60df52ea_jersey_giant-4158-106673.jpeg
60df52ea_jersey_giant-4158-106673.jpeg

Jersey Giant

The Jersey Giant is the largest chicken variety (roosters average 13 lbs., hens average 11 lbs.)....
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Seldom
Climate Tolerance
Cold
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Light Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly,Easily handled,Calm,Docile
Breed Colors/Varieties
Black, White, Blue, Splash
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
American
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The well named Jersey Giant chicken is the largest purebred breed of chicken. It was the result of a breeding program started around 1870 by John and Thomas Black in New Jersey, with the original objective of the breed being a replacement for the turkey. The resulting adult birds are massive in size with mature roosters weighing in at 13 lbs, hens 10 lbs, and capons capable of reaching 20 lbs.

The Jersey Giant is known as a calm and docile breed with an even temperament. Adults are very poor flyers so are relatively easy to keep confined, they are fine foragers and are sometimes used as a slow growing meat bird on pasture. The hens are fair to good layers of large brown eggs and are known as very good winter layers. They will occasionally go broody. The roosters are said to have exceptionally good temperaments. They are single combed, clean legged, and recognized in three colors, black, white, and blue. The breeds used in the development of the Jersey Giant included Javas, Orpingtons, Langshans, and Brahmas.

The breed was recognized by the APA in 1922 and is on The Livestock Conservancy's Watch list.

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Jersey Giant chicks

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Jersey Giant juvenile

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Jersey Giant hen

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Jersey Giant rooster

For information about this breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-jersey-giant.1007948/
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Latest reviews

JewelsJj
Beauties
Pros: Very calm, quiet and sweet
Cons: Very shy
I have recently purchased 3 Black Jersey Giants. I have with them 3 Barred Rocks and 6 Gold Lace Wyandottes. These girls are sweet and laid back. One of them, Annie loves to be on my lap or arm for pets and snuggles, and she doesn’t appreciate when I pay attention to others. My other 2 girls Betty & Pearl are shy. They don’t want pets or to be picked up but they come for treats and eat out of your hand and they come close to just “hang out” by you. I don’t mind if they take a bit longer to mature. I love them
B
Egg size
Pros: medium to large 8 months old
Cons: small eggs, smaller than red chickens
I felt and was told these Jersey Giants from McMurray Hatchery would lay larger brown eggs than any other breed. Now, after 8 months the eggs are small eggs like bantie eggs. Some are not dark brown at all. I am at a loss on this even with the best feeds and care. I have over 275 dollars in these 15 giants 13 hens, 2 roosters.
Purchase Price
90 dollars, 15 birds
Purchase Date
8 months ago
3m1javt
Impressed with out Black Jersey Giants
Pros: Hardy, Large, Docile, Nice Roosters
Cons: None!
We are 1 year into owning a flock of 30 JGs. We raised a straight run and butchered our excess roosters for meat. We have a large family (7) and one of these birds is plenty for us. We experimented with processing ages and found the roos had filled out adequately around 7-8 months (5 lb skinned carcass) Meat was fantastic! We had a bachelor pasture of electric poultry fence to keep out predators and they didn't eat much, we fed them high protein feed along with all our table scraps and garden excess.
Now for eggs, we have been very pleased. We must have got a good strain because we've gotten more eggs than I expected and sooner... all the hens were laying between 6-7 months, very regularly. And thru the winter they have been fantastic. Remember they must have access to water 24/7 to keep laying, so if their water is freezing that's going to be a factor. We have 28 laying hens and have gotten 33 eggs in the last two days! I am thrilled as it's only February. We think we found our favorite dual purpose breed! PS. Nice roosters are so appreciated when you want to keep a breeding flock!

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Big Egg 1090
May i ask the weight and size of your giant eggs? Mine are very small after 8 months and good care.
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Comments

Our Roost
I had 5 little giants and am now down to 3. The hens have been awsome but we had a rooster in the batch that had a mean streak and he is no longer a problem while resting in our freezer. Relatively good egg producers and in the long run, a good meat bird, I will most likely not raise them again. They have a huge appetite!
 
chart
I'd never heard of them until the other day and if I see these chicks out here, I'll for sure get some. They are so cool. I'm hoping my Cochins get big!
 
