Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[CAjerseychick]

Quote:
Help have a similar situation with my flock of 11 and 12 month old birds-- all of my 10 hens backs are thrashed, at least one is bloody -- we have one Roo... In fact the only hen with any feathers at all is my broody who has been nesting for 3 weeks (babies are only a few days old).....

 

[CarolinaHen]

Check your rooster's nails. He may be catching them with his "thumb" nail. You can trim that with dog nail clippers. You can also remove the spurs.

 

[CAjerseychick]

He is sooo Young yet, his spurs are quite blunt and rounded, I am thinking its a size differential thing-- he is at least twice the size of the mail order Jersey Giants (they lay really well) and his two sisters are much bigger than the other 8 hens.... AND his enthusiasm doesnt help ( I am guessing)....

 

[CAjerseychick]

New Issue you guys-- I have a true to breed (ie LARGE) hen that is broody again (she was for about 2 weeks last month but another tiny little hen stole her clutch one day and sat tight and hatched out the chicks and is strutting around the chicken yard mothering them, happy as can be)...
One thing I noticed the first time around is broken eggs in the nest -- and again this AM when I discovered she is brooding again the eggs are covered in yolk and straw stuck to them (I brushed them off, like I did last time)...

Does anyone have any experience with this?
Is this common with the Jersey giants d/t their large size-- she is so sweet and really seems to want to be a mother, I hope another hen doesnt swipe her eggs again...

(Long story, I did all sorts of things to try to get the broody and eggs into a dog crate for privacy but she would NOT set on the eggs and would return to the nest box in the coop... The chicks hatched out fine, I would probably have 6 chicks instead of the 4 that made it to hatch if I had been successful moving the hen, but Oh well, they are well integrated into the flock.....
SO here it is a month later... and that same hen... is back Broody again , in a nest box.... We leave town tonight for 4 days....)....

 

[Wynette]

New Issue you guys-- I have a true to breed (ie LARGE) hen that is broody again (she was for about 2 weeks last month but another tiny little hen stole her clutch one day and sat tight and hatched out the chicks and is strutting around the chicken yard mothering them, happy as can be)...
One thing I noticed the first time around is broken eggs in the nest -- and again this AM when I discovered she is brooding again the eggs are covered in yolk and straw stuck to them (I brushed them off, like I did last time)...

Does anyone have any experience with this?
Is this common with the Jersey giants d/t their large size-- she is so sweet and really seems to want to be a mother, I hope another hen doesnt swipe her eggs again...

(Long story, I did all sorts of things to try to get the broody and eggs into a dog crate for privacy but she would NOT set on the eggs and would return to the nest box in the coop... The chicks hatched out fine, I would probably have 6 chicks instead of the 4 that made it to hatch if I had been successful moving the hen, but Oh well, they are well integrated into the flock.....
SO here it is a month later... and that same hen... is back Broody again , in a nest box.... We leave town tonight for 4 days....)....

If it were me, I'd not give her eggs if I was leaving town for four days. Especially since she's proven herself to be not-so-reliable.

Some hens are just clumsy broodies. I had this same discussion with a friend yesterday. Some are simply not cut out to be a good broody, unfortunately. I had a splash Giant hen at one time that swore to me up & down that she wanted to hatch some eggs. I gave her a small clutch, and she ended up eventually breaking every one of them. I think she was readjusting herself too much, and literally stomped on them or smashed them together or something. It was heartbreaking, because it was evident that she thought she wanted to be broody...but just didn't really have it in her. I work, and so every morning and every night after work, and then before bedtime, I'd go in & check on her, and she'd have some eggs under her, some around her periphery, and at least one beside her, but she wouldn't be sitting on it.

A good broody shouldn't need to be checked on like that, at least not in my opinion. Sorry to sound like such a downer; but, I really wouldn't put much hope out there that she'll be a good broody for you. They are SOOOO hard to come by! Worth their weight in gold, a good broody!

 

[8machines]

Jake, can you give more information?  It's very unusual for a cock bird to harm a hen, other than loss of feathers and occasional skin damage on their backs. But to hurt them to the point where they are unable to walk, is unusual.  How old are they?  What are they fed?  Do you have roosts for them?  If so, please remove the roosts.  Giants are too large & heavy for roosts, and they can damage their legs just by hopping down, having the body mass that they have.

