama back into the "grown ups" coop or is she ok to stay with babies a few more weeks? The chicks still sleep with her at night although they are so big now I can hardly imagine them fitting under her.