Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[bbsnooks]

Nice Roo's Debra.......

At first I did not like the splash's but now they are growing on me.......

Oh my thoughts exactly!.. maybe when i got them in Jan.. they were in that gangly stage.. and messed up from 2 day's in shipping.
but.. I thought .. well this is what you've got to have to get to blue's
- he gets prettier in my eye's every day. I feed 'em out side the Kitch window . for entertainment..

How do you ferment the feed and why?
Why ? - there are several reasons..
Nutrition.. is increased.. from the foods they get. That would be the #1 reason, and there is a gut development in these birds( pH maybe) some say helps with reducing some disease. I've read the threads here.. on it.. and most folks like their results. there seem to be studies pro and con.. but i havent paid the cost to go direct to research. I have read some of the papers at KState but i think they are geared toward the big Corporate farms.. and not so relative to me. Fermenting .. does some thing to the phytic acid.. that helps the birds digest the grains better.. ( and i could be totally wrong on this.. no expert here.. but i hope i;'m close.

#2 smell and consistency of poop. now here is some thing i know something about.. ; )
since they(2) are housed temporally on the car port.. i get to see this daily.!
I only have 2 right now.. but i can imagine what 30 do do's would do . do do get it.. ?? comedy is really hard in 2D : )
they still have the occasional loose stool.. but mostly not.. which is easier to clean out of the coop.. easier to sweep of of the drive way.. and dosent stick so bad on bottom of shoes. and very surprisingly .. has very little smell.
#3 They say.. their rations go farther.. there have been those with different reports.. but its really hard to compare apples to apples.. I didnt do any measuring .. Some one said.. put out enough that they'll eat it all in 20 min. from day 2 they gobbled it up and asked for more.
and after about a Month in.. what they would eat before wandering off to do the rounds dropped considerably. ( i feed 2 times / day) It Dropped enough that i thought they could be sick .. but they're not. I grew up in Dodge City Ks.. Cattle country.. and silage is a fermented feed for cattle and one of the smells that tell me.. were home.. almost like fresh cut hay...uh oh.. gettin off the track..

How well .... just like making bread there are several way's. . and using almost any feed type.

I started with Chick starter. cover with water.. ( almost like you would do pasta - the feed adsorbs allot of water..)
and keeping the feed under water reduces/ eliminates mold growth
step 2 - add a glug ( tsp/gal) of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar to water -
Step 3 Stir 2xdaily if you can ..keep water over feed and wait in room temp or better
Step 4 Wait - Depending on Temp 3-4 days.. will usually get the process started.

I Started feeding after the full ferment but many just do a 24 hour soak.. i'll call it. .. they feed before it was fully fermented . they liked that too--

Is it more nutritious? -- I believe it is... lets say .. i think it makes it so.. they can adsorb more of the nutrients before they fall out. Its the same feed.. but digests better.

Where do you get meal worms.
-- I got mine at the local pet store.. trying to help the local business here.. however there is a BYC member Thread on meal worms.. they have good photo's on the set up.. and seem to be very helpful.. I would buy from them too.

I have 6 acres and my 14 chickens have all of it to roam. When I open up the pastures I'm sure they get all the worms and whatever. I only feed them a little bit of mash in the am to get them away from the house. I feel they get enough of what they need from the ground. Am I wrong?

- I hope i didnt give that impression sounds like you have a great set up. - I'm thinking its hard to do wrong with chickens..
I like to experiment.. and they talk alot about the Meat birds .. and using this.. I think it helps with the hydration along with other things ( smell)

Your chicks have a terrific blessing of the pasture.. they'll do fine..
I think i wanted to try the fermenting.. because I'm a health nut and have been trying various fermenting things for my self .. over the years
it seems to be a long used traditional way to eat before all the electricity.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

Hi ocap.. I've been mesmerized by your Duck photo.. for a long time.. been waiting for a chance to ask you .. if that's real??
all i know its real pretty.. can you fill me in a bit .. on what that is.. ?

