Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[TheSpiceGirls]

It's her age. Larger birds sometimes "age" more quickly than smaller ones. Not much you can do about it. If you have a cock bird, I'd get some fertile eggs and hatch them while you still can.

Thanks. No roosters here. I'm a city dweller and just have the three hens in my back yard. And the JG was a mistake purchase. I wouldn't recommend them for a small back yard situation. But I do love her. She's wicked smart and makes me laugh every day. I just want to make sure I'm doing what I can to make her happy.

 

[Totalcolour]

Thanks. No roosters here. I'm a city dweller and just have the three hens in my back yard. And the JG was a mistake purchase. I wouldn't recommend them for a small back yard situation. But I do love her. She's wicked smart and makes me laugh every day. I just want to make sure I'm doing what I can to make her happy.

@TheSpiceGirls Oh I see. I know what you mean about her temperament though. I have a J.G. Cockerel, and he's just amazing. Very calm and stately, and while I don't want to use him for breeding, I just don't want to let him go. I reckon if you keep the treats coming, she'll be fine

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

@TheSpiceGirls Oh I see. I know what you mean about her temperament though. I have a J.G. Cockerel, and he's just amazing. Very calm and stately, and while I don't want to use him for breeding, I just don't want to let him go. I reckon if you keep the treats coming, she'll be fine

She laid again today. So I think she just too a mini break for some reason. She did poop on today's egg. That's not like her. But she has done that before. So I'll just dismiss it as her beginning to show a little age.

She could stop laying and I'd still love her. I'd miss her XL eggs but she's such a crack up. Just a fun bird to have around.

 

[informative]

So no one is willing to share their methods?

Framac

I didn't breed em myself, I just bought them right out of a hatchery so I think they should just be purebred with nothin else in them!

Same here I just buy from different hatcheries to get a mix of genes and then cull to move toward the ideal chicken for various attributes.

I'm not much interested in the SOP for 'show' since I don't plan to show birds. Like I'm actually not keen toward huge birds so size is not an attribute I cull for. Personality, tameness, overall health, athletic prowess and good posture and pretty feathers are all things I work toward.

I like broody chickens because they not only tend to protect the eggs but they also tend to adopt and protect the younger chicks if you watch them. I also like "alpha" pecking order birds and I prefer birds that are tame toward humans (hunker down when approached) but aggressive toward predators do the ruffled neck feathers thing

 

[informative]

I have a 3 1/2 year old Jersey Giant. She's a very happy and healthy bird. She did molt early last fall and came back into lay in mid-December and laid all winter long. She typically lays two days in a row and then skips a day. Sometimes she'll skip two. But last week she skipped 5 days in a row. I was really starting to freak.

She acted totally normal that whole time, eating, drinking and happily scratching around the garden. Today, she laid.

Would this concern anyone? I'm really freaked out by this. But like I said above, she seemed totally happy and normal. Maybe she's just starting to show her age and needed a mini break from laying?

Just curious if there's anything I should be doing.

All chickens drop off egg production after the first 2-3 years. Some have been known to lay into their 7th year but the number of eggs is far fewer than the early years prior. By the fifth or sixth year you'll likely be lucky to get two eggs per week if any. Most people that value egg production plan to cull most (all) of the layer chickens after two years producing, thus replacing them with new layers and using the previous layers for meat. Since older chickens are a bit tougher meat-wise, soup or crock pot slow cooker seems to work best on them. Since Jerseys don't reach full mature size till 15 months you'd probably rotate those out every three years (or 3.5 as you say) on layers.

Boosting egg production you could try more free ranging, more exercise, more calcium and protein in the diet, add olive oil to some lettuce as a treat and that sort of thing but it sadly doesn't change the reality of "a chicken in menopause".

 

[Wynette]

So no one is willing to share their methods?

Framac

I missed your post, am really in catch-up mode!! Not sure who all replied to this question, it's a very good one.

It should change as you go through the years. For example, though we like a long-back in Giants, you certainly shouldn't choose for that attribute year after year, as you'll end up with a very unbalanced bird eventually.

First, a Giant must have a horizontal, long back. A short-backed bird with an uphill (or downhill) back doesn't make it to my breed pen. Also, I look for a good amount of width between the legs. If I can't put my entire fist between the legs at the top when they are a year old, they're culls. The bottoms of their feet must be yellow. Wing carriage should be horizontal. Eye must be very dark, almost black. Once these criteria are met, I go on to things like:

Size & shape of skull. I want a bird with a good width from top of skull to top of eye, and bottom of eye to bottom of skull.

Overall balance. A bird that has good leg placement - not forward, or back, but right in the middle. Blues should have nice edging on their feathers (folks, this is a term commonly misused; edging is the same color as the base, only darker; most folks call it "penciling" and that's not accurate. Penciling is black). I also have been looking at feather quality for a few years now and have learned a ton just this year from a judge in reagard to feather quality. My Giant mentor has pushed this with me, and I'm SO very glad of it!

Length of tail. In my flock, tails tend to be just a hair shorter than I like, so I'm working for a bit longer tail this year.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

All chickens drop off egg production after the first 2-3 years. Some have been known to lay into their 7th year but the number of eggs is far fewer than the early years prior. By the fifth or sixth year you'll likely be lucky to get two eggs per week if any. Most people that value egg production plan to cull most (all) of the layer chickens after two years producing, thus replacing them with new layers and using the previous layers for meat. Since older chickens are a bit tougher meat-wise, soup or crock pot slow cooker seems to work best on them. Since Jerseys don't reach full mature size till 15 months you'd probably rotate those out every three years (or 3.5 as you say) on layers.

Boosting egg production you could try more free ranging, more exercise, more calcium and protein in the diet, add olive oil to some lettuce as a treat and that sort of thing but it sadly doesn't change the reality of "a chicken in menopause".

She's a pet. She can lay or not lay. Won't change how I feel about her or what I do w/ her. And I fully expect egg production to drop off as she ages. Just seemed weird that she was laying every other day for months and then boom, 5 days and no eggs.

She's back to laying. She does amazing work in the garden as far as bug and weed control. So while I love her eggs and would miss them if they were gone, she's not going anywhere when she decides she's done laying eggs for good.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote: I love my Jersey girls, too. Out of 3 that are 6.5 years old, one still lays about twice a week. All pets

 

[georgelee]

i[/I. I just started with breed 1reason was its size and also the freed is disappearing. I'm also going to raise some Swedish flower chickens another breed that there is little of. Hope I get this right the first time the Swedish chucking is 6.00 a peace. But I can't wait let y'all know how it go's. Does any one know of a duck or goose breed that need help in numbers. Let me I know

 

[countrydream7]

here is one of seven black jersey giants I have I think this is a pullet..how quick they grow at 5wks of age..