Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[Wynette]

Dangling broccoli is most excellent - it's good for them, and it takes them awhile to peck at it to get their treat! Good job! I also hang cabbage, and I have several triple sized suet feeders that I hang, too, in those, I can stuff in leaves from dark, leafy greens, or even fruits - I'll cut an apple in half & put that in the suet feeder....melons...they love that stuff and it keeps them busy!

I also have a plastic crate (used for shipping car motors so it's pretty big) that I lean up against the wall of the pen - I'll move that around every few days, and they can walk under it or hop up onto it. Also, I have what DH calls "chicken trees" that they enjoy hopping onto & off of - here's one:

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

That's so cute!

In my bantam coop, it has enough space for 2 rabbit hutches, (there's only 3 bantams) and I put a bench in there so I could sit there and hold the rabbits. But the chickens instead, hop up there and watch the rabbits

 

[Zootopia]

Dangling broccoli is most excellent - it's good for them, and it takes them awhile to peck at it to get their treat! Good job! I also hang cabbage, and I have several triple sized suet feeders that I hang, too, in those, I can stuff in leaves from dark, leafy greens, or even fruits - I'll cut an apple in half & put that in the suet feeder....melons...they love that stuff and it keeps them busy!

I also have a plastic crate (used for shipping car motors so it's pretty big) that I lean up against the wall of the pen - I'll move that around every few days, and they can walk under it or hop up onto it. Also, I have what DH calls "chicken trees" that they enjoy hopping onto & off of - here's one:

I love the "Chicken Trees" , so cute. I use the suet in the winter, never thought tho use the holders for other stuff during the year, Great Idea.

This was just a month ago when they attacked each other. When the bobcat incident happened we kept them locked up since October 2011

I dangle broccoli from their cage.

Wow the bobcat went after them during the day? sounds like you could use a Livestock guardian dog. The neighbors up the road have given up keeping chickens because of the bobcats and coyotes and hawks in the area. Our dogs are boundary trained and the two males mark the perimeter regularly, so we rarely even see the predators. We lost 2 hens last year, to unknown , but that's pretty good out of 60+/- free ranging chickens

 

[YellowChicken]

The only thing I've been able to get them to eat other than crumbles is spaghetti w/o sauce. I guess it looks like worms They ignore bread, crackers, fruit and greens. Age ranges from 4 to 9 weeks. It appears, out of 7 birds I have 2 roosters, a BO and Black Star. The BS is the oldest and largest, but the BO who is about 6 weeks is boss. He even at 3 weeks would jump up to peck the BS who had thought he was boss. The gentlest bird is a cornishX hen. At 4 weeks she is the size of the BO, but is lowest in the PO. She has never been afraid and likes to be held even though she has not been handled much. I have her on a restricted diet, about 6oz a day to try and restrain her growth rate. She has a huge appetite and eats almost like a woodpecker pecks I've heard that they lay enormous eggs if they live long enough. I have the birds in chicken tractors now, but plan to let them free range some before long - some of them are pretty skittish and I don't know if they would return to the tractor or not? Out at night they wouldn't last long with the critters around here.

 

[truthfulkindnes]

I have looked for about 3hrs and cannot find where I read that once giant-breed chickens reach a certain age you should remove their feed dish during the night, in order to prevent the extra stress on their heart from growing so very fast. I know that when you have a giant-breed pup (Newfoundland) you control growth by what you feed and how often you feed, so it makes sense that it would be the same with other species.

I realize that this will probably not be unanimous, but can I get opinions from you guys on whether it is a good idea to remove feed during night, and at what age it is suggested?

Also, when do you revise feed from "chick starter" for this large breed, and what do you revise it to?

Thanks.
-- "Truthful" and "Blessing" the wheelchair Service Dog

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

I went home recently after visiting Tonya (Soaring Chicks) and told my husband about her nice JG's. Dave decided he needs to add them to his layer flock. So, as of tomorrow, I will be joining this group of crazy chicken folks.

 

[Soaring Chicks]

I need a evil smilely face on here!!!
I went through last night and put white # bands on them. 2 blk ,2 blues and 1 splash.
Let me know if those colors are alright.
Welcome to the thread! It's the best one if you ask me.
See ya sat should be there around 7 am

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Hi! I just purchased my first Jersey Giants. I've admired them since I started keeping chickens a couple of years ago & recently had the opportunity to acquire some. So here are pictures of them. The black one has all black feet, including the soles. They're about 4 weeks old. The black one is much taller than the grey. Also, the grey looks grey to me, not blue. What do you think? Thanks
ETA: These chicks seems flightier than most...I didn't expect that for some reason

.

I haven't had any response to my post..wondering if anyone cared to?

 

[Wynette]

Hi, Knock - the black one is not a Giant; I'm unsure what it is, but it doesn't have the yellow feet it should have, and it has white lobes....they should be red. Is the comb on the blue a single? It "almost" appears to be a pea, but I can't see it well enough. SORRY!

ETA: if they came from the same source, sorry to be blunt, but I wouldn't think either would be worth keeping if your goal is SOP-type Giants.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Hi, Knock - the black one is not a Giant; I'm unsure what it is, but it doesn't have the yellow feet it should have, and it has white lobes....they should be red.  Is the comb on the blue a single?  It "almost" appears to be a pea, but I can't see it well enough.  SORRY! 

ETA: if they came from the same source, sorry to be blunt, but I wouldn't think either would be worth keeping if your goal is SOP-type Giants. 

Thanks for your response. After settling them in at home they didn't appear to look the same. The blue does have a single comb. They we're in a bin with a bunch of other chicks that were said to be the same age, but the ones he was selling as JG's were more than twice the size of the others. The appearance of white earlobes are the feathers missing in that spot. Also, along the sides of both chicks necks they have very sparse feathering..really, two naked strips on either side of their necks. I guess that's okay since I'm a fan of NN's.