I'm on a mission to produce the biggest best tasting dual purpose bird in tha south!!!

[crankster76]

You must have a very unusual situation, because the Jersey Giant will lay about 3 eggs a week on average in a year, while the Rhode Island Red will lay 5 eggs on average in a year and the Leghorn will lay about 6 eggs a week on average in a year.

Maybe your Rhode Island Reds and Leghorns are poor egg-layers and your Jersey Giant is an exceptional egg-layer.

But this is not how it usually works.

i got to differ. my giants do just as well as my reds also.they lay at least once a day and I have a few that will go 2 a day. pretty dang good I would think.

 

[AlvinsFinest]

There is an old saying in cattle breeding :" There is as much difference within a breed as there are between the breeds."

To get good stock, research individual lines within whatever particular breed.

Look at the differences in the genetic variance ( structure, ability ) of Quarter Horses.... the extremes barely resemble each other.

Chickens are no different, start with good stock and know the history of any given line......

To say Giants are poor layers is akin to saying Angus Cattle produces poor meat.

...

i got to differ. my giants do just as well as my reds also.they lay at least once a day and I have a few that will go 2 a day. pretty dang good I would Where did you get your giants from?!

 

[galanie]

There is an old saying in cattle breeding :" There is as much difference within a breed as there are between the breeds."

To get good stock, research individual lines within whatever particular breed.

Look at the differences in the genetic variance ( structure, ability ) of Quarter Horses.... the extremes barely resemble each other.

Chickens are no different, start with good stock and know the history of any given line......

To say Giants are poor layers is akin to saying Angus Cattle produces poor meat.

I can't STAND black angus meat LOL

 

[Bullitt]

i got to differ. my giants do just as well as my reds also.they lay at least once a day and I have a few that will go 2 a day. pretty dang good I would think.

You have hens that lay 2 eggs a day? Is this all year?

The world record for a hen is about 370 eggs in a year.


By the way, does anyone want to buy some Holstein beef cattle?

 

[Bullitt]

There is an old saying in cattle breeding :" There is as much difference within a breed as there are between the breeds."

To get good stock, research individual lines within whatever particular breed.

Look at the differences in the genetic variance ( structure, ability ) of Quarter Horses.... the extremes barely resemble each other.

Chickens are no different, start with good stock and know the history of any given line......

To say Giants are poor layers is akin to saying Angus Cattle produces poor meat.

Animals, such as dual-purpose chickens like the Jersey Giant, were bred for certain traits. I would say they are good egg-layers considering their size. But they were used more for meat birds until faster-growing chicken breeds were discovered.

On average, Jersey Giants will lay 3 eggs a week in a year. I don't consider that a good egg-layer. There are variations within a breed, but again, on average this is what you will find.

Here is some information about the Jersey Giant.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Jersey-Giant-B57.aspx

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/jersey-giant#description



And if you don't believe breeds are important to animal traits, I suggest you try raising Angus milk cows.

 

[SkippyRoo]

 

[ChickenPrnces]

Will do! These crosses are getting huge already and they are only like 3 - 4 weeks old!

 

[mcrooke45]

Here is a link that is kind of what you are experimenting with. http://castlefarmeggs.co.uk/. He is doing a cross with dark cornish and black australorps and having great success with size and egg production out of his crosses. He explains how he crossed the breeds to get his duel purpose fowls. The roosters of this cross were huge. He is calling this new breed Welsh Blacks.

 

[galanie]

Here is a link that is kind of what you are experimenting with. http://castlefarmeggs.co.uk/. He is doing a cross with dark cornish and black australorps and having great success with size and egg production out of his crosses. He explains how he crossed the breeds to get his duel purpose fowls. The roosters of this cross were huge. He is calling this new breed Welsh Blacks.

Huh. The third picture down on this page: http://castlefarmeggs.co.uk/?p=988 is almost the spitting image of my Black Orp x Dark Cornish cockerel. You might say "well duh australorps..." but he's going the other way around with Cornish X Australorp.