Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[TheSpiceGirls]

Wow! I ain't buying anything from Maria, i'll go broke!

I did find a hatchery in Michigan more reasonably priced tho so maybe i will try some of those and see what happens.

Next question (revealing my ignorance) How can i mark the bird so i can distinguish the feed store birds from the APA birds?

Feed stores sell spiral leg bands that slip around the birds leg. They come in different sizes so be sure you get a large size for your JG's.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

How high off the ground are your roosts for your JG's?

I know that larger birds shouldn't roost too high. Mine are about a foot off the ground.
I've got a guy coming in to re-do my roost situation and add a dropping board for easy clean up. I can put the dropping board and roosts at any height I'd like. And a part of me says not to go any higher than 12" high for the roosts. So the dropping board would be about 8" off the ground.

It makes for some dead space under that board. Which I guess is no big deal. I'm in California and my girls only go into their house to roost and lay eggs. They have plenty of sheltered areas to get out of the rain and we never get snow.

But then another part of me says that the dropping board should be a foot off the ground so a hen could hide under there if she wanted. But then the roosts would be more like 15-16" off the ground. Is that too high?

Curious what everyone else does. I want to get this done right the first time.

 

[Wynette]

No worries. I got my first chickens from the feed store too. Live and learn, my grandma would say.

Those birds are Australorps and Orpingtons, and I do love them. I got lucky with my JGs and happened to get eggs from a couple of Sher Jenning's birds. And they are GORGEOUS birds. No comparison to the feed store birds at all.

You might want to take a look at the National Jersey Giant club's breeder list: http://nationaljerseygiantclub.com/index.cfm/pageid/34

Be prepared, though. Those birds are unlikely to be cheap. Maria Hall, http://www.mariasjerseygiants.com/ is one of the most important breeders of Jersey Giants, and her eggs sell for $150 plus shipping. That's for just one dozen.

As for culling the hatchery birds.. well.. that mean cock would be in my stewpot first. The others I'd keep around, but I would be very careful not to let them breed.

Just an opinion here - I mean no offense to the breeder mention in the post I copied above; however, NO ONE should be paying $150 for a set of 12+ Jersey Giant hatching eggs. This is one of the things many of us in this for the long haul for the continuous improvement of the breed have been fighting against. Our goal is to preserve them - move them forward - exhibit them - and SHARE THEM with other responsible breeders. How on earth can we do so if we charge that much? Please, please - I have posted this many times before, but it bears repeating: PLEASE educate yourselves, folks. It makes me want to cry each time I see things like this posted.

Good to see some action on this thread finally, I'm not a jg breeder yet but I hope to be. I was going buy chicks from Maria Hall even though they are $$, but then I decided on white JGs cause it seems no one cares about them and I'd like to help preserve the breed and have some giant capons some day. I ordered ten from SandHill the max for whites, you can get 25 of the blacks. And ten black langshans and five blue ones to round out the min order. I don't know how good their stock is but that's what I'm going to have to work with. I believe SandHill's whites he says have been a closed stock since he got them from Mrs Miller, Maria Hall's stock of blacks came from Golda Miller, who had whites and blacks. I might end up with good big birds from the get go but if not I figure it will be a few years, four maybe five of breeding and if I don't see improvement in size I'll just get a good bred black rooster and cull all the black after keeping the whites (when they are big enough to butcher of course, not as chicks). Probably thinking to far ahead right now, gotta get the chicks first Lol! I'll post pics when I get them.

You are right that there are not many folks breeding the Whites, but if you do a little digging, you can definitely find some. I commend you for wishing to work on a more rare variety of Giants, but again - do your research. You may get frustrated after a few years of working an inferior line. I'm not saying Sandhill's line is inferior, I don't know them at all, but if you go into it with the thought that you can work hard for several years to improve mediocre stock, well...you may very well tire of that in a few years. It's always best to find the very best stock at the beginning. You'll save yourself a whole lot of heartache.

 

[mathewmarie]

How high off the ground are your roosts for your JG's?

I know that larger birds shouldn't roost too high.  Mine are about a foot off the ground.
I've got a guy coming in to re-do my roost situation and add a dropping board for easy clean up.  I can put the dropping board and roosts at any height I'd like.  And a part of me says not to go any higher than 12" high for the roosts.  So the dropping board would be about 8" off the ground.

It makes for some dead space under that board.  Which I guess is no big deal.  I'm in California and my girls only go into their house to roost and lay eggs.  They have plenty of sheltered areas to get out of the rain and we never get snow.

But then another part of me says that the dropping board should be a foot off the ground so a hen could hide under there if she wanted.  But then the roosts would be more like 15-16" off the ground.  Is that too high?

Curious what everyone else does.  I want to get this done right the first time.

Well, i am new at this. And i suspect my set up may not get everyone's approval. I have my roosts about 3 feet high and poop boards at about 28 inches. They are about 10 months old and look big to me. How would i know?
I need hearty and durable birds. It has been minus 10 here for weeks it seems. My birds free range often. Gotta be tough. I have never seen a limping chicken but if i did i'd just cook it. If i had 3 or 4 injuries i would make an adjustment but so far they seem to have no trouble

 

[mathewmarie]

...

Just an opinion here - I mean no offense to the breeder mention in the post I copied above; however, NO ONE should be paying $150 for a set of 12+ Jersey Giant hatching eggs.  This is one of the things many of us in this for the long haul for the continuous improvement of the breed have been fighting against.  Our goal is to preserve them - move them forward - exhibit them - and SHARE THEM with other responsible breeders.  How on earth can we do so if we charge that much?  Please, please - I have posted this many times before, but it bears repeating: PLEASE educate yourselves, folks.  It makes me want to cry each time I see things like this posted.

Your avatar is exactly the image on the homepage of that Michigan source for jersey giants.

Expensive things are really just for rich people. I got into this for the long term benefits to me and my family. If i can do something for my neighbors and the breed i will but... that price tag really just might as well be a grand. So far, my dollars invested in this have been few. Doing more with less is an important and dying principal

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Well, i am new at this. And i suspect my set up may not get everyone's approval. I have my roosts about 3 feet high and poop boards at about 28 inches. They are about 10 months old and look big to me. How would i know?
I need hearty and durable birds. It has been minus 10 here for weeks it seems. My birds free range often. Gotta be tough. I have never seen a limping chicken but if i did i'd just cook it. If i had 3 or 4 injuries i would make an adjustment but so far they seem to have no trouble

Thanks. Having the poop board up that high would be awesome for my back and cleaning up. I only have 4 birds and while I may get a few more, would probably never have more than 6-7 so it really only takes a few seconds to scrap/scrap and have all the droppings fall into your bucket.

But my coop isn't big enough to have them up that high. I'll see what others respond. If I could have the board up at least 12 inches, then maybe a future broody could huddle under there w/ her babies. If not, no biggie. I have a second coop I could use for a broody.

 

[mathewmarie]

All this quoting and computer stuff is making me feel dumb....son of a gun... well i learn by reading(listening) not typing (talking)...

 

[beagleman77]

I love black giants I want a APA flock of them one day

 

[beagleman77]

What happen to everyone

 

[mathewmarie]

Lol.

Well an update on my flock. I had 10 girls and 2 boys. It has been hovering between zero and minus 10 degrees overnight for what feels like a month. I have a cheap crappy homemade coop but it is insulated on the 3 windward sides.

Anyway, i found a dead hen out there day before yesterday and i'm not sure if she froze our what. I feel guilty(wierd huh?) But she is soup now. No sign of trauma at all... i am sooo sick of winter