Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[technodoll]

Your Jersey Girl is gorgeous!

So happy to find out the breed's temperament is so docile and lovely...

I hope my roo turns out as sweet as I think he's going to be!

 

[Wynette]

I agree with Fifelake - I like the blues best, and my preference is for darker blue and, of course, with really good lacing! To have good lacing, you must breed the blacks to the blues - if you breed blue on blue, eventually, the lacing fades.

Really good whites are difficult to find, to be sure.

Darklingstorm - what a lovely pic & story! Thanks so much for sharing. I love it when people include their chooks in their daily lives, and your Jersey Girl sounds like she sure is in that category! What a sweet pic.

Ownesmom - Giants were bred with the intention of being a TRUE dual-purpose breed. The problem is that they fill out slowly...it is said they grow their frame in the first year, and then they put on their bulk in the second. I think that's the main reason they are not the most popular chicken out there. So many folks are just plain not willing to wait. It's a shame, really - this breed is SUCH a pleasure to have around!

 

[Klwright1122]

Good morning...I hatched 14 black jersey giants at the end of mar. 3 are roosters and the rest are hens!! Yay me! But I noticed that some of the hens have black combs. They aren't very pronounced...still small on their heads-but the skin is black. Does that mean anything? Is a black comb normal ocassionally, will it likely change over time? Is the breeding bad, mixed? I have never seen a chicken w anything other than a red comb...
I got the eggs from a friend who is a chicken enthusiast like me. He does hatch in large quantities and sells at local co-ops and feed stores.

Another question:: I have a (big, mean) Cornish rooster--is it a good idea to cross him with a giant hen to get a decent size meat bird?

Appreciate ur opinions....

 

[Wynette]

Klwright - congrats on the awesome cockerel-to-pullet ratio! Holy cow!!

I've never hatched any with black comb - here is the closest I came, a little one with a black splotch on his beak (his beak eventually turned entirely black):

 

[The Tinman]

Yesterday after work I went to see how the girls are doing. I went into the coop and saw that one of the broodies was off her nest. She had 3 eggs. what I saw was 1 egg,1 dead chick, and a chick half way out with blood on it. I thought it was dead so I peeled the rest of the egg shell off. Then it moved and peeped. I thought it was going to die . I put it aside just to see what will happen. I checked on it about an hour later and when I poked it it kicked. I thought maybe it has a chance so I stuck it under another broody along with the other egg. This morning I went to see if the chick died. I picked momma up and there were these beety eye looking back at me. ITS ALIVE! along with the other one. My wife is going to kill me. She want me to get rid of the chicken and I`m making more.

 

[Wynette]

Tinman...awe! What a survivor!

 

[Soaring Chicks]

Glad the chicks made it!

Lock down for my last JG eggs from sunangel.
Only 5 made to l/d so hope they hatch. I pray for pullets!!!

Wish me luck!

 

[Wynette]

Quote:

PULLETS!!!! BEST of luck!!!

 

[OwensMom]

Quote:
Wynette and Klwright1122, I thought that I read that JG were a dual purpose bird and a mainstay of the poultry industry years ago, So Kl wtight asked my next question!!
I have some Cornish x's ready to go to the proscessor now. The cockerels are mean beggars but the pulletts are docile. Thought about putting JG boy in with a few hens and raising those for meat. I wonder how this would work or am reinventing the wheel???

 

[Wynette]

Quote:
Wynette and Klwright1122, I thought that I read that JG were a dual purpose bird and a mainstay of the poultry industry years ago, So Kl wtight asked my next question!!
I have some Cornish x's ready to go to the proscessor now. The cockerels are mean beggars but the pulletts are docile. Thought about putting JG boy in with a few hens and raising those for meat. I wonder how this would work or am reinventing the wheel???

I really can't answer that as I've never done it before. But - you may end up with a bird the size of a TURKEY, due to hybrid vigor! Heck, if you can do it, you might as well try! You never know!