4-h - AWESOME!  Looking fantastic!  Quesiton - it look like the pophole door is situation OUTSIDE the pen; curious as to why you did it this way, or maybe I'm not seeing it as it is?  GREAT job, sweet digs for your chooks!

hello, I have two jersey hens. Do I do something different with these hens about roosting? No boards? Will they go to the bottom of the coop if I put them in with other chickens? Right now at 14 weeks they roost with other breeds of chicks, RIR, EE, Plymouths, and a Brahma. Guess I bought them w/o checking information. We are going to enlarge our coop but I have many breeds. Along with those mentioned above I have 4 leghorns, 2 Orphingtons, another Brahma, and 2 Barred Rocks. Hope I can mix all of these together or do we need a separate coup? Thank you!

 

[Framac]

Hello all, it has been a while, so I thought I would update.

My main rooster ended up dying out of the blue on me, but I had a nice baby growing up from the first hatch. He is Big, good/maybe great confirmation and he is really starting to fill out and add muscle.

At about 10 weeks, he started to developed cross beak. I am hopping that some of the younger chicks looks as good as the big guy does.

Right now I am done hatching until fall. I ended up with 24 chicks, 6 blue, 18 black. I hope to go into fall with 5-6 hens, and 2 roosters.

 

[Wynette]

hello, I have two jersey hens. Do I do something different with these hens about roosting? No boards? Will they go to the bottom of the coop if I put them in with other chickens? Right now at 14 weeks they roost with other breeds of chicks, RIR, EE, Plymouths, and a Brahma. Guess I bought them w/o checking information. We are going to enlarge our coop but I have many breeds. Along with those mentioned above I have 4 leghorns, 2 Orphingtons, another Brahma, and 2 Barred Rocks. Hope I can mix all of these together or do we need a separate coup? Thank you!

I have found that with my Giants, if they are provided a roost, they'll use it. Are your Giants from a hatchery? If so, they may not get big enough that it would cause a leg issue for them to jumpd own, but I would certainly entertain making the roost VERY low. Brahmas are quite large, too, and could potentially injur themselves from hopping off a high roost as well.

Hello all, it has been a while, so I thought I would update.

My main rooster ended up dying out of the blue on me, but I had a nice baby growing up from the first hatch. He is Big, good/maybe great confirmation and he is really starting to fill out and add muscle.

At about 10 weeks, he started to developed cross beak. I am hopping that some of the younger chicks looks as good as the big guy does.

Right now I am done hatching until fall. I ended up with 24 chicks, 6 blue, 18 black. I hope to go into fall with 5-6 hens, and 2 roosters.

Goodness, I'm very sorry to hear that your main cock bird died. I'm looking forward to seeing pics of your birds as they mature!

 

[8machines]

I have found that with my Giants, if they are provided a roost, they'll use it.  Are your Giants from a hatchery?  If so, they may not get big enough that it would cause a leg issue for them to jumpd own, but I would certainly entertain making the roost VERY low.  Brahmas are quite large, too, and could potentially injur themselves from hopping off a high roost as well.

Goodness, I'm very sorry to hear that your main cock bird died.  I'm looking forward to seeing pics of your birds as they mature!

Thank you for your help. Yes they must be from a hatchery. I bought them from a local feed store. We will make sure our boards are low enough to the floor for our Brahmas and our Orphingtons too.

 

[8machines]

New Issue you guys-- I have a true to breed (ie LARGE) hen that is broody again (she was for about 2 weeks last month but another tiny little hen stole her clutch one day and sat tight and hatched out the chicks and is strutting around the chicken yard mothering them, happy as can be)...
One thing I noticed the first time around is broken eggs in the nest -- and again this AM when I discovered she is brooding again the eggs are covered in yolk and straw stuck to them (I brushed them off, like I did last time)...

Does anyone have any experience with this?
Is this common with the Jersey giants d/t their large size-- she is so sweet and really seems to want to be a mother, I hope another hen doesnt swipe her eggs again...

(Long story, I did all sorts of things to try to get the broody and eggs into a dog crate for privacy but she would NOT set on the eggs and would return to the nest box in the coop... The chicks hatched out fine, I would probably have 6 chicks instead of the 4 that made it to hatch if I had been successful moving the hen, but Oh well, they are well integrated into the flock.....
SO here it is a month later... and that same hen... is back Broody again , in a nest box.... We leave town tonight for 4 days....)....

If you would ever want to sell one or two of your Jersey girls, pullet or chick, I would love them. I found out that mine will be small because they are hatchery birds. I am so disappointed but will love them no matter the size. They are Sugar and Spice. I am near Placerville, Ca. I am not sure how far away you are being in CA. If you know someone who does breed the true "giants" please let me know. And thank you for you information.