Dominique Thread!

[Zone3Dakota]

I was wondering about setting out several feeders in locations about the property, maybe once they are used to checking them out, they will move about the farm a bit better. Maybe train them with some feed, and when they've gotten the hang of it, decrease the feed, or start 'skipping' a feeder, now and then, etc?

(our 'backyard is 17 acres...) Would maybe have to set up several smaller coops to get good summer coverage.

The main job for the doms is tick reduction, so am not so happy to hear that the foraging isn't as great as I thought it was. I know, guinea hens are supposed to be great tickers/buggers, but am afraid they'll head for the neighbors farms, cuz they have TREES. (nearest neighbors are over a mile away, but you can see the trees from here)

 

[Alaskan]

@C Bar C Ranch and @Zone3Dakota i think you are misunderstanding.

The Dominiques do a good job of foraging in a specific radius from the feeder. It is simply that the area in which they are happy to forage in is much smaller than what the American Games will forage in.

However, them staying in a smaller area will mean that they will be much less likely to end up in your neighbors trees.

Of course, if you want them to cover your entire property, a mobile coop would be your best bet. Depending on what you have on hand.. It could be a converted horse trailer that you move with a car/truck/ or tractor, or whatever .... In the winter they could live in the same thing, or a bigger and nicer permanent coop.

And just like all chickens that I have ever had... Yes, you call them, and toss out treats, and they all come running.

 

[centrarchid]

If they do not expand the area foraged when feed is limiting, then they eat less thus producing less. Intensity of the small area foraged, if area too small, does not make up the difference. Good job concept means to me how many nutritional units they get per unit area. There is only so much a given area can offer in a sustainable area. At some point the area foraged will become non-productive like a run where all nutrition must come from the feeder.

 

[C Bar C Ranch]

If they do not expand the area foraged when feed is limiting, then they eat less thus producing less. Intensity of the small area foraged, if area too small, does not make up the difference. Good job concept means to me how many nutritional units they get per unit area. There is only so much a given area can offer in a sustainable area. At some point the area foraged will become non-productive like a run where all nutrition must come from the feeder.

What are your thoughts on a rotational coop system? I rotate my cattle multiple times a day into fresh paddocks. I know many pastured poultry producers utilize chicken tractors and mobile coops behind their cattle, creating a renewable source of forage for the birds. It's a wonderful symbiotic relationship as the cow manure, itself a treat for the birds, gives rise to beetles and fly larvae which the birds feast on thus reducing the fly population for the cattle.
My concern would be the desire of the Dominiques to aggressively forage in such close proximity to the feeder in a tractor scenario. Thoughts?
As I mentioned previously, CornishX birds utilized less feed when put in tractors behind cattle (roughly 10-20% of their diet seemed to be derived from pasture based on the reduction of hopper feed consumption). Do you think the Dominique would derive more of its diet from the pasture under the same conditions?

 

[Lucky Lemon]

A rare picture of my three Dom Roos together, and close up of one of their combs. Is this the American Dominique? I'm trying to decide if they have the desirable qualities you alll, mention.

 

[Zone3Dakota]

I would suppose that population density is a major factor...

 

[Alaskan]

@heatherfeather7 yes, those are Dominiques

@C Bar C Ranch i have never raised Cornish X, so cannot compare the two. However, I think that the Dominique would do very well in a tractor/rotational system.

It would be wonderfully informative if we had the percent of diet from pasture when a breed is tractored... And could compare between breeds.

 

[Alaskan]

I would suppose that population density is a major factor...

Interesting thought....

 

[C Bar C Ranch]

I would suppose that population density is a major factor...

You are quite right, population density is a major factor. It also boils down to how often you are willing to move the birds. The birds forage most agressively in early morning when the dew is still on the plants. As the day progresses they are more wont to hunt bugs and scratch for seeds. You get the most bang for your buck by moving tractors by dawn's early light, however a second move in the late afternoon is not unwarranted as it is a fresh plot of seeds and bugs to fill the crop before roosting.
For a 12x10 tractor the ideal stocking rate was 75 CornishX birds. Some experimentation would have to be done to discover the ideal rate for other breeds of fowl.

 

[centrarchid]

What are your thoughts on a rotational coop system? I rotate my cattle multiple times a day into fresh paddocks. I know many pastured poultry producers utilize chicken tractors and mobile coops behind their cattle, creating a renewable source of forage for the birds. It's a wonderful symbiotic relationship as the cow manure, itself a treat for the birds, gives rise to beetles and fly larvae which the birds feast on thus reducing the fly population for the cattle.
My concern would be the desire of the Dominiques to aggressively forage in such close proximity to the feeder in a tractor scenario. Thoughts?
As I mentioned previously, CornishX birds utilized less feed when put in tractors behind cattle (roughly 10-20% of their diet seemed to be derived from pasture based on the reduction of hopper feed consumption). Do you think the Dominique would derive more of its diet from the pasture under the same conditions?

When it comes to the importance of forages to a Cornish X versus an American Dominique, the latter will do better. The Cornish X can ill afford to consume a lot of greens to drive growth because the low nutrient density and low speed of digestion will then be limiting. The slower growth rate of the American Dominique makes so it can tackle the more difficult forages and still get some growth.

American Dominiques will forage further away from feeders than Cornish X. I have observed Cornish X in an operation near Kansas City, MO. They spent a great deal of time simply lying about. They also spent a lot more time getting feed and water than my similar sized or aged American Dominiques do. The Cornish X must spend the additional time at feeder to support the phenomenal growth rate. Even though the Cornish X still grows fast outdoors, it is slower than observed for birds raised indoors. Some of that growth reduction may be due to increased effort required to get to feeders as well as environmental stress.

American Dominiques will not compare well based on rates but can on measures of efficiency when forage is of sufficient quality and quantity. I have yet to see a commercial-type tractor or mobile coop management system that provides sufficient quality or quantity of forage to do a good job of offsetting feed costs. Rather wastes are dispersed promoting pasture productivity and chickens get more exercise that can impact carcass muscle tone. Free-range birds also fetch a higher price.

I can get real replacement value of forages for feed with free-range American Dominiques using a combination of incomplete feeds, dispersed feeding stations, and pasture management but the density of birds per acre is well below what is economically viable. The biggest problem I get into with trying to take advantage of larger areas is predator management. With two dogs I am at my limit with 5 acres. More acres would require more fencing, more dogs, and a way to keep dogs dispersed. American Games are less demanding when it comes to the protective measures. That is primary reason for my efforts to develop Missouri Dominiques.