Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[Slinglings]

I held Leila today! First time ever. I was doing my usual morning greet and pick up of all the other hens that let me hold them, she was standing next to me eyeing me suspiciously as usual, but her attitude seemed different..so I grabbed her and cuddled her. She grumbled a little but didn't flap around like usual. She wanted it! I put her down before she complained too much and immediately gave her a treat.

It is impossible for me to hold her when she starts flapping her wings. They're so big and strong.

 

[Wynette]

HIYA!!! Okay, first of all, we have to remember that it's really, really difficult to know exactly what you're looking at from a picture. When I send pics to my mentor, I will send her several pics of the same bird so she gets as good of an idea as possible, and I'll comment on what I see in each. That said, here are some thoughts on the pics you posted:

I like this blue male: He will still do some filling out - but from what I see in this picture, he looks very nice!

This male below does not appear, to me, to have the depth in the breast that I like to see, but he sure ain't shabby, either! [sidebar - from what I can see, I like that light blue hen just to his left. She's not a dark blue, but looks like she's got a very nice topline and just as nice of an underside.]


Hard to say much about the pic of these 2 females below; the pic, I think, doesn't do them justice, however, the black female looks like she's huge & very nice...again, from what I can see.

Is this black female below the same one as the one above? If so, YUP - she's pretty sweet! Tail should sweep up a bit more, and look at her from directly above, looking down. You should see a nice rectangle in shape from shoulders back. Not a triange shape. Is the tail an inverted "V" shape when you look at her from behind? It should be.

pic below - I dont' care for the black female who has her back end toward the camera, to the far right. She appears to have a cushion - maybe she's just standing off, but if she's got a cushion, I'd cull her. The one looking at the camera looks nice from what I can see, and the one all the way in teh back looking to the right appears to have a very nice underline. (That's more difficult to get right than the topline.)



I'm not keen on the blue female below. Is she the same one in the second picture above? If so, there's a good example of how pictures sometimes don't tell the whole story, because if I had to make a decision via these pics, I would not choose this blue female below, but the one above looks much better to me. Her tail looks pinched, and to me, her head looks small. And, the underline is not that nice, rounded bowl look that we like on these birds. Posture? Not sure. Let me know if this is a different pullet.


Don't make decisions based on the combs (with the exception of comb issues such as a flopped comb or sprigs). If you're considering a male with one or two too many points - don't disregard using him. The point deduction is quite small and, I've seen many 6-pointed male birds place and get BB at shows.

Thanks for posting pics - I LOVE LOVE LOVE to see these gorgeous birds!

 

[Wynette]

I held Leila today! First time ever. I was doing my usual morning greet and pick up of all the other hens that let me hold them, she was standing next to me eyeing me suspiciously as usual, but her attitude seemed different..so I grabbed her and cuddled her. She grumbled a little but didn't flap around like usual. She wanted it! I put her down before she complained too much and immediately gave her a treat.

It is impossible for me to hold her when she starts flapping her wings. They're so big and strong.

AWE!!! I'm glad you were able to pick her up & hold her for a bit! It's definitely impressive to hold one - they are so heavy & just feel so.....FIRM!

 

[want brahmas 2]

I've been meaning to post some pics of mine. I processed a few of my extras and small hens. I need to pick another roo of the 3 I have left to go to the freezer.


Roo #1


Roo #2


Roo #3


They are about 5 months old now. I'm thinking I'll keep #1 & 2, they are bigger and both tend to pick on #3 who is a bit smaller. I think all 3 have too many points on their combs but otherwise, seem pretty good. I have 8 JG hens, though one is small I just couldn't catch her on processing day, 2 splash hens and the rest are blue, several with very nice barring. Darn coyote got my splash roo a few months back.

I also have 8 other hens, BO, Americana and WLH. I'm going to probably just use the BO for broodies, the WLH for eggs and don't know if I'm keeping the Americanas.
Any thoughts about the roos? Thanks.

hi dont think i would count #3 out he is a darker blue from what i can see and at 5 months they have alot of growing to do dont know much about jerseys but , i know if you want the best birds you wait till they mature before you decide atleast till they are 1 cause it takes 2 years to fully mature besides if you butcher #3 and 1 or 2 get ate bye a coyote. then what do you have ??? well just a thought any ways if you want to bread jerseys then keep all three and set up three breading pens and take the hen and rooster that best compliment each other think of it like a puzzle and put the pieces together to biuld the whole picture !!! with 8 hens and three roosters you can set up 3 hen and 1 rooster in 2 pens and 2 hens and 1 rooster in the last pen ... hatch alot of chicks cull heavy and then next year do the same untill you have the best posiable birds you can raise !!!! hope it helps

 

