Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[kathyinmo]

This is from a poultry genetics expert:

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So, the way I understand it .... you can not get lavender from Andalusian Blue (B/B/S).

 

[hunterland]

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There are many breeds of birds, dogs, horses, etc., which are beautiful, but if the temperament is wrong it has got to go - at least from my house. I had some beautiful Cuckoo Marans, the hens were so gentle and sweet and laid the most beautiful Hershey chocolate eggs. I'd just go out and pick them up in the yard and they never fussed, but the roosters were "cuckoo" - fighting every other breed until they killed it or maimed it, eventually they all ended up in the stew pot. I attempted to I hobbled them 3-4 times and when they went back to the same old behaviors - off with their heads.

I find beauty and SOP's are not everything if the temperament is all wrong. I'll use a beautiful bird for breeding, but if I cannot get the bad out I've been known to slaughter the whole line and start over. This is a really costly adventure if it is a larger animal like cattle.

 

[hunterland]

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It was my understanding that the Blue Jersey Giant did not come from the Andalusian Blue, but was a mutation from a sport white in the Black lines. Am I in need of correcting my historical research?

 

[kathyinmo]

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It was my understanding that the Blue Jersey Giant did not come from the Andalusian Blue, but was a mutation from a sport white in the Black lines. Am I in need of correcting my historical research?

WOW .... really? I am gonna have to research this, for sure!

 

[hunterland]

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It was my understanding that the Blue Jersey Giant did not come from the Andalusian Blue, but was a mutation from a sport white in the Black lines. Am I in need of correcting my historical research?

WOW .... really? I am gonna have to research this, for sure!

Forgive me if I am messing with a copyright issue, so let me quote "

BLUE

The Blue Giants as we know them today
originated in 1981 near Bern Kansas, USA on the
farm of Mrs. R. E. (Golda) Miller. Mrs. Miller had
been raising Jersey Giants for more than 40
years and had been recognized for many years
as the premier breeder of Black and White Jersey
Giants.

It started with a White Giant pullet that had some
gray dusting on the feathers on her back. This
bird was a “sport” from the Miller White Jersey
Giant flock. Mrs. Miller wasn’t too interested in
experimenting but had a friend nearby in
Nebraska who was. Leo Prokop had been trying
with no success to develop a Blue Jersey Giant
variety. He took this pullet and mated her to a
Black Jersey Giant male. This first generation
was a conglomeration of colors, some of which
were splash. These females were again mated to
a Black Jersey Giant male. Out of this nucleus,
the Blue variety quickly became established.

No blue birds of other breeds had been
introduced, therefore these were pure Giants.

The American Poultry Association recognized http://nationaljerseygiantclub.com/aboutus.html, Compiled by the National Jersey Giant Club –
June 2004
Robert L. Vaughn, Secretary)
Blue Jersey Giants as a variety in 2003." (

 

[KDH]

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I have only had about 25 years of poultry experience ...

Yeeaaaahhh... that's a quarter of a century. Seems funny to qualify it with "only"...

 

[kathyinmo]

This is what our genetics expert says about the story ...

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[hunterland]

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The trouble I have with the history is that the white "sport" was not credited with having true albino eyes (pink) or ice blue eyes another expression of the albino allele, but I thought this might be an oversight as the webpage is not a science based site. This possible oversight does not make the history impossible nor does it make the history a fabrication; a simpler explanation would be poor writing, just examine most of our post and notice all the slang, improper grammar, misspellings, and miscommunications.

It is quite common for genetic color expressions to blend, thus the blue (or in all truth a "gray" - simple kindergarten mixing of colors: black + white = gray; the splash is just another variation of double expression non-blended/blended black and white).

The variations of blues show up in many species of animals, even including some plants, so it is not a big deal what a nationalist calls them (silver, lavender, splash, self-blue) (blue, gray, laced) or (black, charcoal, with green sheen or without). The different names really only complicate the communications for those with limited experience or knowledge, but it is natural to attempt to describe as accurately as possible according to most peoples perceptions.

Nor is it important if we all use the exact same symbols (G, B, T, b, etc.); we in the science community like consistency and prefer it to lessen miscommunication, but the most important thing is to follow the TYPICAL patterns of expression. TYPICAL is not God's truth; it is only a guideline of expected genetic expressions; this however does NOT exclude mutations or silent recessives lining up just right and showing up unexpectedly. (I had a splash pair that mated and produced 67% males and all splashes except for two blues (not lavenders, but medium dark grays), and note: there were no other roosters around. Genetics says this is not possible, but it happened just this year, so "Genetics" and the word "impossible" is too limited for my taste or for reality.

No disrespect to David, the expert, but I choose to disagree.

 

[hunterland]

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I have only had about 25 years of poultry experience ...

Yeeaaaahhh... that's a quarter of a century. Seems funny to qualify it with "only"...

I know there are others out there who are much more experienced and much more knowledgeable than I about chickens, so I want to show them the respect they deserve. Besides, I come from a line of centurians and expect to make it another 70 years, so I am just a baby in comparison.

 

[kathyinmo]

I totally agree .... mutations and silent recessives are always possibilities that we don't expect, but they sure do happen.

I found that very interesting, that the blue Giants did not exist until the 1980s. So, they are relatively new, really. (Well, I am old, and to me that is not long ago!)