INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[JanetMarie]

@JanetMarie
That mix sure is pretty! How is the temperament?

None are mean to each other. They are shy since they are in the large garden and not around me often. In the last few days though I've been hand feeding the ones that are brave, to work some shyness out of them. Now they come running when I come through the gate.

One sleeps with another group at night, because that is his routine, and when I carry him to the garden every morning, I smell his head and hackle, and he has a pleasant scent.

I think they're too pretty to butcher, and I don't have to room to keep any. If anyone is interested pm me.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@JanetMarie
Maybe in the spring if they're still around

 

[JanetMarie]

I won't keep them until spring, unless one steals my heart. I do however, have some chicks that will be very similar, that I'll probably have to keep over the winter.

 

[Faraday40]

Some of my pretty cockerels. They are bred from a mixed buff Orpington rooster and Dominique hens.
These boys are so soft.

One sleeps with another group at night, because that is his routine, and when I carry him to the garden every morning, I smell his head and hackle, and he has a pleasant scent.

I think they're too pretty to butcher, and I don't have to room to keep any. If anyone is interested pm me.

Those will likely be very nice roosters. Both breeds are not human aggressive and also gentle to their hens. Besides the good temperament, the Doms have soft, "nice-smelling" feathers. ( Yes, I sniff my chickens too. LOL) For some reason my Dom does not have the usual earthy, clay aroma that the rest of our mixed flock has. My kids were the ones who 1st noticed it; so of course, we started smelling all the hens that afternoon. My daughter's silkie also smells nice, but perhaps that's because she's always being held. That spoiled chicken rarely walks on the ground.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sigh. I want to try some doms and some orps next season. But I don't want to try to integrate a boy right when winter is coming on and they're more inclined to stay indoors. But in the spring....

 

[Indyshent]

None are mean to each other. They are shy since they are in the large garden and not around me often. In the last few days though I've been hand feeding the ones that are brave, to work some shyness out of them. Now they come running when I come through the gate.

One sleeps with another group at night, because that is his routine, and when I carry him to the garden every morning, I smell his head and hackle, and he has a pleasant scent.

I think they're too pretty to butcher, and I don't have to room to keep any. If anyone is interested pm me.

That cross is a really nice way to make autosexing brown layers, btw. You might want to stick with them over your mixed flock even. Doms tend to be lighter built, good layers, but Orps bring fluff, friendliness and chivalry, so it's a great match. Depending on which parent is which, you can make your first generation sex linked, too (buff dad, Dom mom= black sex links, so solid girls and buff barred boys).

Rose combs are also better in the cold and a dominant trait, so all of your F1 crosses will have rise combs.

 

[JanetMarie]

That cross is a really nice way to make autosexing brown layers, btw. You might want to stick with them over your mixed flock even. Doms tend to be lighter built, good layers, but Orps bring fluff, friendliness and chivalry, so it's a great match. Depending on which parent is which, you can make your first generation sex linked, too (buff dad, Dom mom= black sex links, so solid girls and buff barred boys).

Rose combs are also better in the cold and a dominant trait, so all of your F1 crosses will have rise combs.

Yes, I love this mix, and is one reason why I want to raise Dominiques. I only have Dominique hens, due to the Dom. roosters not having good temperments, but will try again. I won't breed any bird with a bad temperment, including hens.

I haven't been able to get a good pic of the pullets of this mix, but will post when I do. As usual, when breeding is done here there are always more boys than girls, but on shipped eggs it's a more equal ratio.

 

[JanetMarie]

Here's buff Orp. X Barred Rock mixes from two years ago. Decided to go with Dominiques over the Barred Rocks. Read a lot of good things about the Dominiques, and found them all to be true.

Notice the dark face on the second photo. The new pullets (buff Orp. mix X Dominique) also have the darker face, and darker combs in varying degrees per bird.

Sadly, these were both killed by a fox last year.

Also, just wanting to keep limited varieties of chickens, and this mix is one I have to have.

 

[Faraday40]

Strange. I heard Dominique roos were usually sweet - except for those few exceptions like any breed can have. I only have one female, so I can't speak from experience. Of course if the plan is to eat the extra males that hatch, then orps will give you a lot more meat.

 

[kanina]

Yesterday was a horrible horrible day.

I messaged DH on his way home to help me find Joan, she and I had gotten into an argument the day before about her aggression and I held her while she screamed at me and Kronus came to defend (until he saw me). I was worried she had somehow managed to get out.

When DH got home he helped me look in all their normal hiding spaces and then looked behind the "shed" we have in there will supplies. Low and behold, there was Joan and she was picking on Ana. My sweet sweet Ana and they had managed to get themselves stuck. I thought I had put the shed close enough to the garage that they couldn't get behind it, but I guess I put it in just the right spot that they could get in, but not out. This has since been fixed. DH pulled them out to find Ana bloody and barely able to walk. I got a plastic bag and a knife to cull them both pending how bad Ana was.

Well, we caught Joan and put her separate. I set Ana down for two seconds and both Kronus and Blue started attacking her. Ana is Kronus' favorite lay, he appeared to mount her, but Blue was attacking. Poor Ana couldn't defend herself.

Joan's been aggressive at the flock for about a week, having stand offs with Kronus for the past few days, and not laying. I didn't find mites or worms, but she hasn't been healthy looking so we elected that she needed to go. I don't have time for aggressive birds.

I got Joan hung up like I've done a million times with my grandma, but I couldn't pull the knife. I couldn't take her little life. I never have been able to, grandma always cut their heads off and I always plucked and gutted. I called my grandma crying and looking for reassurance all while Ana is just sitting by a bowl of water trying to hobble around and drinking. It was the most awful thing. So much for duck processing next year.

On to my sweet Ana. DH picked her up and was examining her legs, and they were fine. Her chest was solid and her wings weren't broken. Minus the blood on the neck and wing she seemed otherwise healthy from the front. I did notice her backside seemed to be dirty so I had DH turn her around to check her vent. As he leaned her forward all the water she had been drinking came out of her mouth and her vent appeared to be prolapsed and infected, it stunk sooooooooooooo bad. I don't know how she got so sick so fast, she was out jumping at our hands for treats just the day before.

I won't go in to how we ended up letting them go, but it was humane and they're passed now. I swear if any of my neighbors had heard us out there talking about killing them, cops would have been called.

This is the stuff that I wasn't prepared for when I got chickens. I can process a chicken just fine. Scalding, plucking, cleaning, no problemo. Taking the life of such a defenseless little being is not easy, even to put them out of misery. Looks like I'm going to need to do research on culling so this goes better when we're processing.