Dominique Thread!

[Leahs Mom]

yes. Still blue

 

[centrarchid]

I have just started stocking my bachelor pad with American Dominiques. Three are in so far with two more to add. Four others are already penned singly to get them into top feather for fall showing. This also give the eleven pullets held for winter a change to mature without undo harassment.

 

[nekker57]

My light colored Dom. She is the prettiest one in the flock.

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

Looks like descendants of some of my flock are going to the Indiana 4H State Fair. Somebody is carrying the ball forward.

Got word today on the club site that there are 35 LF Doms there from 5 exhibitors. We made it a special meet for the club. Will be judged on Tuesday.

 

[Sylvester017]

My light colored Dom. She is the prettiest one in the flock.

Your girl is very nice. Aren't Doms just the best! Assertive, but not combative. Active, but stay in the yard. Curious, outgoing, crave human attention. I was excited about my light-colored Dom pullet and thought she was the prettiest of the 3 pullets. But after a year, she looked just like the other two Dom girls and after her comb grew in full it wasn't as close to the skull as I wanted -- she had the spike leader at the back of her comb but the height of the comb made it curve to the side so that disappointed me -- she's still my favorite since she was a baby chick because of personality but I wouldn't consider her looks as show material. You just never know until a Dom cockerel or pullet is mature how they will turn out. They go through so many growth changes from chickhood, through juvenile stage, to ultimate maturity.

Got word today on the club site that there are 35 LF Doms there from 5 exhibitors. We made it a special meet for the club. Will be judged on Tuesday.

TY! Keep us up-to-date! And photos if possible -- Even the birds that DON'T make it into the top. Honorable mentions are always welcome too. I'm excited just thinking about all those entrants!

 

[nekker57]

My girls will be 14 weeks old tomorrow. I move the chicken tractor about every 8 to 10 days and they always enjoy the new spots.

 

[Sylvester017]

Knowing how active and bored Doms can get I can imagine how excited your chicks get for a new foraging site! Keep them busy because they will get mischievous if not kept entertained. Maybe it's just me but I can't understand how it's said that Doms take confinement well -- only if the spirit has been taken out of them IMO. Is the chicken tractor going to be your Doms permanent adult coop or will they have a separate coop and pen? I like to hear how owners work out the challenges of raising their flocks -- space, environment, housing, free-ranging, predator issues, etc. My 2 remaining Dom hens are backyard free-ranging with a Breda and Silkie but they're locked up in their coop at night and let out again in the very early mornings. It was a training curve with the curious active Doms getting them to stay on THEIR side of the fenced yard and now they've learned to respect even our short 2-foot mobile rabbit fencing. As juveniles the Doms were into everything we didn't want but as adults they are so much better behaved. Just a real joy to have these chatty, people-friendly, assertive yet non-combative girls. I've cycled through different breeds and all have their pros & cons and Doms are amongst the top of my fave's.

 

[nekker57]

My Doms seem to take to the confinement pretty well their run is 8 x 16. I lock them in their 4 x 8 coop when they go to roost in the evening and let them out each morning.
I sit in the run with them at different times of the day and they play around me. I can't let them free range because of the number of predators around my property. I plan on building a larger coop for the night and have several portable runs to let them out during the day.

 

[Chickassan]

So far Hobo is the most into the new girls, she's always first to go to the pen to chat. She loves chicks but dosen't go broody? Strange girl. Dutch is one month now and the boss of everyone despite being the smallest.

 

[Sylvester017]

My Doms seem to take to the confinement pretty well their run is 8 x 16. I lock them in their 4 x 8 coop when they go to roost in the evening and let them out each morning.
I sit in the run with them at different times of the day and they play around me. I can't let them free range because of the number of predators around my property. I plan on building a larger coop for the night and have several portable runs to let them out during the day.

Predators are always first and foremost a big issue having poultry -- whether aerial predators or ground slinkers! Every Spring we have issues with breeding Cooper's Hawks and when the young are fledged they wander into our yard because we are situated close to the trees where they nest. Every year a curious young one sits on our yard's block wall or one of our lawn furniture to stare at my girls who are too smart and stay hidden. But this Spring we had an adventurous young Hawk that flew at the wire walls of the pen where my girls were taking refuge and knocked itself out to the ground! As long as the fledgling Hawks stay stupid like that my girls do well when hiding. Hawks can see my hens but don't engage in battle on the ground. Hawks seem to prefer swooping down on running or flying prey and my girls don't do either when a Hawk is in the yard. In 7 years so far, so good!