Dominique Thread!

[Alaskan]

Yes one of mine loves crowing at night, he's hilarious, I'm just wondering tempewnt wise what people have noticed with this breeds roosters

Dominique roosters have great temperament in regard to humans and chickens....however, I haven't noticed any specific breed characteristics in regard to crowing.

 

[BusyBearMama]

Dominique roosters have great temperament in regard to humans and chickens....however, I haven't noticed any specific breed characteristics in regard to crowing.

Thanks good temperament is good, I've been very lucky with roosters so far and have been on the fence about getting one of these for a few years now, might almost be time to just go for it. Where do you all recommend one purchase a dom Cockerel? I have 6 hens he would be well looked after.

 

[tgooberbutt]

Necropsies never seem to definitively identify Marek's disease in chickens. They say "probable" but never give a positive yes or no as many other maladies have symptoms with cancerous issues. Chickens can have Marek's but survive it fine but internal cancer growths develop over time in the adult chicken until it dies from the cancer. But then other diseases can also cause cancerous growths so the necropsy reports are just might-be guesses. They can tell you it was cancerous but not what caused it. At least that's what most of the research articles said.

Your new venture to try a different breeder sounds like a good experiment and so far sounds promising. It's so cute to see your EE being a good momma. Did she hatch the LFs and Bantams at the same time? My Ameraucana is 3 years old and never once showed any broody tendencies.

Yes - she did hatch the LFs and bantams at the same time - and they all hatched out within a two-three day window. She's been super attentive, and still very calm around me (not protective of me reaching in an picking up and playing with a chick or two). She puffs up like a huge ball if any grown chicken is visible in the area though! I have two Ameraucanas, and only this one is broody - the other one could care less about the little chickadees!

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks

good temperament is good, I've been very lucky with roosters so far and have been on the fence about getting one of these for a few years now, might almost be time to just go for it. Where do you all recommend one purchase a dom Cockerel? I have 6 hens he would be well looked after.

I'm not recommending anyone specific as there are many nice breeders. But for myself I've always wanted a Dom from Cackle Hatchery for the simple reason that Mark Fields is consulting Cackle about improving their line of Dom bantams and Dom LFs. I don't see it happening for me to order from Cackle since I can't even use the smallest City/Town 3-Pullet Special because it would put me over my zoned limit for keeping chickens on my property and I have no outlet for extra chicks. I have one person in mind that might co-order with me in a year but even one more chicken added to my backyard at the present would overdo my chicken number and I really hate dealing with baby chicks no matter how cute they are - I prefer juveniles in the 2 to 3 months ages. I will get a Dom some day but it will have to be after I naturally lose one of my current girls. I am so attached to our hens. Didn't realize how much until I had to take a little Silkie to the vet today for minor surgery because of her chronic CRD issues. I thought I'd faint from the blood but kept my cool. The little 2-lb Silkie is so spunky and not an hour after nostril surgery she was looking for something eat! She'll be in the house for a week as we medicate her until her next Monday's vet checkup appt!

 

[BusyBearMama]

I'm not recommending anyone specific as there are many nice breeders.  But for myself I've always wanted a Dom from Cackle Hatchery for the simple reason that Mark Fields is consulting Cackle about improving their line of Dom bantams and Dom LFs.  I don't see it happening for me to order from Cackle since I can't even use the smallest City/Town 3-Pullet Special because it would put me over my zoned limit for keeping chickens on my property and I have no outlet for extra chicks.  I have one person in mind that might co-order with me in a year but even one more chicken added to my backyard at the present would overdo my chicken number and I really hate dealing with baby chicks no matter how cute they are - I prefer juveniles in the 2 to 3 months ages.  I will get a Dom some day but it will have to be after I naturally lose one of my current girls.  I am so attached to our hens.  Didn't realize how much until I had to take a little Silkie to the vet today for minor surgery because of her chronic CRD issues.  I thought I'd faint from the blood but kept my cool.  The little 2-lb Silkie is so spunky and not an hour after nostril surgery she was looking for something eat!  She'll be in the house for a week as we medicate her until her next Monday's vet checkup appt!

Oh that makes me feel good, I had heard that maybe from someone on here? about Cackle and deliberately bought some to add to my flock from there just before last winter and they are nice birds... Should have bought a cockerel :-/ I know what you mean about buying so many birds at once it seems like a ton. I like to pad all my orders with Easter eggers for my laying pen but I don't have space for 15 more birds now either I've got 48 birds including roosters and chicks and like 40+ eggs in the incubator so I'm totally at bird max... My plan I think is one rooster going to live somewhere else and getting a new cockerel - likely they'll all get sold before winter and I will get 3 new roosters before the following winter... Genetic diversity but we want to focus on specific breeds. This year it's all barnyard mixes mostly
Go glad your silkie got in with a vet and you're such a good chicken owner to help her hope she's well soon!

 

[Zone3Dakota]

I'm enjoying my Cackle birds. They're about 8 weeks old, now. I did get a nice ratio of pullets to cockerels (13 to 6) than i expected from a straight run order. They also may be from better stock than i originally thought...being a newbie, i am no judge of how they would compare to any other source, at this age. There are at least 2 of the pullets that have no black in the beaks, the cockerels, of course, have far less black skin. I don't see foot/toe problems or any skeletal problems. They did come in with a lot of difference in size, maybe that is normal. The pullets that were littler seem to be catching up a little faster than the one little cockerel, but he's holding his own amongst the bigger ones.

