Dominique Thread!

[The Yakima Kid]

Some of the eggs are thinner shelled than the others. Not sure why. they have ground up shell free choice at all times, plus regular layer feed. Some have very thick hard shells. Hopefully the shell thickness will even out for the flock as a whole...

Fun projects!

Possibly respiratory disease.

 

[topdog24]

These are the 10 week rose comb.




The other 3 are the aprox 5/6 week old single comb. chicks and they are way friendlier than the rose comb chicks, al 4 have set on my knee and slep today. None of my 70 + chicks have been this friendly.


The Question i have is about single and double cones, i bought 5 DOMs from a feed store, all are double cone, i took 4 more from a person that was not allowed to keep them, should i get rid of the single come chicks or just separate them later when they get grown?

OK, i have added photos, i am convinced they are all DOMs now.

 

[wsmith]

Possibly respiratory disease.

No symptoms to support that.

 

[Sylvester017]

Last year 2013, nearly 1/2 of my dom chicks had single combs. This year none. And yes, they are all Dominiques. The single comb gene is in my flock, which is OK, as single comb cockerels are delicious. They are all Dominiques, though I don't use any single combed birds in my breeding program. Sometimes it just happens. The "Single comb=Barred Rock" concept was started after the two breeds were defined and split in the APA standards in the 1870's. Before that there were a lot of single combed Dominiques, based on type and color/pattern.

As far as measuring egg production, the reason I use the calendar year method is that for me, its easier. I'm not so concerned with an individual hen's lay factor, but with that ot the whole flock. For me, it gives me a better overall judge of flock production, and where my particular line is going. This year the lay factors are slightly lower, mostly due to the fact that I didn't keep many pullets from last year, and my older hens are dropping off a little in production, which brings the overall numbers down a bit. That's OK. Again, I am measuring the flock as a whole, and don't want just first or second year layers. As the year progresses, and this year's pullets start laying in earnest, the overall flock egg numbers will come up a bit. Eventually I would like to have a line that lays just under 200 eggs per year per hen, but not more than that. That would be an overall lay factor of .548 for the year. Just a goal at this point.

My dom eggs average 2.0 for mature hens. That's barely in the "large" category. A couple of them lay a larger egg, but they aren't the norm. One of them my daughters named Patty McFatty....... LOL

I will start looking for a coorelation between high egg numbers/larger eggs and thinner shells. Interesting thought.

Some of the eggs are thinner shelled than the others. Not sure why. they have ground up shell free choice at all times, plus regular layer feed. Some have very thick hard shells. Hopefully the shell thickness will even out for the flock as a whole...

Fun projects!

Well my White Leg layed XL eggs (2.25 oz) at 6 eggs/week avg and her eggs were popping out of her at a fast schedule - her calcium coat was thinner.
My Buff Leg layed LG eggs (2.0 oz) at a more modest 5 eggs/week avg and her eggs were not layed at such an alarming schedule as the White Leg and the Buff's smaller eggs were stronger shelled.

I use egg shells finely ground to put into my garden soil and the hens love to find the tiny specks when foraging after harvest. But I supplement at-will Oyster Shell for extra calcium and I have no problems with stronger shells. I no longer have my White Leg but understand she is still laying consistently XL eggs but more at 5 eggs rather than 6 eggs/week like she used to - she is 3 years old. I hated to re-home both my wonderful egg-layer Legs but their assertive behavior became too aggressive for my preferred gentler temperament flock. I was surprised my White Leg stayed a gentle alpha for 3 years before becoming aggressive. The Buff Leg became assertive at 1-year-old after coming out of her first broody session - I know, Legs don't go broody but apparently not uncommon for the Buff Legs because of their breed history genetics.

Read an article about one owner who didn't like using crushed egg shells only for calcium for her hens as she believed in "diminished returns" so supplemented their diet with Oyster Shell also. I believe layer feed has adequate calcium but then most feeds carry only the bare minimum nutrients and we distribute at-will supplements/treats for our free-range girls - whole oat, wheat grains, cooked brown rice, brewer's yeast, turmeric, chia, sunflower, pumpkin, and quinoa seeds, flax, wildbird seed without the crushed jagged corn pieces, sprouts, meats, canned cat food with high protein low-sodium, shrimp, fish, oyster shell, produce from our garden, Greek yogurt, etc. (not all at once of course LOL) but I don't trust only one method of layer feed. Broody bantams get a couple drops a week of Poly-Vi-Sol no iron liquid children's vitamins because they tend not to eat nutritionally during this time plus canned meat or boiled eggs during moult for extra protein. Spoiled chickens? Not really. No more extra care than maintaining the health of other pets like cats, dogs, or in-house songbirds.

