Astralorp or Jersey Giant?

[Frazzemrat1]

Just got done reading an old 2009 BYC thread on this topic. Owner stated that at 9 weeks her Jersey Giant towered over the other birds. In my case, the black pullets are the same size as the Buff Orpington, and maybe just a bit smaller. They don't tower over any of the other pullets. Another owner stated that she had 2 Black Astralorps, one had white feet and one had yellow feet. I guess the hatchery may not be sending out birds up to APA standards....? In my case, the black birds have yellow feet like a Jersey Giant but are not any bigger than the other pullets in the flock so maybe they are yellow footed Black Astralorps?

One other thing I noticed on my black birds, both have a splotch of white on their back wing feathers which are sitting close to the rump of the birds. It looks like the tip of only one or two wing feathers, but both birds have the same marking. Possible crossbred imperfection?

I'm OK any way, 2 Astralorps, 2 Jersey Giants, or one of each. I was just hoping to find out definitively what breed they are today. I guess I might have to wait another 10 weeks and see if the birds grow into Jersey Giant size, or not. Given the yellow feet, I'll just assume they are both Jersey Giants and not lose sleep over it.

The white feathers will molt out when they lose their juvenile feathers.

Hatchery quality BJG are significantly smaller than their heritage bred counterparts. I also believe that they probably interbreed their Aussies and the BJG, since Aussies lay more than heritage BJG. The ones with white feet are sold as Aussies, yellow as BJG. I'd love to get my hands on a heritage BJG. or two.

 

[gtaus]

The white feathers will molt out when they lose their juvenile feathers.

I was wondering about that. White on the tip of the feather only. And only one or two feathers at the most.

Hatchery quality BJG are significantly smaller than their heritage bred counterparts. I also believe that they probably interbreed their Aussies and the BJG, since Aussies lay more than heritage BJG. The ones with white feet are sold as Aussies, yellow as BJG. I'd love to get my hands on a heritage BJG. or two.

This is my first time with laying hens, so I have never had either the Black Astralorp or the Black Jersey Giant before. I remember asking the poultry guy at the store which was the BA and which was the BJG. He said something like you can't tell them apart until they get much older. I suspected from the store pickup that I was given 2 of the same breed, but when I went to the bins with the day old chicks, I could not tell them apart. So you have to rely on the poultry guy and the hatchery to fill the order as requested.

Interesting point on the probably interbreed of the BA with BJG at the hatchery and selling the yellow feet as BJG and white feet as BA. I was convinced I had 2 yellow feet BJG after I checked them. But then I read the old BYC thread and some lady stated her 9 week old BJG just towered over the other pullets. Mine do not, and they are not even the largest birds in the flock - at least not yet. But they are nice, docile birds so I will enjoy them for whatever they are.

 

[cstephens1987]

I was wondering about that. White on the tip of the feather only. And only one or two feathers at the most.

yeah my 13 wk BA pulley has just a single white tipped wing feather in each wing. Otherwise totally black

 

[gtaus]

yeah my 13 wk BA pulley has just a single white tipped wing feather in each wing. Otherwise totally black

Thanks for that confirmation. I was convinced I had 2 Black Jersey Giants based on their yellow feet, but based on some other older threads that stated their BJG towered over their other birds at 9 weeks old, I am not convinced I really have BJG. At 10 weeks, they are not the largest birds in my small flock, so it's still possible that they are Black Astralorps.

Does anybody know if BJGs have that juvenile single white tipped wing feather?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Does anybody know if BJGs have that juvenile single white tipped wing feather?

It can come on any bird that's black as they almost all hatch with white down on the undercarriage. That has no relevance to BJG or BA. Even my FBCM get the white wing tip, and sometimes (parasitic) white in their tales... despite KNOWING my breed is pure.

Yellow skin, smaller body... simply genetic differences, but still BJG, IMHO. Skin color is a heavy portion of breed standard ALWAYS.

Willing to bet those "towering" BJG were also cockerels. Anyways, JG aren't known for their early growth or maturity. Many of the larger breed will actually grow more slow than lighter breeds. And I swear peeps are always on here asking about their BA being rooster because they get bigger combs and turn red a bit faster than many others in my experience.

Many birds even pure bred can have some color leakage in their feathers. Skin color, shank, color, lobe color, eye color, body type. So many things that point to actual breed. When getting to the nitty gritty... some SOP's include how many tips should be on the comb.

But they are nice, docile birds so I will enjoy them for whatever they are.

That's what's really important. But I still enjoy a good mystery.

ALWAYS good to get a second opinion on ANYTHING told to you by a feed store employee. They are well meaning but sadly misinformed and usually with little to no real animal experience of their own.

 

[The Brick Coop]

Looks like you have hatchery giants. They don't usually get as big as exhibition stock, but it depends on from where they get their stock. I got some tall ones from Murray McMurray once. The best of those were added to my heavier foundation group which were bought from an exhibitor. JGs have yellow soles; hens until they lay enough and are bleached but sometimes still a little yellow. Aussies pink/willow soles until the hens have laid and bleach. Both Aussies and Blk JGs usually have a tiny bit of white when hatched but they usually molt to all-black by maturity. Aussies usually have more refined bone/head and even with hatchery stock have more consistent combs.

 

[The Brick Coop]

Is that fruit in the pen? if I do too much of that they get diarrhea. I feed fresh clover, dandelion & chicory by hand; though they can pick it themselves they enjoy the interaction.

 

[gtaus]

Looks like you have hatchery giants.

Well, whatever I got, they both look exactly the same so I doubt I got one Astralorp and one Jersey Giant as ordered. They are both the same size and I can't say they are any bigger than the other breeds in my small flock. At 22 weeks, they are still smaller than my Silver Laced Wyandotte but just a bit bigger than my Buff Orpington. I would have thought that a Black Jersey Giant would be towering over my other birds at 22 weeks, but have been told they are slow to mature so at this age you might not see much size difference. They are nice, docile, birds somewhere in the middle of the pecking order.

 

[gtaus]

Is that fruit in the pen? if I do too much of that they get diarrhea. I feed fresh clover, dandelion & chicory by hand; though they can pick it themselves they enjoy the interaction.

The neighbors came over to visit the birds and had a few strawberries for the girls. My birds had not seen strawberries before and were not very interested at first. They did eat them over the next day or two, but at that time they still had plenty of green grass in the chicken run which they preferred.

I try to not overload any one type of kitchen scrap at any time, so they always have a choice of things to eat. I have not seen any negative results from feeding kitchen scraps, but it is also not a very large part of their diet. My wife and I don't produce much kitchen scraps on our own, but I am giving as much as I can to the birds rather than dumping scraps into the compost pile directly. If something is moldy, it hits the compost pile directly, but other than that, I offer all scraps to the girls.

 

[gtaus]

I feed fresh clover, dandelion & chicory by hand; though they can pick it themselves they enjoy the interaction.

Same here. I like feeding the girls by hand. During the summer, the chickens ate all the grass in the run so I started giving them grass clippings from mowing. That worked well. Now that leaves are falling, I am mowing them up with the baggers attached, and dumping all that grass/leaves into the chicken run so they can eat what they can find and scratch through everything and turn it into compost for the garden next spring.