Dominique Thread!

[Sylvester017]

LOL, I can't decide on which breed I want because I am new to chickens & have read so many lovely things about so many lovely chickens! With this order, along with my Dominique, I will be receiving a Blue Amauracana, an Easter Egger, a Black Orpington, a Buff Orpington, a Golden Buff (Red Star), a Black Australorp, and a Black Jersey Giant. It doesn't look like they will be here today, though . My Post office says they already received their Priority shipments for the day & my chicks weren't in them. USPS tracking is terribly lacking; it just says a shipping label was created yesterday morning at 7:49 am. Meyer assures me they sent them, USPS is just not good at updating their tracking site. So my poor babies will be spending 2 days in USPS' rough care

. I can't find the breeds I want locally, so I just have to deal with the not-so-fun sides of shipping chicks. I also have 8 week old pullets: 3 Polish, a Columbian Wyandotte, and a White Cochin. Our 4 week olds are a Lavender Orpington, a Blue Orpington, and a Buff Brahma. LOL Chicken math has really done me wrong!!! I need help! I'm addicted, and the only reason I'm stopping is I don't want aggression issues due to overcrowding! I do have a coop large enough to comfortably house 17 large hens, and I have 2 runs with 100 square feet each, one on each side of the coop. I'm not going to be able to keep any that turn out to be roos due to our city ordinance. I will also rehome any trouble makers or jerks - I oversized my runs & gave them 2 to choose from to help avoid bullying, but if any insist on being jerks on a problem level, I have 2 homes who will take them already lined up. I also let them free range in my backyard a few hours a day on my working days & many hours on the weekends. I have worries about the Orpingtons & Polish as they tend to be bottom of the pecking order girls, but they are so far my 2 favorite breeds so they are going to be the determining factor on which others get to stay with us. My priorities with my flock choices are: docile, sweet birds who are affectionate to humans & easy to handle; decent layers of a colorful egg basket; able to coexist peacefully; large-bodied enough that our pomeranian will be too intimidated to try to mess with them, and cold hardy.

Keep an eye on your Red Star, Wyans, 'Lorps and Orps. My friend's Orp is a bit bossy and Sexlinks can become aggressive in maturity. Wyans have the reputation of being 50/50 on whether they are gentle-tempered or not - MyPetChicken.com calls them a "dominant" personality. Orps are not shrinking violets either and do not tend to be bottom pecking order. The rest of your breed choices should be gentle-tempered but if the more assertive Stars, Wyans, 'Lorps, or Orps start bullying you may have to keept them separated. Polish, Amers, and EEs are non-combative breeds and most likely will be the ones getting chased or picked on. Pulling crests/beards/muffs on gentler breeds is a favourite past-time of LF.

I've had to have birds shipped USPS and I refused to get chicks so I found private breeders to ship 2-3 month-old juveniles instead. The juvies can handle the USPS trip better. For 3 days before my shipment was to be mailed I alerted all 3 mailmen on our neighborhood route and left a large note taped inside my mailbox to remind the idiots not to have chickens ride around inside the mail truck all day but to CALL ME FOR PICKUP as is supposed to be USPS policy regarding live animal shipments! The first shipment of juveniles I ever got the USPS had the poor birds riding in the mail truck and I demanded they be immediately delivered and not stay in the hot truck all day - my P.O. couldn't even follow their own policy to CALL CUSTOMER FOR PICKUP!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Keep an eye on your Red Star, Wyans, 'Lorps and Orps. My friend's Orp is a bit bossy and Sexlinks can become aggressive in maturity. Wyans have the reputation of being 50/50 on whether they are gentle-tempered or not - MyPetChicken.com calls them a "dominant" personality. Orps are not shrinking violets either and do not tend to be bottom pecking order. The rest of your breed choices should be gentle-tempered but if the more assertive Stars, Wyans, 'Lorps, or Orps start bullying you may have to keept them separated. Polish, Amers, and EEs are non-combative breeds and most likely will be the ones getting chased or picked on. Pulling crests/beards/muffs on gentler breeds is a favourite past-time of LF.

I've had to have birds shipped USPS and I refused to get chicks so I found private breeders to ship 2-3 month-old juveniles instead. The juvies can handle the USPS trip better. For 3 days before my shipment was to be mailed I alerted all 3 mailmen on our neighborhood route and left a large note taped inside my mailbox to remind the idiots not to have chickens ride around inside the mail truck all day but to CALL ME FOR PICKUP as is supposed to be USPS policy regarding live animal shipments! The first shipment of juveniles I ever got the USPS had the poor birds riding in the mail truck and I demanded they be immediately delivered and not stay in the hot truck all day - my P.O. couldn't even follow their own policy to CALL CUSTOMER FOR PICKUP!