 

[Sylvester017]

Possibly respiratory disease.

Illnesses like viral or bacterial infections, parasites like lice/mites/worms, all contribute to the overall well-being of a chicken's quality of health and productivity yet so many new chickeneers fail to note this important evaluation. Talked with one Tasmanian chickeneer who put her chickens on a worming schedule when finding worms in an egg convinced her it was a necessary routine maintenance schedule for her flock. So many people don't want to worm their flock because it means usually discarding eggs from 2 to 4 weeks so they aren't willing to make the egg sacrifice until they find worms in their eggs!

For routine health maintenance we put our girls on a rotational (alternating brands) worming schedule 3x/year, use organic Poultry Protector on both hens and the coop once a month for lice/mite prevention, give Vitamin E oil leg/comb/wattle massages to prevent dry scaly legs and supple combs/wattles per vet recommendation, and Poly-Vi-Sol no iron liquid children's vitamin drop (one drop only) 1-2x/week during stressful moult or broody times.

Any other ailments or injuries we take to the vet for proper analysis. He also gives us a fecal test kit to sample for worms as a precaution especially if a hen loses appetite. So far we haven't had worms but digestive bacterial ailments can occur without being attributed to visual parasites. I keep Greek yogurt on hand to aid in digestion and if a hen is still listless I will schedule a vet appointment.

 

[Lucky KY Chicks]

My mail order chicks are here! Cackle is to thank for these beauties!

 

[Sylvester017]

My mail order chicks are here! Cackle is to thank for these beauties!

Hurray for Cackle. They also allow you to order as few as 3 chicks for $50 but that's a tad bit more than I care to spend on stressing 3 li'l chicks when I can go to my feed store and pick up a couple at $7 apiece that came from Privett Hatchery. But Cackle does raise their own and has for decades - it's not to say there can't be an occasional problem but they have a good rep. From the dark legs and toes looks like you have all pullets?

 

[Lucky KY Chicks]

I bought them sexed so I hope the ratio is 10 pullets and 2 cockerels lol
That is one of the marked cockerels with the purple head. It appears that leg color is more accurate than head spots in sexing cackle's line of Doms. Several of my pullets have male - looking head spots but their legs are very dark. Even one of my cockerels has a head spot that looks almost female but his legs are yellow. Just an interesting tid bit based on the assumption that cackle is 100% correct in their sexing. They only guarantee 95%.
Here are a few more pictures! Note the dark legs but scattered head spot on this pullet

Above picture appears to have a purple head but this chick does not have a dyed head like he marked cockerels. It was just the camera lighting.

And the cockerels
#1

#2

The next one has interesting facial markings that the others don't have. And again, scattered head spot but dark legs

 

[Sylvester017]

I bought them sexed so I hope the ratio is 10 pullets and 2 cockerels lol
That is one of the marked cockerels with the purple head. It appears that leg color is more accurate than head spots in sexing cackle's line of Doms. Several of my pullets have male - looking head spots but their legs are very dark. Even one of my cockerels has a head spot that looks almost female but his legs are yellow. Just an interesting tid bit based on the assumption that cackle is 100% correct in their sexing. They only guarantee 95%.
Here are a few more pictures! Note the dark legs but scattered head spot on this pullet


Above picture appears to have a purple head but this chick does not have a dyed head like he marked cockerels. It was just the camera lighting.





And the cockerels
#1



#2




The next one has interesting facial markings that the others don't have. And again, scattered head spot but dark legs

I depend more on leg color than the head spots. Females have a tighter white dot where the males will have a wider white dot plus more splashing at the back of the neck. But I've seen females with splashing at the back of the neck too but it's rare. Usually the dark leg/toes on the females is the almost 99% accurate sexing.

I am so jealous! I want one - they are so curious and outgoing as chicks moreso than any other breed (except maybe BRs that have their breed history based on Doms). Other chick breeds cower from humans or seem disinterested - but Dom chicks will explore your hair, your glasses, your fingers, your clothes, and then settle on your arm or shoulder to go to sleep. And the conversations they carry on with you when you talk to them! Just adorable!

 

[lazy gardener]

I absolutely love little Dom chicks. Other breeds might actually have more exciting colors as chicks, but there's something super special about looking at the package that makes up a Dom chick, and being pretty sure that you know the gender.

Hubby and i harvested 5 roosters today. There's about 6 more roos to go and about 5 pullet/hens left to do. I'm exhausted! A lot of work processing, and I'm super slow. But, I have 5 lovely packages of meat to go in the freezer, each package should give my family of 4 at least 1, if not 2 good meals. the backs and necks will be cooked down into broth, I'll pick the meat and package meat/broth in 1 qt containers for a nice winter "just add veggies" soup.