Dominique Thread!

[ThatFarmerChick]

Personally I think that there is a Marans craze going on right now. My 2 roos and girls are super sweet. They lay large dark eggs, provide good meat, and love to cuddle. The biggest plus for me is how well mine free range.They are good all around, but they are not my favorite.

A local store sells Marans chicks every year. This year people were in the store fighting over them. Some one told me that this has happened the 2 previous years as well. This particular store did not even contact anyone for Dominiques this year.

Most people around me are afraid to let Marans range, get cold, and I have heard that some do not retrieve chocolate colored eggs from their girls. The downside for me are their combs. I could not imagine these birds in Alaska.

 

[Sylvester017]

Personally I think that there is a Marans craze going on right now. My 2 roos and girls are super sweet. They lay large dark eggs, provide good meat, and love to cuddle. The biggest plus for me is how well mine free range.They are good all around, but they are not my favorite.

A local store sells Marans chicks every year. This year people were in the store fighting over them. Some one told me that this has happened the 2 previous years as well. This particular store did not even contact anyone for Dominiques this year.

Most people around me are afraid to let Marans range, get cold, and I have heard that some do not retrieve chocolate colored eggs from their girls. The downside for me are their combs. I could not imagine these birds in Alaska.

It's nice to hear some people having luck with their Marans. I had a Cuckoo and our friends had BCMs. My Cuckoo was aloof but tolerated us humans and appeared to be a calm flock bird - however her eggs were barely #4 on the color chart. The Cuckoo seemed calm but she was a nipper toward the other breeds. She tried to challenge the alpha Leghorn and was promptly put back into her place and then she started to attacked the bantams viciously. The Cuckoo was instantly re-homed. Our friends liked the dark BCM eggs but the hens were rather bossy and re-homed also. Like you say the straight combs of chickens are a pain to deal with and now we only get pea or walnut combed breeds who appear less combative as well. Our Dom chick never lived to POL but she was a joy for as long as we had her. We will have more Doms some day when other breeds of ours go to chicken heaven.

 

[ThatFarmerChick]

It's nice to hear some people having luck with their Marans.  I had a Cuckoo and our friends had BCMs.  My Cuckoo was aloof but tolerated us humans and appeared to be a calm flock bird - however her eggs were barely #4 on the color chart.  The Cuckoo seemed calm but she was a nipper toward the other breeds.  She tried to challenge the alpha Leghorn and was promptly put back into her place and then she started to attacked the bantams viciously.  The Cuckoo was instantly re-homed.  Our friends liked the dark BCM eggs but the hens were rather bossy and re-homed also.  Like you say the straight combs of chickens are a pain to deal with and now we only get pea or walnut combed breeds who appear less combative as well.  Our Dom chick never lived to POL but she was a joy for as long as we had her.  We will have more Doms some day when other breeds of ours go to chicken heaven.

I absolutely love Dominiques. My grandparents always kept a trio or more of them. When my husband gave me the okay for chickens they were on the list. Marans were not. I flipped-flopped with them. I think of them as a fad. Now that every hatchery had them I believery that the great aspects of them will be lost. Such as egg color.


I have 4 Cuckoos. My other is a blue×splash. They all are good babies. The roos are very protective. There is one hen that does not like to be held. As I had said before they can be good birds, I feel that mine are anomalies. I have heard so many bad things about the breed.

I am sorry to hear about your experience with the Cuckoos. I wish all chickens could be trained to our liking. Glad that you could find new homes for them. We eat whatever does not work out for us.

 

[mermaids]

Enjoying the backyard with my girls. Yes, it's weed infested. Lilac season has come and go e, and the chickens are finally looking more like chickens. They have chosen my middle lilac as kind of a home base for now. I have to say the Dominiques just seem to figure things out first. Certain bird calls make them run for cover, while others make them curious. The Dominiques are the most cautious about new sounds, but they are most trusting of me (I used chicken crack, aka mealworms). One of them even plucked a mosquito off of me, what a dream! My Delaware is the clueless blonde of the bunch.
I can't believe I forgot how nice it is to lean on a tree truck and feel the wind sway the branches behind me.

 

[Sylvester017]

I absolutely love Dominiques. My grandparents always kept a trio or more of them. When my husband gave me the okay for chickens they were on the list. Marans were not. I flipped-flopped with them. I think of them as a fad. Now that every hatchery had them I believery that the great aspects of them will be lost. Such as egg color.


I have 4 Cuckoos. My other is a blue×splash. They all are good babies. The roos are very protective. There is one hen that does not like to be held. As I had said before they can be good birds, I feel that mine are anomalies. I have heard so many bad things about the breed.

I am sorry to hear about your experience with the Cuckoos. I wish all chickens could be trained to our liking. Glad that you could find new homes for them. We eat whatever does not work out for us.

