Jersey Giant x Buff Orpington growth rate

[Animama]

You may be somewhat disappointed at the weights and the look of the carcass at processing time, they will be a little tough as it will be at least 20+ weeks before they are ready, they will be tall and lean not at all plump but for preasure cooking and soup stock it will be good.

These are from Jersey Giant and Buff Orpington cross. A roo of each and 8 hens of each. These are 3 wks old and I will be caponizing the roos at 6 wks old. The hens will be kept for layers. They will be processed when they get to a weight that I am happy with. Capons do not get tough, they will have a about an acre of good lush greenery and all the food they want. They won't crow and can be used as surrogates on chicks from the incubator if need be. There is some that turned out just buffs and some Jerseys but all the others are crosses. Soon I got some Brahma's and standard Cochin's coming from a breeder. I'll be mixing them with Jerseys. No such thing as giant Cochin there is standard and bantam. A lot of people call the standards giant because they are very large compared to the Cochin bantam. My 3 favs Jerseys, Cochin's and Brahmas. You should see the jumbo eggs we get and sell regularly. So much fun raising the big chickens.
                                                                                                 

 

[Popsy]

I raised Buff Orpington's for meat several years ago. We butchered at around 22 weeks. They were very tasty and not tough and they even free ranged. As with any of the multi purpose breeds, it does take longer but in my opinion it's worth the wait.

 

[grmmadawn]

We are thinking of growing our own chickens for harvesting. We only have raised a nice flock of egg layers so far (barred rocks, sex links & RIR. All of our chickens are free range and there are acres of space for them. Any tips & or ideas about breed, feed, flock management (my hens are not very nice to newcomers) should i build a new coop for the meat birds to keep them separate? Can they free range along with feed? What can i feed them? I would ask at the local feed store but we are limited to a large chain feed store & a walmart, & neither of them seem to employ anyone who is knowledgable about chickens. Let alone helpful. So i figured I would go to the one place for all things chicken...here at BYC. I have always gotten the best information here. In fact on a side note...i was able to save my RIR rooster after his leg was totally broken and he would have gone to the cooking pot if it werent for the help i got here. So in advance, thank you for any & all your help with our new chicken adventure...growing healthy yummy meat for our family.

 

[Animama]

I am a newbie to the chicken raising game and am enjoying it more than I thought I would.

I began my flock with 4 buffs last spring. This spring I still had four buffs and lots of eggs. I did recently lose a hen due to unknown causes just last week

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In any event I want to expand my flock and begin to raise dual purpose birds at a sustainable rate. So I will be adding a rooster to the flock.

The question is which rooster.

I love the looks of the Jersey Giant roosters and think they would probably produce a very nice looking bird when crossed with a Buff Orpington hen or an Austrolorp hen.

My question is what would the growth rate be like. I don't need the industrial efficiency of the popular meat birds. But 2 years to get a fully grown bird probably won't work for any reasonable meat production for my small flock.

Would the Jersey x Orpington hybrid produce a faster growth rate and reasonable meat bird?
Anyone have this cross?


Thanks for the opinions.

Hi I have Jersey Giants and Buff Orps. I did hatch some of their eggs. I only kept 2 because it was a test breeding. I got talked into selling the rest. As far as what I kept the hen is black and white not yellow and black as I expected. She is as large as the grown Buff hens now at 4 mos old. From the same hatch date I also have a Buff hen that is her bff. She has outgrown the buff hen and is a very underfoot kind chicken. I plan to keep her to see how she lays. I really haven't had much prob with my Jerseys laying. I did start out with hatchery stock so I've heard that they mix in Australorp to improve laying ability. I can clearly tell that to be true. I do have private breeder raised blue giants from show stock and was very surprised at the difference. The blues are much larger and super docile. I have 82 eggs in the incubator from the blacks and also the blues. I got rid of my hatchery black roo as he was the spawn of Satan and a horrible attack rooster. I got a black pure giant and hens from a breeder also. The real pure giants are very hard to find around here. Expensive too. I intend to raise the purebreds and the crosses. I have to establish my best flock before I will sell any. I hope to show some one day too. I may be crazy but I paid $50 each for my good stock and only $5-$15 for the hatchery stock which is slowly being phased out. Giving to those who want a start and relatives helps with that. I do want them to continue a good life if possible. Don't be afraid of the crosses they grow just fine. Unfortunately I won't know until next hatch more details of weights, ages, etc. I do intend to capon most of the roosters and butcher any excess less than quality hens. I will not send my line out to be multiplied until I feel they are the best I can do. I have the time and place. Enjoy your birds, experiment, you can always change what you don't like. I have many breeds I'm raising.