Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[draye]

New JG owner here (my hen is 3 months).  I've heard the breed is slow to mature.  Is eight months a typical wait time for the first egg to arrive?

Yes, I think this is pretty well the norm. I actually heard from 9 to 10 months old to start laying and some strains up to a year.

 

[tmwilson]

My White Jersey Giant started laying at just over 10 months and her first egg was 2.2 ounces.

 

[bbsnooks]

Looking to learn the art of caponizing this next year, I hope, as I would love to be able to grow a few out like that.

I'm right behind you Clay I've seen some slick youtube video but i'd like to get a hands on lesson before trying this at home.. I thought it could be worth getting an all male hatchery delivery to test skills on.. Have you heard what span of age is best for this.. and when its useless to do after Xweeks old. just curious..

Thanks for tolerating the Loooooong post. so fun to see all your photo's..

 

[informative]

What I find most interesting is the claim that the Jersey Giant is a mixture of Langshan, Cochin and Brahma which seems impossible because all three have feathered legs and are all smaller than the giant which has clean legs and is larger than all three. odd right?

 

[informative]

-- didnt know about "NOT" to feed layer to non egg bearing .. oops.. ? so.. any thoughts..

I use my chickens to clean up after my goats. goats are pigs and leave 1/10th of their feed on the ground and are too spoiled or lazy to find the random grains they knock out of their feed buckets in their hurry to guzzle their food (grains hay minerals whatever). Without the chickens there would definitely be a resulting vermin problem from the mess on the ground.

My thoughts are that I don't worry too much about what the chickens eat because like Turkeys they are scavengers. They get table scraps and old bread and tortillas - the aforementioned goat leftovers and yes layer pellets. If you are feeding your chickens entirely layer pellets, you are putting too much thought and effort into them IMO. I get plenty of eggs like clockwork out of the chickens and the goats get into their hen house and steal their layer pellets on occasion leaving me wondering what they ate on those days (goat poop maybe or bugs they scratch up from under the straw and goat poop - mwhatever they seem HAPPY as can be and the eggs taste wonderful)

My secret is the special treat. To keep them happy and engaged I make a point of about once per week to take a 2 pound bag of carrots and throw they through the food shredder and make sure the goats don't muscle in on it - it is the chickens special treat. They love it to death and it makes the yolks nice and dark orange with all the carotene - I am also fond of saving up egg shells and powdering them in a grain grinder and sprinkle a little of that on the carrots.

 

[WendyJeepchick]

Just wanted to post a pic of my daughter holding one of our 6 month old Black JG's (Thor) and our 9 month old Maran (Barney).

I'll try to post more pics of our other JG's. We have 2 black cockrels, 2 black pullets and 2 white pullets. I would love to get a few blue JG's in the future.

 

[Wynette]

What I find most interesting is the claim that the Jersey Giant is a mixture of Langshan, Cochin and Brahma which seems impossible because all three have feathered legs and are all smaller than the giant which has clean legs and is larger than all three. odd right?

You need to keep in mind that ALL breeds are what we call "composite" breeds; that is, bred from a variety of breeds, then culled for the preferred features. There were reasons each breed was used. It's important to know the breeds within the composite, so that you can "potentially" go back to the roots to regain something lost along the way. However, in a breed as old as our Giants, that really should not need to be done any longer. Regarding size...get out to some larger poultry shows and walk through the aisles...I think you will be shocked at the size of some of the birds you see there! The interesting thing about feathered shanks is that every so often, on rare occasions, we still do see that in our Giants. Clearly, that's something that's a tough one to breed completely out!

-- didnt know about "NOT" to feed layer to non egg bearing .. oops.. ? so.. any thoughts..

I use my chickens to clean up after my goats. goats are pigs and leave 1/10th of their feed on the ground and are too spoiled or lazy to find the random grains they knock out of their feed buckets in their hurry to guzzle their food (grains hay minerals whatever). Without the chickens there would definitely be a resulting vermin problem from the mess on the ground.

My thoughts are that I don't worry too much about what the chickens eat because like Turkeys they are scavengers. They get table scraps and old bread and tortillas - the aforementioned goat leftovers and yes layer pellets. If you are feeding your chickens entirely layer pellets, you are putting too much thought and effort into them IMO. I get plenty of eggs like clockwork out of the chickens and the goats get into their hen house and steal their layer pellets on occasion leaving me wondering what they ate on those days (goat poop maybe or bugs they scratch up from under the straw and goat poop - mwhatever they seem HAPPY as can be and the eggs taste wonderful)

My secret is the special treat. To keep them happy and engaged I make a point of about once per week to take a 2 pound bag of carrots and throw they through the food shredder and make sure the goats don't muscle in on it - it is the chickens special treat. They love it to death and it makes the yolks nice and dark orange with all the carotene - I am also fond of saving up egg shells and powdering them in a grain grinder and sprinkle a little of that on the carrots.

It sounds like your birds are happy, healthy, and pampered! Good on you!

In regard to feeding layer feed to chickens not old enough for laying, no, it's not a good idea to do so. But, I know not all of us have a way to separate the chickens from each other as they mature. So, the best alternative is to feed a NON layer feed such as Purina Flock Raiser (or other brand of a general flock feed). This feed does not have the extra calcium in it that feed labeled for layers has. Then, offer a separate bowl of oyster shell for the calcium - try to put it in a location a good distance away from the flock raiser. This way, the layers can get their calcium via the oyster shell, and those not old enough to be eating extra calcium (it's VERY hard on their organs), will more than likely eat only from the flock raiser bowl.

 

[informative]

I stand corrected. Someone pointed out that Giants include Java breed and not so much Cochin so there was a breed included which were clean legged.

 

[Wynette]

I stand corrected. Someone pointed out that Giants include Java breed and not so much Cochin so there was a breed included which were clean legged.

Black Langshan, Black Java, and Dark Brahma (mostly).

 

[informative]

Black Langshan, Black Java, and Dark Brahma (mostly).

Still begs the questions how they get White Jersey Giants then doesn't it? =)