TY for your reply. Our Cuckoo was given to us free from a breeder we know who hatched out a surplus of eggs (she supplies classrooms for their science projects). Our friends got the BCMs. We all got these Marans when they were still all the rage about 4 yrs ago. Our experiences with the Marans were kind of duddy and I've had ppl tell me they prefer their Wellies over Marans for dark eggs since the outcomes are similar - dark eggs, light eggs, speckled eggs, spotted eggs - a wide variety of browns. Our Cuckoo never layed the same pattern. One egg would be light brown, another medium brown, another half light/half dark, another small speckles, another large spots, etc. It was always different with each of her eggs which we thought unusual. Pretty birds but too unpredictable a breed as pets which is what we want. My DH won't eat our hens - even the mean ones he finds homes for

.

He and I still mourn for the little Dom pullet we lost way too early. We dubbed her "Xena" because of her athletic acrobatics and constant foraging. A very busy, personable, curious, outgoing little girl.

 

[lazy gardener]

One of my Dom hens went on a school trip today. I took her to an assembly I did for 4 First grade classes. We discussed the relationship between chicken, farmer and garden, egg anatomy, and a bunch of other chicken related topics. The kids were all amazed at how soft her feathers were. (No surprise there, that's why I chose her) She was very well behaved, put up with being held and touched by 80 children, and NEVER once pooped during that time. They were all amazed when she closed her eyes and leaned into the facial massage I gave her. The 6 y.o. question of the day: Why is her face all red! The answer of the day: Because God made her that way, and if you were a rooster, you'd think she's beautiful!

 

[centrarchid]

One of my Dom hens went on a school trip today.  I took her to an assembly I did for 4 First grade classes.  We discussed the relationship between chicken, farmer and garden, egg anatomy, and a bunch of other chicken related topics.  The kids were all amazed at how soft her feathers were.  (No surprise there, that's why I chose her)  She was very well behaved, put up with being held and touched by 80 children, and NEVER once pooped during that time.  They were all amazed when she closed her eyes and leaned into the facial massage I gave her.  The 6 y.o. question of the day:  Why is her face all red!  The answer of the day:  Because God made her that way, and if you were a rooster, you'd think she's beautiful!

I do similar usually with games but I have used American Dominiques as well (see thread linked below). I have found use for the feces deposited as a talking point where their food processing is contrasted with that of mammals. I have a setup where a bird is held while balance of birds wander the class room and can even fly up on desks. My approach has been hitting on biology while a co-worker emphasizes egg and meat production.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/407880/ambassadors-for-the-farm

 

[centrarchid]

Anyone have pictures of white dominiques? I have chicks out of my oldest cock that is being bred to one of his daughers. Mother of cock was from a group that included some white dominiques in the original breeders flock. If the allele for white remained then it would be in this cock. About 1/4 are very light with females lighter than even normal males. I have never knowingly seen white dominique chicks.

 

[ThatFarmerChick]

TY for your reply.  Our Cuckoo was given to us free from a breeder we know who hatched out a surplus of eggs (she supplies classrooms for their science projects).  Our friends got the BCMs. We all got these Marans when they were still all the rage about 4 yrs ago.  Our experiences with the Marans were kind of duddy and I've had ppl tell me they prefer their Wellies over Marans for dark eggs since the outcomes are similar - dark eggs, light eggs, speckled eggs, spotted eggs - a wide variety of browns.  Our Cuckoo never layed the same pattern.  One egg would be light brown, another medium brown, another half light/half dark, another small speckles, another large spots, etc.  It was always different with each of her eggs which we thought unusual.  Pretty birds but too unpredictable a breed as pets which is what we want.  My DH won't eat our hens - even the mean ones he finds homes for  .

He and I still mourn for the little Dom pullet we lost way too early. We dubbed her "Xena" because of her athletic acrobatics and constant foraging.  A very busy, personable, curious, outgoing little girl.

Aww. Losing birds is never easy. My son just lost his Salmon Faverolle male. He was suppose to show him this summer. He took it pretty hard. He does have a trio of Doms to show. He and a few buds from his 4H club began a program to breed chickens that were are considered heritage and have dwindling numbers in America. My son chosethe Dominique.

He and his group will be showing the birds, raising awareness, breeding the birds, and selling chicks to backyard flock keepers.

 

[Alaskan]

Personally I think that there is a Marans craze going on right now. My 2 roos and girls are super sweet. They lay large dark eggs, provide good meat, and love to cuddle. The biggest plus for me is how well mine free range.They are good all around, but they are not my favorite.

A local store sells Marans chicks every year. This year people were in the store fighting over them. Some one told me that this has happened the 2 previous years as well. This particular store did not even contact anyone for Dominiques this year.

Most people around me are afraid to let Marans range, get cold, and I have heard that some do not retrieve chocolate colored eggs from their girls. The downside for me are their combs. I could not imagine these birds in Alaska.

I agree...

Dominiques are VERY practical