CAjerseychick
Wow very surprised not my experience at all-- my birds are huge (they can barely get over the fence much less go roost in trees- too heavy!) They come into the coop every night night and when they see me they come rushing up for treats making that excited treat call sound.... We get 8 or 9 eggs daily from 10 hens and y roo is super docile too...
Sorry to hear of your experience....
 
ChickenMack
I have to ask, were they purchased through a hatchery or a breeder. I have found the birds I have gotten from hatcheries are nothing like the "natural" birds and their descriptions in the breed books. I am actually wanting JG's so your post is hellpful but I am curious.
 
HeritageEggs
I have 8 Giant Jersey's and they are all wonderful I fully agree with Happy Houdan & CAjerseychick...with all of their excellent qualities. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with them, but I hope it doesn't deter others from enjoying the amazing JG's!
 
countrydream7
do chickens get like retarded from one male breeding all the time what do u do switch roosters new to this not sure thanks for ur help
 
rainslick
I have to point out that This person has reviewed multiple breeds with the words "can't wait to get one next year" meaning he is reviewing a breed he doesn't have. That is the opposite of The purpose of reviewing a breed. Here again I don't think this person actually has raised a jersey giant. Which should be obvious from the description of them nesting in trees. Jerseys don't and can't do that due to their size. The moniker "bantam for life" obviously shows a marked preference for bantam hens and I would question that they would be raising the largest of all chicken breeds. I would file this as a non-review and not weight it if anyone is using the rating to consider the breed.
 
Homestead girl
I agree with rainslick, I have five Black Jersey Giants and they are so curious and talkative and always have to be where I am outside. I love my girl's . I don't ever see them flying into a tree to roost a night. Mine come running every time I go outside and they go to roost all by themselves. This review should not be on this site. If you have Jersey Giants you would not be saying this about this breed.
 
UrbnHalfDzn
She is beautiful! We got two Australorpe's this year. They look exactly like your Jersey Giant... their feathers are even iridescent like your Giant.. is a Jersey another name for Australorpe? I'm new to chicken-ing..... so forgive if I sound ignorant. I am a Urban Chicken Freak nowadays! These chickens are so awesome. So even tempered and laid back. You're so right.. because of their size they are often not messed with by my other gals!
 
DStewart PDX
Glad you are enjoying your chickens! No, the Australorp is a different breed, even though they look quite similar. I had an Australorp a few years ago, and that hen was very assertive! She was number one hen!
 
Bocktobery 10
Your JG sounds like one of mine. Great personality, laid back, friendly, smart, healthy and always about her work. (A really great chicken to have in other words!) The other one is similar except that she is not so friendly- only in the sense that she rather be away from humans. They are not a year old yet and are just starting to get a bit bigger than the rest, but for right now they seem just about as big as my Black Australorps. I hope they get bigger! Their egg color is darker than any of my brown egg layers.
 
SheilaV
The problem with in-breeding comes from the tendency for the successive generations to concentrate both the good and the bad traits of their ancestors. As the gene pool becomes more homogenous, the inherent strength of the offspring will become less vital as the concentrations of the negative aspects become more readily passed on. So, in answer to your question, Yes, in a way. It has always been a basis for good animal husbandry to focus on the traits you want and cull out (and not breed) those that have the negative traits. The practice of introducing variety into the gene pool will provide some additional variety, invigorating the lines' vibrancy. Unfortunately, this "selective" breeding can be taken too far, hence some of the inherent disabilities you see in some dog breeds (blindness in Dalmatians, bad hips in Shepherds, etc.) If you would like to look into the further, read Temple Granden's ANIMALS MAKE US HUMAN. She speaks at length about how the poultry breeds have been perverted, creating a line of fragile hens, and essentially breeding OUT the heartiness of production birds, and threatening the entire industry. Quite startling.

http://www.grandin.com/inc/animals.make.us.human.ch7.html
 
Andrstein
Their breed description includes the following characteristics: large, long time to maturity and not heavy layers. Not sure how you can list their defining characteristics as cons.
 
MsDachshund
I have Jersey Giants and they lay great for me. They have nice jumbo sized eggs once they got to maturity. Great sweet birds. My rooster is so loving you can just bend down and pick him up and snuggle him. He weighs 13 pounds and is as tall as my Pygmy goats. His feet are the size of a mans hands. My gals, are great mothers. This is my all time favorite breed. They also seem to deter the hawks as the rooster can give the hawks a good whoppin'. They are so soft. Like a toy so soft. Durable too.
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
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Watchers
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Comments
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Reviews
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Rating
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