Jersey Giant not laying

[hooligan]

How tall is a mature JG hen? And about how long, I want to buy a crate for mine to sleep in when we are gone and I want to make sure its big enough for her.

 

[MissPrissy]

My 4 pullets are only 9 months old and not fully mature. At full neck stretch they are already 18 +/- inches tall.

 

[hooligan]

MP, are your birds from a hatchery or from show stock. I know that hatchery birds usually aren't as big. Having never seen anything but pix of these girls (JG hens) has me a bit stumped

 

[Wynette]

I've got an EE that didn't start laying until she was 8+ months old; but, her eggs are ALWAYS Jumbo sized, typically in the 2.7 to 2.8 oz. range! So, maybe the longer it is until they start laying = bigger eggs?

 

[scgamecock]

I don't need any more chickens but i would love to have a couple of Jersey Giants also.I've been tempted to get some from a hatchery but I think I would rather have some from somebody on here.I want one of the dark egg layers too but I'm not ordering from a hatchery.I hear their eggs are not that dark.

 

[MissPrissy]

Mine are hatchery stock from McMurray.

 

[scgamecock]

Your Giants?

 

[MissPrissy]

Yes.

 

[seminolewind]

I got my JG's from Meyer as day old chicks. I have 3. The one that lagged behind the other two in size, wattles, feathers, etc. ended up being the first one to lay! As babies they were curious, and loved to sit on me. Then they were adolescents, and couldn't be bothered. Now, the one who lays, she had started doing the squat, following me around, didn't mind being touched, and very sweet. I'm waiting for the others. I love them.

 

[Yonaton]

Quote:
Mine I got from McMurray, started laying at about 21 weeks of age. Of the 5 hens I have left (dog thing a month ago), I still get an average of 3 eggs a day, which means the next day I usually get two. Sometimes I get 4 a day. It doesn't matter how cold it is either, they just keep on layin'.

As for size, mine are maybe 5 or 6 pounds just guessing. At the end of each day as they go to roost, their crops look darn near to bursting, so they're eating well, but I suspect it's mostly going toward frame growth to hold the weight later. As they are, they're about the size of a 'standard' hen. My rooster you can tell he's gonna be big too.

I don't think this particular 'strain'(?) is going to be as big as the breed is supposed to be though, since the large hatcheries don't seem to pay as particular attention to the 'best' in each breed to breed that gene and such. I'm hoping I'll be wrong, but I'm also hoping to get someone close in this vicinity to me to go in on an order from Sand Hill Preservation to introduce into my flock so I *know* I'll have a good strain running in it.