Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[informative]

i lost both my Giant Roo's well all my roo's had 8 .. I think they died doing their protecting job..

I have a Pyrenees guardian dog trained not to hurt the chickens. Its easy with larger birds if you put in the time and sit with him watching the chickens for hours and reward and encourage when he herds them without playing with them (playing usually involves hitting them with those large bear paws so small chicks could not be safe from even the most friendly playful behavior from the dog)

But in the end it is a very very effective protector. Other predators mostly stay far away when they know there is an LGD on duty. They are very protective and funny thing is if you allow them to become familiar and spend time together they adapt to that. I have one red star matriarch that does the scary dinosaur puffed out neck feathers and chases the Pyrenees around the pen.

 

[tmwilson]

I have read many negative comments about people buying Jersey Giants from hatcheries. Does anyone have any Jersey Giants that came from a hatchery that are about the size they should be? If so, where did they come from?

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

I have read many negative comments about people buying Jersey Giants from hatcheries. Does anyone have any Jersey Giants that came from a hatchery that are about the size they should be? If so, where did they come from?

I have hatchery JG. I bought her from my local feed store. She tips the scales between 6.5 and 7lbs so way shy of how big she should be. But I'm totally okay with it as she's part of a very small flock in a back yard city situation. And even though I bought a nice big coop (should hold 12 birds) she barely fits through the pop door. And her tail feathers are always ruffled from her squeezing into the 12" square nest box.

I LOVE her. She's WICKED smart. Totally knows her name and comes when I call her. She's 3.5 years old, molted early last fall and started laying eggs in late December and still lays me 6 big brown spotted eggs each week. But I also have no intension of breeding her and I'm not really picky about how true my hens are to their breed. I care more about their personalities.

I'm not sure which hatchery she came from.

 

[Framac]

Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I posted here, and thought I should.

The flock is doing well. A few birds are showing signs of mites, but I am aggressively inspecting and treating, so hopefully will have the flock clean here shortly.

I wintered 8 hens (3 blue, 5 black) and 2 Black Roosters. I am currently getting 4-7 eggs a day, and am itching to get the incubator up and running. I am hoping to hatch out 100 this year.

I was wondering if the folks on this thread would be interested in doing an egg swap? I was thinking a dozen for a dozen sort of thing, that way spreading around some different genetics. Just a thought.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Framac

 

[Wynette]

Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I posted here, and thought I should.

The flock is doing well. A few birds are showing signs of mites, but I am aggressively inspecting and treating, so hopefully will have the flock clean here shortly.

I wintered 8 hens (3 blue, 5 black) and 2 Black Roosters. I am currently getting 4-7 eggs a day, and am itching to get the incubator up and running. I am hoping to hatch out 100 this year.

I was wondering if the folks on this thread would be interested in doing an egg swap? I was thinking a dozen for a dozen sort of thing, that way spreading around some different genetics. Just a thought.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Framac

Well my word, GREAT to hear from you!!

I'm itching to get hatching as well...although my birds are not showing interest in the nest box whatsoever yet. I don't use lights on my breeders, do you? I've already begun hatching eggs of another breed, and just this week & last, I've seen some of the hens in other pens get going on laying, so it shouldn't be long for my Giants to get going, I hope!

Do you have your birds separated, or all together? If separated, can you speak to how you've done so, why you made the pairings as you did?

 

[Framac]

Well my word, GREAT to hear from you!!

I'm itching to get hatching as well...although my birds are not showing interest in the nest box whatsoever yet. I don't use lights on my breeders, do you? I've already begun hatching eggs of another breed, and just this week & last, I've seen some of the hens in other pens get going on laying, so it shouldn't be long for my Giants to get going, I hope!

Do you have your birds separated, or all together? If separated, can you speak to how you've done so, why you made the pairings as you did?

Greetings Wynette, and all.

