DOMINIQUES -- Anyone familiar with this breed??

[honeydoll]

I received 8 dominique roosters, maybe a pullet or two in the 8, Aug. 7 from Ideal. They were my packing bubbles. Anyway, they are mean little boogers. So I've read that dominique roosters can be very aggressive and I can't keep all these anyway so I plan to process what I can't sell. I know very little about them. What age is best to process them, I was told 6 mos., is that accurate? Are they noisy? What should I feed them until processing time, just grower/finisher? Hope someone can help me. Thanks.

 

[Chris09]

Dominques hens are real good layer and the rooster can get testy at times.

Are they noisy?

Hen do like to let you know that they layed a egg (they cackel a lot) rooster no more louder that most roosters.

What age is best to process

That's kinda hard to say.. Some will grow faster and fill out better than others and Dominques in my opinion aren't the big of a bird around 6 - 7 lbs or so.. You might want to go by feel when you think the fell good and 'meaty' start processing them..

What should I feed them until processing time, just grower/finisher

Yes.. I feed all my bird a good grower/layer...

Chris​

 

[honeydoll]

Thanks Chris, very helpful. A couple are more docile than the others, I hope they are pullets. I can't tell, do you know how to sex them when they are young? What should I look for?

 

[LilPeeps]

I bred doms for several years and never had an issue with agressiveness, although every line is different. SQ dominiques are a pretty good sized bird, but the ones from a hatchery won't be nearly as large.

The chicks are very easy to sex at a young age. By two weeks old, you will be able to sex them by looking at the wing feathers. The females will have darker barring (more black than white), and the males will have lighter barring (more white than black).

 

[Ryu]

The Doms I have gotten from breeders have been super calm and smart. They are one of the few standard breeds I can keep with my Standard Cornish. Everybody seems to pick on the young Cornish except the Doms and a few Ameraucana hens. They roost and range together.

Of course you never really know what the breeding is going to be on a hatchery bird. If they're not working out and causing a fuss, I agree best to go to the processer.

 

[Hens_And_Chicks]

I have a couple hatchery quality Dominique hens and the are smallish and very docile - very good layers - I love my girls

They just placed first in the Commercial Hens class at our county fair.

 

[honeydoll]

I got mine from Ideal, I am not sure but it seems the strain mine are from is aggressive. There are a couple that are not. It makes me leary to order from a hatchery again, my chanteclers are real sweet, a couple are a little flighty. But as we continue to hold them they are less flighty. I have really been holding the Doms a lot just to see if they would calm down and they already quit pecking. But I am not sure if they will turn out nice or not. I have three boys that love chicks and love to hold them so I hope they calm down. I have 6 laying hens and a rooster that were held a lot and they are very friendly and easily handled. I can say, though my experience is limited, that this group of Dominiques are definitley on the wild side. I wonder why? We have held them since they were one day old. Oh well, I can't keep all these roos anyway, say most, if not all will be processed. I was excited when they sent the extra Doms because originally I read they were calm gentle birds, but these are the hardest to handle set of chicks I have ever seen. Any idea why?