Chicken Breed Focus - Jersey Giant

[junebuggena]

Love this breed!! I can't wait to get some! My question is when I am making their lay box, how big should I make it? I was told 14"X14" but with Giants that sounds a little small. Can any one assist me?

It all depends on where you get your Giants from. My hatchery sourced girl is only about 5 pounds. If you source your stock from a good, reputable breeder, they will be much larger.

 

[bettymae83]

It all depends on where you get your Giants from. My hatchery sourced girl is only about 5 pounds. If you source your stock from a good, reputable breeder, they will be much larger.

Do you know of any?

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

My JG is 5 years old today. Love this bird. She is the regal queen of the garden. She's just finishing up molting so she's giving me a little attitude. But she'll be back to her gorgeous old self in a few more weeks.

 

[GitaBooks]

It all depends on where you get your Giants from. My hatchery sourced girl is only about 5 pounds. If you source your stock from a good, reputable breeder, they will be much larger.

I certainly agree. I can barely tell my hatchery quality Black Giant from my black (suppose to be blue) Andalusian. But I love her anyways.

 

[bruceha2000]

My JG is 5 years old today. Love this bird. She is the regal queen of the garden. She's just finishing up molting so she's giving me a little attitude. But she'll be back to her gorgeous old self in a few more weeks.

Um is it just my screen or are her legs grey? What color are the bottoms of her feet?

 

[maruadventurer]

Um is it just my screen or are her legs grey? What color are the bottoms of her feet?

My understanding of the SoP is that grey leggings is not a disqualifier. Lack of yellow underfoot are however.

All of the birds in my flock but one have grey leggings. The odd ball is a rooster who has developed all yellow toes top and bottom. Scrawny little bugger whose headed for the soup pot, if I can catch him. If chicken races became a sport he would be my entrant. None of the other roosters can catch him he's so fast.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Um is it just my screen or are her legs grey? What color are the bottoms of her feet?

Yes, she's a champion digger and her feet are always dirty. You can only see the yellow on the bottoms if I wash her feet. Which she HATES!



Here she is when she was younger and after it rained so her feet were cleaner. She's also a hatchery bird and only weighs just shy of 8 lbs. But she's definitely a Jersey Girl.

 

[dynomy]

Hi all - this is my Pretty Girl. She and her sister are huge. My toy poodle is 11 pounds on the dot - these girls are heavier. They also are about 4 inches above my knees. When they lay (they have been on strike since April) the largest egg was 2-3/4" in length and 1-3/4 inches arounnd. Didn't weigh it though but I remember the day.....her singing was unusual. The other girl will just stand there and plop out an egg with no noise. Fo a lonng time they were having issues with feathers but since I changes to a feather fuel typ of feed, all their feathers have come back, but no eggs. Anyone knoow why?

 

[bruceha2000]

How old are they dynomy? Could it be they are "on strike" because you live in Vegas and it is HOT there in the summer? Maybe in that type of climate they hold off because it is too hot to raise youngins? There was a guy from Texas on the Cubalaya thread who said his birds lay better in the winter. Mine don't but his winter is likely more like my late spring/early fall weather.

Were your girls hatchery or breeder produced?

I think Pretty Girl's song was different for the referenced egg because the words changed from "I laid an egg" to "Ow Ow OW!"

 

[dynomy]

LOL...I think you are right! The Black Giants, two polish and 1 wyandotte bantam are about 3 years old. I have an Easter Egger that we got from a neighbor and she was laying almost an egg a day for 5 months after we go her but slowed to a stop when it got really hot and she molted. I also have 3 babies, Astrolorps about 5 1/2 months and they are laying golf balls right now. Pretty much, they all have either stopped or slowed but the weather is getting cooler. We got them from a local feed and grain store so not sure where they came from.
All are very sweet and loving. The two Polish - Tina and the Whiner were laying eggs almost as big as the giants and were as big as my RIRs (before they passed). One of my RIR - Mickey was a champion egg layer but got some mysterious illness and I had to put her down. About a moth later, Ginger just keeled over in the yard - no indication of anything wrong. I had 12 birds and nobody else got sick during this time.