Jersey Giants - 13 weeks old

[bsmith5]

Do you agree that this looks like a pullet in the foreground and a cockerel preening in the center frame?

 

[Acre4Me]

Need better pics. The preening bird may or may not have male saddle feathers coming in.

pic of the bird From the side while they are standing are very helpful. Can see stance, body shape and legs. In my experience BJG have different leg thickness between M/F.


Here are our first BJG pair at approx 16 weeks. Note the leg thickness difference. Comb and wattles are different too, of course. This pic does not show the saddle feathers very well, though.

 

[DobieLover]

Do you agree that this looks like a pullet in the foreground and a cockerel preening in the center frame?View attachment 2211010

Yes. I clearly see the pointed saddle feathers on the preening bird and rounded saddle feathers on the bird in the foreground.

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

What did he look like at 7 weeks, Here's mine at 7 weeks. (Roo)

 

[bsmith5]

Need better pics. The preening bird may or may not have male saddle feathers coming in.

pic of the bird From the side while they are standing are very helpful. Can see stance, body shape and legs. In my experience BJG have different leg thickness between M/F.


Here are our first BJG pair at approx 16 weeks. Note the leg thickness difference. Comb and wattles are different too, of course. This pic does not show the saddle feathers very well, though.
View attachment 2211224

This is very helpful. Like yours, his whole body is bigger than the others. Legs are much thicker than the others and wattle and comb are more red and longer than the others. The comparison is identical and he has the pointy saddle feathers.

I have 11 BJGs total, all same age. He really stands out compared to the other 10.

Wattle and comb difference seen here.

Pointy saddle feathers but unfortunately no legs. Take my word though, they are much thicker than the legs of the other birds.
I

Side profile of one of the girls, can really see the comb and wattle difference here.

From what I've learned, I'm convinced it's a roo.

Your pic helped tremendously. If I had a similar pic, it would show the exact same differences.

How is the temperament of your roo? Is he aggressive toward people or the hens? Does he crow? Did he ever grow spurs?

Thanks!

 

[bsmith5]

What did he look like at 7 weeks, Here's mine at 7 weeks. (Roo)

Sorry, don't have a good pic of him at that age. While not as obvious as it is now, he did have a larger and more red comb and wattle. His legs were thicker than the others also.

 

[Acre4Me]

This is very helpful. Like yours, his whole body is bigger than the others. Legs are much thicker than the others and wattle and comb are more red and longer than the others. The comparison is identical and he has the pointy saddle feathers.

I have 11 BJGs total, all same age. He really stands out compared to the other 10.

Wattle and comb difference seen here.
View attachment 2213168

Pointy saddle feathers but unfortunately no legs. Take my word though, they are much thicker than the legs of the other birds.
IView attachment 2213172


Side profile of one of the girls, can really see the comb and wattle difference here.
View attachment 2213178


From what I've learned, I'm convinced it's a roo.

Your pic helped tremendously. If I had a similar pic, it would show the exact same differences.

How is the temperament of your roo? Is he aggressive toward people or the hens? Does he crow? Did he ever grow spurs?

Thanks!

Yes, he's a boy!

Our first male was subordinate to another male for 9 months. We got rid of that male making the BJG flock leader. He had his moments of being aggressive....maybe he learned it from the other male we got rid of who was being aggressive. He was great with our kid (a tween) who handled him all the time. At 11 months of age he had a bad breast blister* and we had to doctor him for a few weeks, inside our home (utility sink for soaks in Epsom salts, then hairdryer in the bathroom followed by ointment application and bandages) and he was a gentleman for all of that. He had me in his sights on me the most, so I developed a method of keeping him away from me or reprimanding him ("pecks" on head with a stick) if he got too close. However, he remained with the flock for 2 years and mellowed the last few months. He was a good flock leader. We sold him this spring. We now have an 11 month old male BJG (from same source) who is not aggressive at all!


Breast blister: we had roosts that were the wide side of a 2x4. Bad idea! We turned the roost bars to the narrow side of the 2x4, and no problems after that. We talked to the breeder, and they indicated that the breast blister was caused by a wide roost (even before we finished our story). As it occurred in the winter, when they are on the roosts more than in nice weather, the wide roost combined with their Keel Bone and weight, caused too much friction and rubbing and the very bad breast blister was the result. So, I would recommend a sturdy roost, but not a wide roost. So, a thick dowel or branch or narrow side of a 2x4. At the time of the Breast blister the male BJG was 11 months old and we weighed him at around 11 lbs, so he was big and heavy!

Here he is in the sink, getting a soak in Epsom salts. Pretty calm in here, but he wasn't feeling so hot due to the infection.

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

Were getting rid of our rooster(one of them the BJG today) He isn't mean or anything, but he is skidish, and doesn't like the younger chickens, were keeping the white Leghorn roo though. Either way... a hen is still the leader of our flock. She and the roosters get into so many "fights" lol. She jumps and kicks at them when they step out of line. Other than that she's a sweetheart. She did cut her tiny yellow comb open yesterday, hard to put ointment on because she was so tiny. So mabey better to just have one rooster to pick on lol.