thanks for posting that.. Yes .. this is a long thread.. with lots of it's got some experienced growers and some newbies like me. and very helpful.
one of them put together.. a good visual how to on a blog spot i found very useful .. to be all on one page ; )
If i was just wanting to get the over all view.. i'd recommend looking here
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/03/making-fermented-feed-part-3-of-3.html?m=0

ahh.. and there is a touching story there about some chicks that were miss managed when they had to leave them with this person for ?? a year?
.. and the woman used the fermented feed (FF) as part of getting them back to health.. i think it was after reading that .. i decided to try the FF.
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-story-of-gnarly-bunch-chapter-1.html

wow.. i got a little long winded there.. i'll give up the soap box now..
not always this chatty.. see what happens when someone likes your birds.. ohhh le'me tell you all bout 'em...

 

[MrsLahman]

hello folks! I got 3 jersey giants (1 hen and 2 roosters) almost a month old now and I was wondering if I should be worried about 2 roosters together. I know only time will tell for sure but do they usually get along or is there something I can do to prevent problems?

 

[ocap]

Hi ocap.. I've been mesmerized by your Duck photo.. for a long time.. been waiting for a chance to ask you .. if that's real??
all i know its real pretty.. can you fill me in a bit .. on what that is.. ?

the photo is a mandarin duck, I do not know if it was photo shopped.

 

[Framac]

A question/s for disscussion.

So how many are people hatching out this year? Where are you getting you eggs from?

My goal is to hatch out at least 50 Jersey giants, mainly from my own flock. I am probably going to try and get a dozen r two eggs, just to add some diversity. I am hoping to go into winter with 2 males, and 8-10 females. Right now I have Black and Blue.

Framac

 

[4-hmother]

I currently have 7-black hens + 2 Black roosters from Vaughn's line that I plan on hatching all of the eggs I can from them this season.

Later in the Summer I should have some of Wynette's line to hatch from 4 pullets and 1 cockerel. Pullets are 2-black*1-blue+1-splash then 1 black cockerel. Super excited to see these grow out!

Contractor started today on my new coop. I will post photos on here as progress is made. Cant wait to fill this 10X40 building with JG

.

Our show season starts in two weeks. Plan on giving baths to birds this weekend should be in the middle 60. Ya bring on the new show season... I just love getting to show off our JG and talk chicken to others....

 

[reinvestment]

I probably shouldn't be sharing this but I feel so bad I just have to talk about it. I had 13 chickens, raised from chicks and just had gotten 300 #s of organic layer food, no soy!---and the neighbors dogs came over and killed 8 of my chickens. I can't find the other two, I'm not sure if they ate them or not but there's nothing left if they did. I never wanted a gun before, but I do now!!! I would shoot them dead if I see them even at the back of their pasture because one of them went over the fence to get home.
The 5 chickens that are left stayed hidden for quite awhile. When they felt safe, they came out. I thought the two I can't find might still be hiding , even in trees but they didn't come home to the coop at night and I haven't seen them since. My warning to all, if you have dogs near, be sure to see to it that your neighbors keep them penned, chained or something. My dog is trained not to go out of the yard which is open to a busy street. She shied from the rooster who always wanted to attack her, otherwise she stayed away from all of the chickens.

 

[Momhunter]

I probably  shouldn't be sharing this but I feel so bad I just have to talk about it.  I had 13 chickens, raised from chicks  and just had gotten 300 #s of organic layer food, no soy!---and the neighbors dogs came over and killed  8 of my chickens.  I can't find the other two, I'm not sure if they ate them or not but there's nothing left if they did.   I never wanted a gun before, but I do now!!!  I would shoot them dead if I see them even at the back of their pasture because one of them went over  the fence to get home. 
The 5 chickens that are left stayed hidden for quite awhile.  When  they felt safe, they came out.  I thought the two I can't  find might still be hiding , even in trees but they didn't come home to the coop at night and I haven't seen them since.  My warning to all, if  you have dogs near, be sure to see to it that your neighbors keep them  penned, chained or something.   My dog is trained not to go out of the yard which is  open to a busy street.  She shied from the rooster who always wanted to attack her, otherwise she stayed away from  all of the chickens.

