hatchery vs heritage....please help....

[crazypoultrychx]

ok.....I need some major help......heritage vs hatchery.....so we bought some nj giant chicks from the feed store....now I was figuring that all the research I did we would get true NJ GIANT CHICKENS..allegedly they are supposed to be turkey sized chickens....

they are 5 mo old now and we went and visited a local heritage breeder and low and behold hubby and I learned a TON!! and now have possibly realized we made a HUGE mistake raising hatchery birds...we had the intention of raising these birds for meat and incubate eggs to keep the lines going. Now hubby wants to take them all to the swap and invest in heritage birds.

Does anyone out there have any experience w/ feed store hatchery NJ Giants....are they only a pound heavier then a hatchery RIR (per the gentleman at the feed store?) I am so very frustrated as hubby doesnt know the time and effort I have put into these birds and now he is ready to throw in the towel....

we already have 4 coops up and running and now he wants to add a whole new addition of chicks and that means 6 more months before we get to eggs. Please give me your advise if you can.

 

[Impress]

You can always work to get those lines back to heritage standards by switching up your rooster with a true heritage rooster and hatching, saving those chicks to raise to breed under another heritage rooster from a different bloodline.

The hatchery bloodlines are bred for amount of eggs usually, not beautiful breed standard. But those hatchery bloodlines came from the original heritage birds, so you should be able to work with changing up the roosters and hatching to turn them IF you have access to a good true heritage rooster every year or so.

 

[keesmom]

You could keep the hatchery hens for layers and broodies and use the heritage birds for dual purpose use.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You need to actually speak to some breeders of top quality Jersey Giants. You'll find their knowledge very helpful to you. Folks who have never had heritage lines of birds bred to the Standard cannot really speak with great authority. Those who keep and breed top quality, SOP, heritage lines of JG in particular know what I cannot know, even though I keep and breed other breeds to the Standard.

I compare it to wanting to know what a 13 month tour was really like in VietNam, you probably need to interview someone who actually served. That kind of thing.

Start with Wynette I know she breeds and loves them dearly. She's also not the least bit snobby about things and has a few hatchery red sex links for her egg business, for example.