Dominique Thread!

[PitterPatterPalace]

We purchased 6 hatchery chicks this spring (they are now 12.5 weeks old): a Dominique, a Silver laced wyandotte, a golden laced wyandoote, a dark brahma, and 2 easter eggers.
The Dominique & GLW both were the smallest in size but their feather growth rate was the same as the other "pullets."

We've had some interesting experiences with our Dominique. She definitely is the best scavenger/forager of the bunch. She seems the smartest too, you can see she's trying to figure something out at times.

I think LaurenM23 may have made the comment of Ascorbic pic may have been this post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=327565&p=2. Look at that boy's comb!

Here's the thread of when our Dom ate my earring (the little stinker): https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=345773&p=4.

 

[PitterPatterPalace]

Our chickens are now 17 weeks. Tapping our fingers for eggs soon

 

[Mountain Sunshine]

Our newest additions...

 

[WallTenters]

Our first egg yesterday! Beautiful, perfectly formed (small) and wonderful golden brown!

 

[Ryu]

We thought we had lost one of our free range Dom hens, then last night I see a black chick in the barn chirping it's head off. I dug around and found the hen absolutely buried under a pile of old feeders and horse blankets with 9 other babies. I think she was there the whole 21 days. I don't know how she got under there in the first place.

I'm glad she's okay, but I really wanted to be done with the hatching thing this year. It should be an interesting cross, the roo should have been a Lavender Ameraucana. We'll see.

Mommy and babies are in their own pen, she is eating and drinking and doing well this morning.

 

[Gallusfarm]

.

 

[Tigerjane]

Quote:
The Dominique chick I picked up from Ideal is waaay bigger than the other types I got, but is feathering out slower. She started off slightly larger, almost the same as the Golden Campine, but now she just looks so big next to the others. At about 12days old, she's double the size of my bantam chicks!

 

[WallTenters]

Quote:
The Dominique chick I picked up from Ideal is waaay bigger than the other types I got, but is feathering out slower. She started off slightly larger, almost the same as the Golden Campine, but now she just looks so big next to the others. At about 12days old, she's double the size of my bantam chicks!

Our Dominiques actually caught up and passed up the RIR chicks we had ordered with them on the first group - and now we even have an egg sooner! Again, same feeding and handling practices, all equal except the breed.

We processed a rooster at about 16 weeks - just perfect! Flavorfull, tender, plenty of breast and thigh meat (we didn't bother with the wings, as we were skinning instead of plucking). We thought he was too small and a bit thin, but we were wrong - he even had some excess fat to trim off. We processed another a few days ago at 19 weeks, a few bites were a little tougher, but that might have been my absentee cooking

. Overall though very flavorful and good. I think the 16 week bird wasn't too much smaller than the older bird, so worth it just to process the three weeks earlier and save extra feed, if you were going to raise more than a few roosters for processing.

 

[devans87]

anyone know someone that sales dominiques that are past chick age? close to gaston county nc?

 

[Gallusfarm]

.