Jersey Giants thread for pictures and discussion

[wilmothfarms]

No one can give me their thoughts on my roo from my earlier post? Curious if he looks to be (yet) of anything I should keep or cull. And what age should I really know since they take so long to mature?
Would appreciate - new to JG's.

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[fifelakelooper]

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He is very pretty Chic!! Love the color and feather edging. I THINK roo....so that is my vote. Where did you get him from?? Indigoegg? Pride and Joy? Wynette?

 

[chics in the sun]

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He is very pretty Chic!! Love the color and feather edging. I THINK roo....so that is my vote. Where did you get him from?? Indigoegg? Pride and Joy? Wynette?

He hasn't crowed yet, but he is just so big compared to the one that is definately a pullet. I do love his color, and he is so friendly and curious. I'm just going to have to move to the country so I can keep him - if it's a 'him'. I got him from a couple about an hour from me that is not on BYC. They have several colors, but at the time I needed the eggs they were just doing the Blue ones. If he is a roo that means 6 out of 8 that did hatch (out of about 36 eggs) are ROOS!

This one and the Sumatra are both still questionable, though. And one of the two pullets is some kind of un-identifiable mutt. My first hatching experience is not going well.

 

[Wynette]

Looks like a cockerel to me, Chics.

Wilmoth - Honestly, for his age, he looks a bit light to me (I am NO expert), but different lines grow differently...most definitely he'll grow taller and fill out more, he's quite young yet!

 

[kathyinmo]

 

[Wynette]

Good mornin', Kathy!

 

[poularde]

Good morning all.

Love that pic! I wanted to post a few photos of my birds. I thought this one was a boy, but they are about 15 weeks old now and I see no saddle feathers. Look like a pullet?

The one in the middle...

And then a question for you Wynette. A little while back you mentioned about the tails being too long in the Blues. Is this waht you are talking about?

 

[Wynette]

poularde - definitely a pullet! Yes, that's what I meant, but hers isn't "off the chart" long. She's pretty!

 

[poularde]

Thanks Wynette. Somehow I hatched all girls with my first Jersey Giants. The two blues are the largest with the yellow on the bottom of the feet. The two blacks are much smaller and one does not have proper leg color. I wish I had hatched a boy. I would like to have JG roo. It is so hard to decide on what breeds I want to work with. I really like six breeds, but I need to narrow it down to three. How do you make up your mind?

I change mine daily.

 

[Wynette]

Poularde - depending on the line, the blacks DO tend to mature a bit more slowly.

I want to share part of an e-mail I just received from the breeder of my last hatch. I really, really like this breeder, and goodness....it makes it SO SO difficult for me to make decisions when I read about how long it takes for them to mature! I honestly just don't have enough space for what I want to breed, and so I am forced to make decicions earlier than I should. Here's hoping I've made the right choices, but here is part of the e-mail I mentioned:

One of my two [black] champions was the little ugly duckling. And I do mean little. He was the smallest of his batch and was even smaller than his sisters. I almost butchered him so many times but never got around to it. Even at 5 and 6 months of age. I just forgot about him finally. Was going to keep his big brother and for some reason they were making good companions, not pecking and fighting yet. One day I walked out to the coop and his fabulous big brother was sick. I did everything I could but lost him. Forgot about the brother for a while and when I thought about getting him butchered, went out and looked him over. I was sincerely and truly shocked. Where the HECK had this bird come from. He was HUGE. And he was perfect. And that was the awful day I learned that what Bobbie Vaughn and others had been telling me was the truth. You can't really KNOW you're culling right until they're about 10 months old. My big up and comers.........both of them.............at 5 months were fabulous. By 10 months...........they were okay but had fallen apart a little and were surpased by another. My experience is that it happens more with the males. Females are a little easier to read at a younger age but can still change.

Of course, this is ONE breeder's experience, but I have to think that these are very, very good points. Sigh...

As far as how to know what I want to breed...well..............what I decided on were those that tickled my fancy the most! HA! There are many reasons I love chickens, and I rate among the very highest (if not THE highest) their egg laying ability. I am an egg hound. The color, size, shape...all fascinate me. Jerseys....big eggs!​