The young cockerels have an instinct to protect, and they can act before thinking, especially if any of the flock get upset. We've been working with them, and this seems to help a lot. I suspect that it is hormonal, seeming to come on strong with the 'showing' of comb/wattle. I really think that from an order of 25 cockerels, you could end up with at least one that would fit the standard, nicely. Time will tell about that.

 

[Alaskan]

I'm enjoying my Cackle birds.  They're about 8 weeks old, now. I did get a nice ratio of pullets to cockerels (13 to 6) than i expected from a straight run order. They also may be from better stock than i originally thought...being a newbie, i am no judge of how they would compare to any other source, at this age.  There are at least 2 of the pullets that have no black in the beaks, the cockerels, of course, have far less black skin. I don't see foot/toe problems or any skeletal problems.  They did come in with a lot of difference in size, maybe that is normal.  The pullets that were littler seem to be catching up a little faster than the one little cockerel, but he's holding his own amongst the bigger ones. 

The young cockerels have an instinct to protect, and they can act before thinking, especially if any of the flock get upset.  We've been working with them, and this seems to help a lot.  I suspect that it is hormonal, seeming to come on strong with the 'showing' of comb/wattle.  I really think that from an order of 25 cockerels, you could end up with at least one that would fit the standard, nicely.  Time will tell about that.  

I agree that that is a good guess.


Also, good update on the chicks, thanks.

 

[Sylvester017]

I'm enjoying my Cackle birds. They're about 8 weeks old, now. I did get a nice ratio of pullets to cockerels (13 to 6) than i expected from a straight run order. They also may be from better stock than i originally thought...being a newbie, i am no judge of how they would compare to any other source, at this age. There are at least 2 of the pullets that have no black in the beaks, the cockerels, of course, have far less black skin. I don't see foot/toe problems or any skeletal problems. They did come in with a lot of difference in size, maybe that is normal. The pullets that were littler seem to be catching up a little faster than the one little cockerel, but he's holding his own amongst the bigger ones.

The young cockerels have an instinct to protect, and they can act before thinking, especially if any of the flock get upset. We've been working with them, and this seems to help a lot. I suspect that it is hormonal, seeming to come on strong with the 'showing' of comb/wattle. I really think that from an order of 25 cockerels, you could end up with at least one that would fit the standard, nicely. Time will tell about that.

Question: One thing I haven't considered since I'm not breeding birds is the possibility of inbreeding when all the chicks come from one source all at once. Are you mixing the sources of where the birds come from before breeding them? I mean, since breeding bros to sisters is considered inbreeding? I think that's where a lot of problems like wry neck or splayed legs might be coming from?

 

[Alaskan]

In-breeding is not a problem if you do the following:

Keep good records

Use the in-breeding to find out what is hiding in your flock (both good and bad)

Weed out the bad.



If you are perpetually adding in "new blood", then you end up not having any idea what bad recessive genes are hiding, and which birds they are hiding in.


It is perfectly acceptable, and in many cases DESIRABLE to in-breed/keep a closed flock and not add in any new blood.


The "bad stuff" happens when people refuse to cull heavily (no matter what breeding method that they follow). If chicks are babied along with medications, and pristine living conditions, and prime quality feed, you end up with birds that NEED codling in order to thrive.

If you practice good management (because no, I am not in favor of caged rearing or any other animal abuse), but cull any birds that do not thrive under normal conditions, then the result is an extremely hardy breed.

 

[Sylvester017]

In-breeding is not a problem if you do the following:

Keep good records

Use the in-breeding to find out what is hiding in your flock (both good and bad)

Weed out the bad.



If you are perpetually adding in "new blood", then you end up not having any idea what bad recessive genes are hiding, and which birds they are hiding in.


It is perfectly acceptable, and in many cases DESIRABLE to in-breed/keep a closed flock and not add in any new blood.


The "bad stuff" happens when people refuse to cull heavily (no matter what breeding method that they follow). If chicks are babied along with medications, and pristine living conditions, and prime quality feed, you end up with birds that NEED codling in order to thrive.

If you practice good management (because no, I am not in favor of caged rearing or any other animal abuse), but cull any birds that do not thrive under normal conditions, then the result is an extremely hardy breed.

Hi - my definition or understanding of inbreeding is brother to sister and a group of chicks that come all at one time from a hatchery has the high probability that many of the chicks are brothers and sisters and that is the inbreeding I'm talking about -- not son to mother or daughter to father where a breeder is keeping a closed breeding flock to perpetuate good traits. I think a lot of wry neck or splayed legs in the Silkie thread might be coming from close brother-sister inbreedings where a lot of newbies are breeding for the joy of having more chicks for fun and not realize the hatchery chicks might have originally been brothers-sisters to each other. Does that explain my question a little better of having another source or hatching of chicks that can be bred to the first order of chicks to avoid the possibility of same-hatch siblings breeding together? Example:

20 cockerels and pullets in 1st order from a hatchery - probably not safe to inbreed these possible siblings to each other.

20 cockerels and pullets in 2nd order from the same hatchery - probably not safe to inbreed these possible siblings to each other.

However, it's probably safe to breed chicks from the 1st order of chicks to the 2nd order of chicks from the same hatchery to avoid same-hatch sibling inbreeding? The hatchery line/source remains the same but less possibility of sibling inbreeding than would occur if the birds mated each other in the same hatch. Hope I'm getting the correct understanding of inbreeding about siblings.