X2

I have known individuals who gave up chicken keeping because they were horrified by the injuries caused to gentler breeds by more aggressive breeds. It is not unknown for bullying to lead to death.

 

[WendyF]

I would be so upset if my chicks ended up riding along on the mail truck! Thanks for the heads up. If necessary I can put a divider hardware cloth wall through the center of my coop as I have runs on both the East & West sides. I had bullying as a concern from the start, so I designed it to be easy to separate. It's funny how many different opinions you can read on a breeds' temperament, so I'm glad you said something.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I would be so upset if my chicks ended up riding along on the mail truck! Thanks for the heads up. If necessary I can put a divider hardware cloth wall through the center of my coop as I have runs on both the East & West sides. I had bullying as a concern from the start, so I designed it to be easy to separate. It's funny how many different opinions you can read on a breeds' temperament, so I'm glad you said something.

There are a lot of people who deliberately keep a flock of all one strain of one breed of the same age and practice all in and all out management as much to prevent drama in the coop as for biosecurity.

The issue with sexlinks is that not only can strains be different, but in some cases different breeds are used to create them - and the unfortunate fact is that the more aggressive and active Mediterranean breeds are known for terrorizing ornamentals, Asiatics, and the calmer, mellower members of the American class.

 

[lazy gardener]

Just remember that no matter how docile your breeds are, they will fight for Alpha position, and it can sometimes look pretty ugly. I wish you the best with your little (not so little) flock.

 

[Timster881]

I am looking for some nice quality chicks... anyone know a good breeder or where I can find some?

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

John, what you are describing doesn't sound like a docile breed to me. Is this type of behavior, both cocks and hens, been eliminated from your present flock?  Or do you consider it "normal behavior" and it's acceptable? Don't mean to be nitpicky but as you know, this is a bone of contention with me. 
Thanks.

. Normal behavior for the environment that I have provided. A Cock in a breeding pen. Or a Hen with her newly hatched chicks in an enclosed pen will show normal behavior as a chicken to protect their flock. They do not try and chase a person down to draw blood but will be aggressive enough to show you they want you to stay away. I do not cuddle or pet myj birds. It is natural for them to peck or strike at me when I do handle them. Another example is I attend a show in Massachusetts in Jan. And my teenage daughter was so delighted to have to care for my birds. When I came home, she complained of the three year old cock that would not let her come into his pen. I never have a problem with the bird. Her actions and reactions created the issue. We as breeders halve to understand the behavior of the chicken from the environment we provide.

 

[lazy gardener]

One of my Dom pullets flew the fence this morning. She was quite distressed as we've been having some heavy earth work and tree removal for the last week. I went out, expecting to have to give her a merry old chase, but she ran up to me, squatted down and stamped her feet... frozen in place until I picked her up. GOTTA LUV IT! Unfortunately, I have 4 layers, 16 more gals coming into lay (3 that I know of are laying so far) and only 2 nest boxes that have received the stamp of approval. My other box offerings have been totally snubbed. Today, I tried a cardboard box with a nice circular opening... several shoppers, no takers. Other trials have been a big dish pan, and a square plastic kitty litter bucket... still no takers. Fussy gals!

 

[Alaskan]

One of my Dom pullets flew the fence this morning.  She was quite distressed as we've been having some heavy earth work and tree removal for the last week.  I went out, expecting to have to give her a merry old chase, but she ran up to me, squatted down and stamped her feet... frozen in place until I picked her up.  GOTTA LUV IT!  Unfortunately, I have 4 layers, 16 more gals coming into lay (3 that I know of are laying so far) and only 2 nest boxes that have received the stamp of approval.  My other box offerings have been totally snubbed.  Today, I tried a cardboard box with a nice circular opening... several shoppers, no takers.  Other trials have been a big dish pan, and a square plastic kitty litter bucket... still no takers.  Fussy gals!

Try one fake egg in the nest boxes that they refuse to lay in.

 

[WendyF]

My teeny-tiny adorable little girl came yesterday! I love her!! I received 4 black chicks, hard to tell 3 apart, but most people I've asked say this little girl is my Dominique:







Do you agree?