Dominique Thread!

[Ivagrove]

I had a Dominique pair in a small tractor, they hatched and raised a clutch last year, but not this year. A black east indie duck, who runs loose, had just hatched out seven ducklings, and was taking them out for their first walk outside the nest. The next thing I know, the duck was gone, and the ducklings were in with the Dominique pair. They watched over them until the next day when the duck came back for them. I guess she needed a little time to herself. The Doms were clearly caring for the ducklings, kept them from wandering away, let them eat and drink, etc. The big cock even took care not to step on them. Chickens usually don't tend or even tolerate other young, and these were not even the same species!

 

[Alaskan]

Wow, that is a great story.

 

[centrarchid]

Interesting behavioral note.

Most of my hens are very hard on chicks that are not their own. Many of the dominiques are an exception. The hens tolerate older chicks in among their own just fine.

This proving to be a problem with one of the broody hens. She is caring more for older chicks that are not her own that would have resulted in loss of hers without my intervention. Hen is now brooding 7 week old juveniles that had already left their own mothers skirt. This a reason to try to keep broody Dominique hens spaced out more than I have been doing so far.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Games are good Mommas. She still has them all. 8 males and 4 females.

 

[justoldbobo2]

Games are good Mommas. She still has them all. 8 males and 4 females.

This is a Great pic how old are they

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Thanks. They are about six weeks old.

 

[brents]

I have 8 road island reds and planning to order 7 dominique on friday. I think it is great to here all the great stories and now getting excited for them to join the flock.

 

[Shawneegyrl]

I have hatched several chicks from the same parents and the males have all been a light grey color and the females have all been almost black in color. The camera seems to be making the chicks all appear a lot lighter then they are in real life. Most of the chick are darker in color then they appear in the pictures. There are some that are obviously males and other that are obviously females, but some are hard to tell at this point.

Was coloring that at hatching or as they started feathering. I have some Dominique Bantams and just could not tell by the legs or spot on head when I got them well enough to guess. The nursery color marked the head by breed and it kind of messed up the natural spot for my inexperienced eye.

I looked at the wings too and they all looked like girls. I would love to think I am that lucky!

They are @ 3 weeks now and some are a pretty steel grey and off white and some are several shades darker with the off white. I am wondering if these are my girls. I THINK I may be seeing a little more pink in some comb areas, but I will have to catch the little buggers and look closer to be sure.

They are in a tractor with @ 17 other chicks. They seem to be bold and personable so far, hard to catch but they come close enough to really tease me.

Any thoughts about this? I will post pics when I can get them.

 

[Shawneegyrl]

Only got a couple of pics today. A group shot. Hope it is clear enough to tell something about 4 of them, the other 2 were mad and turned away. You can click pics to enlarge.

I know 3 weeks is really early but I see a bit of pink and bumpiness on the heads of 3 chicks. The other 3 are still very smooth but have one single little horn like protrusion. They also seem to be just a few shades darker than the ones I suspect to be boys.

If I got 50% from a hatchery I am OK with that, in fact I feel a bit lucky based of some of the stories I have heard.

I have 2 - 8 week old sebrights that look have smooth foreheads with a little spike and I am almost positive they are girls.

 

[Alaskan]

Only got a couple of pics today. A group shot. Hope it is clear enough to tell something about 4 of them, the other 2 were mad and turned away. You can click pics to enlarge. I know 3 weeks is really early but I see a bit of pink and bumpiness on the heads of 3 chicks. The other 3 are still very smooth but have one single little horn like protrusion. They also seem to be just a few shades darker than the ones I suspect to be boys. If I got 50% from a hatchery I am OK with that, in fact I feel a bit lucky based of some of the stories I have heard. I have 2 - 8 week old sebrights that look have smooth foreheads with a little spike and I am almost positive they are girls.

I would go with your guess (slightly lighter color and slightly redder comb=boy)