FREE-RANGE KEEPING OF AMERICAN DOMINIQUES

[Bullitt]

I have a Dominique rooster that I got out of Sandhills Preservation, they and the Delaware chicks that I got hatched at the first part of June. That puts them at 5+ months. Neither the Delaware roo or the Dominique rosters crow yet, and the Delaware pullets have not started to lay. They may not until January, and the day length gets a bit longer.

I originally thought I would like to go with the Delaware as a dual purpose breed, and the birds I do have are thick and meaty. Don't know how they will lay. But I have had such a predator problem since I went with no rooster this summer, both aerial and land predators, even though I have a great deal of cover. I am thinking that the Doms' will blend in more. However, the Dom rooster is much smaller than the del.

I am thinking of keeping the Dom rooster, and crossing him over the Delaware girls...... hoping to get a more camouflage bird, maybe with a bit more meat. Any thoughts? I am posting here, as to elicit response from other Delaware interested parties

About 22 to 24 weeks is average for a pullet to start laying eggs.

Why not go with Rhode Island Reds or Barred Plymouth Rocks as dual-purpose chickens? They forage well, and they are about the same size or bigger than the Delaware. Their color is also better than the Delaware for free ranging. And they lay eggs as well or better than either the Delaware or the Dominique. The one advantage the Dominique has is it can fly a little higher than these other breeds to avoid predators. If you cross the Dominique and the Delaware you will eliminate that advantage.

 

[centrarchid]

About 22 to 24 weeks is average for a pullet to start laying eggs.

Why not go with Rhode Island Reds or Barred Plymouth Rocks as dual-purpose chickens? They forage well, and they are about the same size or bigger than the Delaware. Their color is also better than the Delaware for free ranging. And they lay eggs as well or better than either the Delaware or the Dominique. The one advantage the Dominique has is it can fly a little higher than these other breeds to avoid predators. If you cross the Dominique and the Delaware you will eliminate that advantage.

I have not seen anything to suggest Rhode Island Reds of Barred Plymouth Rocks are better in a free-range setting than the American Dominique. I have only about fives years experience with American Dominiques but have roughly twice that for the other two breeds although no overlap in timing. What "accounts/opinions" say about breeds are very hard to verify. They need to be compared on the same ground at the same time at many places over multiple years using criteria that are well defined before you start. That has not been done. American Dominique can fly a little better, yes, but difference I do not think is significant with respect to predators. What I do recall is both of the larger breeds also have a love affair with the feeder which does not bode well for using free-range forages.

 

[Bullitt]

I have not seen anything to suggest Rhode Island Reds of Barred Plymouth Rocks are better in a free-range setting than the American Dominique. I have only about fives years experience with American Dominiques but have roughly twice that for the other two breeds although no overlap in timing. What "accounts/opinions" say about breeds are very hard to verify. They need to be compared on the same ground at the same time at many places over multiple years using criteria that are well defined before you start. That has not been done. American Dominique can fly a little better, yes, but difference I do not think is significant with respect to predators. What I do recall is both of the larger breeds also have a love affair with the feeder which does not bode well for using free-range forages.

I did not say that they were better at free ranging than Dominiques.

The person wants the dual-purpose Delaware to have better coloring for free ranging. I suggested using Rhode Island Reds or Barred Plymouth Rocks that have better coloring. I am sure that these breeds are just as good at foraging as Delawares.

Crossing the Dominique with the Delaware would also reduce the size of the Delaware.

Don't leave feed out all the time and chickens are encouraged to forage.

 

[centrarchid]

The color part I do not think makes a difference. The birds move about too much and make more noise than needed for predators to make them out from background. If the color is important, then it is with either roosting birds or with setting hens.

 

[Bullitt]

The color part I do not think makes a difference. The birds move about too much and make more noise than needed for predators to make them out from background. If the color is important, then it is with either roosting birds or with setting hens.

White chickens are more visible on the ground to hawks. Many people seem to agree with this. You don't find that to be the case?

 

[centrarchid]

They are more visible to me as well. The hawks and site oriented predators have no problem seeing any of the chickens, the chickens move about too much. With my games when I had multiple color variants running together under much more predator pressured situations than a typical chicken person would tolerate, I saw no pattern in what birds were taken. Once chickens figured out they were on the menu, then they started getting sneaky like Jurassic Park - raptors hiding in the bush but even then no difference was evident. Once the predators know the chickens are present, issues like proximity and size become more important determining who escaped. Flying ability and knowing where to fly to then became very important differences that where not correlated with coloration. On the few occasions we had white rocks, barred rocks and Rhode Island reds out with similar ages games, the production birds where targeted first either because they could not fly well enough or did not seek proper refuges. We could generally expect to loose all the dual purpose birds before the first game was lost. After dark, breed and coloration appeared to make no difference.


This would all be very different if chickens were always sneaky and employed hiding more consistently as part of their escape related anti-predator repertoire. Or if predators picked out target near the edge of the predator's visual detection limits. From what I am seeing, the predators are typically out hunting critters are lot more difficult to catch than chickens and typically find a bunch of easy targets too close and easy to pass up.

 

[centrarchid]

Hen with oldest brood of chicks currently running about. Last night the roosted where the are feeding in picture.



Hen with youngest brood.



Roost location of two hens with chicks under carpet.



Location I want all hens with chicks to adopt before first snow. They are black to collect solar heat during day and block wind and precipitation very well. In coming years I hope to have heavy clumps of grass that will provide same benefits.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think you do have a valid point about the coloration not being that big of deal, as I look back on it. I have always had heavy predation. The best year, I had a full grown year old rooster, raised on the place, and he drastically reduced my day time losses. This summer without an adult rooster was horrible. I like the dominiques, could get a few more hens, and keep that rooster.

such a hobby.

Mrs K

 

[centrarchid]

A good dog really helps against the ground dwelling predators. A crazy owl just flew into garage where a small number is roosting. Dogs chased it out but knocked some things down in the process.

 

[centrarchid]

I am trying to do more than raise American Dominiques on my ground. I also want wildlife of all sorts but may need the help of others. Growing up I remember seeing hundreds of Monarch butterflies in a day during the fall migration season. Now I get luck to see one or two. I have several types of milkweed plants scattered about but have not seen a single Monarch Caterpillar this year. I also have a fair number of nectar producing plants. I will be promoting the development of more of all as the Fescue and Cheat grass patches are converted over to a more diverse natural prairies assemblage. The problem is you yahoos to my north and south need to be doing the same so they butterflies can feed and breed as needed to get to my place. See following link for discussion of problem.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com...you-want-to-help-6-legged-monarchs-heres-how/