I do muse lights in my coop. From Oct-Jan, I turn them off after 10 hours, I bump them up to 14 hours in Janurary, then about May I don't really need them. I was certain that turning the lights back caused a big drop in eggs (6-8 total a day to 0 for 6 weeks). Then I was doing a coop clean out on a Sunday, and got 4 eggs while cleaning. Then none all week. Came to the conclusion that they were eating them. A few dozen golf balls later, and the problem has been solved.

In my coop I have 4 pens (2 for up to 6 birds, 1 for up to 8, and the main pen which is 130 sq feet). I currently have 4 breeds, so the giants are all together. Once the other breeds hatching is done, I do plan on doing a setting of my larger frame cockerel to my best hens. The seperation will be easy. There are 4 hens (all black) that are monsters, with great type, and size.

In the other pairing would be the meaty rooster, with the blue hens. The hens lack size, not frame.

 

[Mi Ranchito]

I have read many negative comments about people buying Jersey Giants from hatcheries. Does anyone have any Jersey Giants that came from a hatchery that are about the size they should be? If so, where did they come from?

I have JGs, they are 6 months old this month. I bought them from a farm in South of San Antonio, he does not breed them so, I am left to assume he buys them from a hatchery, but nonetheless, I love my big girls! They are looking large and at this age, they will now start to put on the weight and meatiness of a JG. Keep in mind, it is a slow process...we are talking about one or two years...They have already started laying beautiful brown eggs with lovely dark reddish freckles. As far as I am concerned, they are an awesome breed, very hardy through these drastic weather changes we have here in SA. They are showing to be very good layers as well. My girls may not be show girls, but they sure live up to being JGs just fine in my humble opinion.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Do JG's make good mothers? I came home to not only an egg in my JG's nest but a whole pile of soft breast feathers. Oh my. She's 3 1/2 years old. She went broody once before and since she was the only one laying, I blocked off the nests and broke her.

But I'm down to just three hens and was planning on adding more in the spring and if she is indeed going broody, I'd let her raise them and be a mama.

Are Jersey Giants good mothers?

I would let her sit on plastic easter eggs for 2-3 weeks and then tuck sexed, vaccinated pullets under her. Most likely Buff Orpingtons as those work well in my urban setting and small yard.

Thoughts?

I let me BO raise the last batch of babies and she was an awesome mama.

 

[Wynette]

Do JG's make good mothers? I came home to not only an egg in my JG's nest but a whole pile of soft breast feathers. Oh my. She's 3 1/2 years old. She went broody once before and since she was the only one laying, I blocked off the nests and broke her.

But I'm down to just three hens and was planning on adding more in the spring and if she is indeed going broody, I'd let her raise them and be a mama.

Are Jersey Giants good mothers?

I would let her sit on plastic easter eggs for 2-3 weeks and then tuck sexed, vaccinated pullets under her. Most likely Buff Orpingtons as those work well in my urban setting and small yard.

Thoughts?

I let me BO raise the last batch of babies and she was an awesome mama.

ABSOLUTELY! Here's an older blue hen that was an awesome broody for me:




You can see one of her chicks peaking out in this pic (she was blinking, by the way, she's not blind):



They'll mother a brood as long as you'll let them...I've even heard folks mention that they've had to take the mom away when the cockerels she hatched began trying to breed her....she was still trying to get them to fall in place under her wings & clucking to them.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

ABSOLUTELY! Here's an older blue hen that was an awesome broody for me:




You can see one of her chicks peaking out in this pic (she was blinking, by the way, she's not blind):



They'll mother a brood as long as you'll let them...I've even heard folks mention that they've had to take the mom away when the cockerels she hatched began trying to breed her....she was still trying to get them to fall in place under her wings & clucking to them.

Thanks. That settles that. IF she is indeed broody, I'll let her sit on plastic eggs for three weeks and tuck day old, sexed, vaccinated chicks under her. I'm in the city and only need a few and have no way to deal w/ roosters so that's easiest for me.