[jdywntr]

hi dont think i would count #3 out he is a darker blue from what i can see and at 5 months they have alot of growing to do dont know much about jerseys but , i know if you want the best birds you wait till they mature before you decide atleast till they are 1 cause it takes 2 years to fully mature besides if you butcher #3 and 1 or 2 get ate bye a coyote. then what do you have ??? well just a thought any ways if you want to bread jerseys then keep all three and set up three breading pens and take the hen and rooster that best compliment each other think of it like a puzzle and put the pieces together to biuld the whole picture !!! with 8 hens and three roosters you can set up 3 hen and 1 rooster in 2 pens and 2 hens and 1 rooster in the last pen ... hatch alot of chicks cull heavy and then next year do the same untill you have the best posiable birds you can raise !!!! hope it helps

I appreciate the advice. I don't want to really get into breeding JG I'm only breeding them for meat. Basically hatch out enough to feed my family/friends. Thats why I've already culled a number of them. I don't have the desire to build breeding pens, maybe someday but not now. They are not longer free ranging after Mr. Coyote got the splash roo a few months back so I'm not that worried. I have all my chickens together and am also going to see how quickly JG/BO crosses grow. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Soaring Chicks]

I've been meaning to post some pics of mine. I processed a few of my extras and small hens. I need to pick another roo of the 3 I have left to go to the freezer.


Roo #1


Roo #2


Roo #3


They are about 5 months old now. I'm thinking I'll keep #1 & 2, they are bigger and both tend to pick on #3 who is a bit smaller. I think all 3 have too many points on their combs but otherwise, seem pretty good. I have 8 JG hens, though one is small I just couldn't catch her on processing day, 2 splash hens and the rest are blue, several with very nice barring. Darn coyote got my splash roo a few months back.

I also have 8 other hens, BO, Americana and WLH. I'm going to probably just use the BO for broodies, the WLH for eggs and don't know if I'm keeping the Americanas.
Any thoughts about the roos? Thanks.

It might be me but #1 looks to have a touch to much of a U shape. You want a flat wide (broad) back. Not to long though.
I like 2 & 3
At this age your smallest may end up being bigger and better then the biggest one.
The color on #3 may help get better lacing on the blues. I know breeding a blue with a blk gives you good lacing on the blues.
I like the darker blues meself. On the combs I cant tell to much but again #2 & #3 stand out more to me.
Hope this helps and Im sure others will comment too.
Best wishes for you.

 

[roostersandhens]

wow pretty birds they are!

 

[jdywntr]

It might be me but #1 looks to have a touch to much of a U shape. You want a flat wide (broad) back. Not to long though.
I like 2 & 3
At this age your smallest may end up being bigger and better then the biggest one.
The color on #3 may help get better lacing on the blues. I know breeding a blue with a blk gives you good lacing on the blues.
I like the darker blues meself. On the combs I cant tell to much but again #2 & #3 stand out more to me.
Hope this helps and Im sure others will comment too.
Best wishes for you.

Thanks Soaring Chicks. I may try to keep all 3 for a bit longer and see how it goes. I don't want any of them to get injured so I'd rather process an extra before things get out of hand. So far, I've only seen a bit of sparing or maybe a little more than that, no blood though.

I would prefer to keep those that best represent the standard. I have a copy of the SOP but to my eyes it is very hard to tell the specifics that are called for. I am also intrested in faster growers (as much as that means in JG), good layers, hopefully broodies etc. I want to get the best meat birds out of the lot, even if that means sacrificing SOP. I don't plan on selling chicks any time in the near future so this is all just for me.

 

[want brahmas 2]

if all you want is a fast growing meat bird then jersey arnt the best for your needs !!!! keep a few jerseys and try to breed for the sop learn from them as much as you can and have fun then down the road you may want to try showing and let people see all your hard work !!! if you want a fast growing chicken thats large and good to eat ... then try ordering some cornish x rocks they grow really fast i mean really fast and they get huge !!! you can start butchering at 8 weeks or let them get as big as you want !!! we used to buy them as day old chicks most hatcherys sell them and the are a hybreed cross with cornish and rocks and they were developed just for eating !!! well check out meyers hatchery and look at meat birds go to the white briolers you can buy chicks for like 1.34 each or if you want alot down to a 1.17 each they say four lbs in 7 weeks !!!! thats fast but get ready they do eat alot but so do jerseys lol .... well hope this helps good luck

 

[jdywntr]

Thanks. Ya, I've had Cornish cross before. They about break the bank. I don't want the fastest growing, frankly I'd rather process as needed instead of a bunch to fill the freezer. I hate/always forget to defrost. So, slower growing isn't a bad thing I just figured the quicker to get to size would be somewhat of a bonus.

I may get some cornish X in the spring but don't know. I also breed muscovy ducks and have 13 ducklings now and another hen that just went broody on a nest, their meat is nice since I can use it as poultry or beef substitute.