Dominique Thread!

[Amer]

Go to my Buckeye thread if you want to discuss them. It grew pretty fast.

 

[Sylvester017]

@Faraday40

Yes, our only remaining Silkie is a Partridge -- we lost our darling spunky Black Silkie this summer from ovarian cancer.

Partridge comes in so many different shades of color -- some Partridges have red in them (I discovered from @Hinotori on the Silkies thread) and Silkies that have some/or all red in them are usually males. I love Partridge Silkies because there are so many variations of shading with darker topknot crests and matching darker tail poof -- so cute on Silkies. Just like Blue in chickens, Partridge can come in pale color variations to very dark crests and tails. Silver Partridge (or Gray Silkie as the ABA calls it) is a beautiful variation of the more common gold/brown Partridge.

A Black and a Partridge Silkie w/cobwebs in their "hair"

The two Silkies were not what I called the best buddies but they always toodled around together for 6 yrs. Now there's just the Partridge Silkie left.

So far the Partridge Silkie is my longest-lived backyard hen and wants nothing to do w/ the new rambunctious Dominique chicks. She hangs out w/ the adult Cuckoo Breda hen instead.

 

[Amer]

We have a blue and a partidge Silkie too! All this talk, yet none is about Dominiques

 

[Faraday40]

We have a blue and a partidge Silkie too! All this talk, yet none is about Dominiques

LOL. I guess you're right. It's no big deal. Most people have a variety of chickens and love them all.

So back to Doms. Here's a weird ?: Compared to other chicken breeds, does anyone else notice that Doms smell better than other chickens?

Most chickens have an earthy / clay sort of odor.... which gets very intense when wet.
However, our Dom smells better. Kind of the odor after a spring rain. Her feathers also feel a little different - softer, maybe. I'm always wondering if the smell is unique to Bubbles or if all Doms share this quality. Now that DD talked me into keeping 2 silkies, I'm noticing that they also have a more pleasant odor just like Bubbles.

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40

Yes, our only remaining Silkie is a Partridge -- we lost our darling spunky Black Silkie this summer from ovarian cancer.

Partridge comes in so many different shades of color -- some Partridges have red in them (I discovered from @Hinotori on the Silkies thread) and Silkies that have some/or all red in them are usually males. I love Partridge Silkies because there are so many variations of shading with darker topknot crests and matching darker tail poof -- so cute on Silkies. Just like Blue in chickens, Partridge can come in pale color variations to very dark crests and tails. Silver Partridge (or Gray Silkie as the ABA calls it) is a beautiful variation of the more common gold/brown Partridge.

A Black and a Partridge Silkie w/cobwebs in their "hair"
View attachment 1186370

The two Silkies were not what I called the best buddies but they always toodled around together for 6 yrs. Now there's just the Partridge Silkie left.
View attachment 1186374

So far the Partridge Silkie is my longest-lived backyard hen and wants nothing to do w/ the new rambunctious Dominique chicks. She hangs out w/ the adult Cuckoo Breda hen instead.
View attachment 1186379

So glad to hear that silkies can live a long life. DD is very attached to hers. I'm simply afraid they'll end up hawk food.

 

[Chickassan]

I've noticed Hobo has puppy breath. She sits on my shoulder alot so she breathes right in my face and i swear her breath smells like a puppy's. Not bad but nobody else is like that.

LOL. I guess you're right. It's no big deal. Most people have a variety of chickens and love them all.

So back to Doms. Here's a weird ?: Compared to other chicken breeds, does anyone else notice that Doms smell better than other chickens?

Most chickens have an earthy / clay sort of odor.... which gets very intense when wet.
However, our Dom smells better. Kind of the odor after a spring rain. Her feathers also feel a little different - softer, maybe. I'm always wondering if the smell is unique to Bubbles or if all Doms share this quality. Now that DD talked me into keeping 2 silkies, I'm noticing that they also have a more pleasant odor just like Bubbles.

 

[Faraday40]

So you agree! Doms do have a slightly diff smell than other chickens! Of course, I can't say that I've smelled chicken breath. LOL

Haven't had a puppy here in over 12 years. (Our dogs are very elderly.) Yet, anytime someone mentions the smell of puppies, I think back to when a friend mentioned that puppies' feet smell like Fritos / corn chips. I took a deep whiff & sure enough they do!

 

[Sylvester017]

We have a blue and a partidge Silkie too! All this talk, yet none is about Dominiques

Faraday40 said it nicely. Most chicken owners have a mixed flock.

In my post #5482 I DID mention that my Silkie is not too fond of our rambunctious Dominique chicks but prefers to hang out w/ the Cuckoo Breda adult hen. I lost 5 beautiful hens this past year for various reasons, and guess what? we're zoned for only FIVE hens in my city -- we lost our sweet 3-yr-old Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar), our active 1-1/2-yr-old Blue Breda hen, our spunky 6-yr-old Black Silkie, added 2@ expensive Blue Breda chicks and lost them to leukosis. That left us w/ only one old Partridge Silkie and a young Cuckoo Breda hen -- not much in the way for eggs so we scrambled in August to order 3 Dominique baby chicks before chick ordering season was goneby.

If I'm on a Dom thread, Doms get a mention, if I'm on an Ameraucana thread, Am's get a mention, etc etc. It's nice to hear owner experiences w/ different breeds in a flock mixture, if nothing more than to see if other owners have the same or different experiences than we have in our little backyard flock.

 

[Chickassan]

Yes,i do agree they smell and feel nicer than most chickens. The only ones that feel as nice as Hobo are the faverolles sisters but they don't smell as nice. Hobo kind of smells like toast to me,well everything but her breath.

So you agree! Doms do have a slightly diff smell than other chickens! Of course, I can't say that I've smelled chicken breath. LOL

Haven't had a puppy here in over 12 years. (Our dogs are very elderly.) Yet, anytime someone mentions the smell of puppies, I think back to when a friend mentioned that puppies' feet smell like Fritos / corn chips. I took a deep whiff & sure enough they do!



View attachment 1186833

 

[Sylvester017]

Most chickens have an earthy / clay sort of odor.... which gets very intense when wet.
However, our Dom smells better. Kind of the odor after a spring rain. Her feathers also feel a little different - softer, maybe. I'm always wondering if the smell is unique to Bubbles or if all Doms share this quality. Now that DD talked me into keeping 2 silkies, I'm noticing that they also have a more pleasant odor just like Bubbles.

I was going to mention that Silkies don't seem to be odorous either but I see that your DD has already discovered that! Our Ameraucana with her heavy under-down fluff always smelled horrible and I dreaded giving her tush baths -- seemed like no amount of baby shampoo could get that horrible chicken smell out of her feathers -- the White Leghorn same thing. The smell reminded me of Mom's Leghorn butchering days -- it was a horrible smell when carcasses were dumped in hot water to peel off the feathers. But so far my Silkies, Breda, and Doms have stayed sweeter smelling. We don't mind shampoo'ing and blow-drying Silkies, Breda, or Doms because they are not heavily under-downed like Orps, Amer's, EE's, Cochins, Brahma's, etc. Our climate is not conducive to raising the thickly under-downed breeds -- they suffer in our humidity so I figured it was what made them smell worse than our sparser feathered breeds. I don't keep thick-feathered breeds any more because of our SoCalif climate. One Arizona breeder can't keep Bielefelders for the same reason -- heat stress.