So sorry about your chickens. I would recommend getting a gun and doing as the South African people do with unwanted predators, "shoot, shovel and shut-up".

 

[Lisa and girls]

I probably  shouldn't be sharing this but I feel so bad I just have to talk about it.  I had 13 chickens, raised from chicks  and just had gotten 300 #s of organic layer food, no soy!---and the neighbors dogs came over and killed  8 of my chickens.  I can't find the other two, I'm not sure if they ate them or not but there's nothing left if they did.   I never wanted a gun before, but I do now!!!  I would shoot them dead if I see them even at the back of their pasture because one of them went over  the fence to get home. 
The 5 chickens that are left stayed hidden for quite awhile.  When  they felt safe, they came out.  I thought the two I can't  find might still be hiding , even in trees but they didn't come home to the coop at night and I haven't seen them since.  My warning to all, if  you have dogs near, be sure to see to it that your neighbors keep them  penned, chained or something.   My dog is trained not to go out of the yard which is  open to a busy street.  She shied from the rooster who always wanted to attack her, otherwise she stayed away from  all of the chickens.

I would go to their house and politely inform them that they are reimbursing you for the cost of your hens and the feed you just bought. I would also let them know that you have the right to protect your land and livestock and would hate to take action should such a case of bad judgement ever occur again. Or call the police and let them know that their dog destroyed your livestock. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of actions you can take and the neighbor should comply. Hopefully he's not one of those idiots that says they're JUST chickens. Well buddy, their JUST dogs. Sorry this ticks me off. So sorry for your loss. Or what momhunter said. Either way. We have a lab that ventures into our yard. No problems yet but if there ever is I will in no uncertain terms take full legal action. I have way too much time and money wrapped up in my little darlings to just let that one go. Sorry. Rant over.

 

[ocap]

I probably shouldn't be sharing this but I feel so bad I just have to talk about it. I had 13 chickens, raised from chicks and just had gotten 300 #s of organic layer food, no soy!---and the neighbors dogs came over and killed 8 of my chickens. I can't find the other two, I'm not sure if they ate them or not but there's nothing left if they did. I never wanted a gun before, but I do now!!! I would shoot them dead if I see them even at the back of their pasture because one of them went over the fence to get home.
The 5 chickens that are left stayed hidden for quite awhile. When they felt safe, they came out. I thought the two I can't find might still be hiding , even in trees but they didn't come home to the coop at night and I haven't seen them since. My warning to all, if you have dogs near, be sure to see to it that your neighbors keep them penned, chained or something. My dog is trained not to go out of the yard which is open to a busy street. She shied from the rooster who always wanted to attack her, otherwise she stayed away from all of the chickens.

I would go to their house and politely inform them that they are reimbursing you for the cost of your hens and the feed you just bought. I would also let them know that you have the right to protect your land and livestock and would hate to take action should such a case of bad judgement ever occur again. Or call the police and let them know that their dog destroyed your livestock. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of actions you can take and the neighbor should comply. Hopefully he's not one of those idiots that says they're JUST chickens. Well buddy, their JUST dogs. Sorry this ticks me off. So sorry for your loss. Or what momhunter said. Either way. We have a lab that ventures into our yard. No problems yet but if there ever is I will in no uncertain terms take full legal action. I have way too much time and money wrapped up in my little darlings to just let that one go. Sorry. Rant over.

do not threaten, do not ask for money, do not call the police, just shoot shovel and shut up

 

[NYREDS]

do not threaten, do not ask for money, do not call the police, just shoot shovel and shut up

Which, depending where youare, could be a felony crime. It would be in NY.