jersey giants

I have one for eggs.  She got really big (nearly ten pounds).  Her growth was fairly slow.  She didn't get full size until nearly 1.5 years of age. 

While I have never raised meaties, nor JG's, I can say that you will not want to raise them for meat.  They grow too slowly.  You could, however, use them as DP's.  Caponize the males, and slaughter the hens once they are past their egg-laying prime(at which point they should be a good size).

I am raising Jersey Giants for meat.  And there slow growth rate is exactly what I want!  Slow growth = flavor.  I raised and butchered 75 Cornish-X this year and they do indeed produce a beautiful carcass but they don't have flavor!  Better than store-bought franken birds yes, but not what I want for all the work I put into raising my own birds.  At present I have about 30 Jersey Giants and 10 Midget White turkeys.  My goal is to get a self sustaining flock of birds (no possible with Cornish-X) where I can have both a source of meat and eggs.  You should visit the National Jersey Giant Club (http://nationaljerseygiantclub.com) webpage for tons of good articles. Check out the article Sher Jennings wrote on using Jersey Giants as meat birds: here is the link to it (opens in MS Word).  Good luck!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pigfarmer 

Anybody raise/raised jersey giant chickens for a meat bird alternative.

I have done the cornish-x, did not like the breed... lumbering bird, not to mention... not replicable.

I am looking to hatch/raise replacements when needed.

 

Thanx for any info in advance

Have you consider raising Light Sussex?  The rooster is almost as big as Jersey Giant and they are growth much faster rate.

I am crossing a blue NN rooster onto some nice Jersey Giant hens in hope of getting a nice duel purpose bird. I love the blue NN and am trying to beef them up a little.

My main advice is if you want to eat some Jersey Giants - Make sure you get stock that you know from some sort of praise to be of good enough size and weight. My last JG's I got were pretty much typical chicken size, I was pretty disappointed.

After that, I'd say they will make good dual purpose but not good meat birds. By the Standard of Perfection, a young bird at just around 7 months old should exceed the weight of almost all other breeds out there, which is great, but as a meat bird most people would want to see that weight reached earlier. Also, the question is, how much is bone and how much is meat? I always hear Jersey Giants grow, THEN fill out.

All said and done, I agree with the previous person's comment on Light Sussex. Any imported / Greenfire stock of Sussex are faster growers and very well filled out birds. Very big birds, too, and if you're in such climate - They're very very cold hardy.

But as meat birds I'd always better recommend a different breed or a hybrid of sorts. Dual Purpose though -  Go right ahead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illia 

My main advice is if you want to eat some Jersey Giants - Make sure you get stock that you know from some sort of praise to be of good enough size and weight. My last JG's I got were pretty much typical chicken size, I was pretty disappointed.

 

 

After that, I'd say they will make good dual purpose but not good meat birds. By the Standard of Perfection, a young bird at just around 7 months old should exceed the weight of almost all other breeds out there, which is great, but as a meat bird most people would want to see that weight reached earlier. Also, the question is, how much is bone and how much is meat? I always hear Jersey Giants grow, THEN fill out.

 

 

All said and done, I agree with the previous person's comment on Light Sussex. Any imported / Greenfire stock of Sussex are faster growers and very well filled out birds. Very big birds, too, and if you're in such climate - They're very very cold hardy.

 

But as meat birds I'd always better recommend a different breed or a hybrid of sorts. Dual Purpose though -  Go right ahead.

Outside the  Cornish-X, what would you recommend?

Strictly for meat and super fast growing there's several rising hybrids like Label Rouge, that other one I heard of something Kings? Looks like heritage Rocks crossed with something else. . .

But me, I'm a serious dual purpose fan. My experience doesn't go too greatly far but I love imported Sussex, I love Araucanas (small but fast growers, very fleshy carcasses for their size, and great foragers and efficient eaters) and that's my two main favorites, though I'm dabbling in new hybrids, breeds, strains, and 2nd-3rd gen mutts each year, trying different things. I also always recommend French Marans, they grow very large and very fast, however, to me the carcass isn't the BEST out there, as the breast isn't as full and broad as other breeds. Right now I'm aiming at crossing Oriental type breeds and Sussex for that well-filled breast. Marans are very nice, but tend to have a thinner width of breastmeat. Better breeds, instead of easily grabbing a general shape of the keel, are more like Cornish X, in which you just can't grab the breast at all.

But, NO fan of Cornish X.