Norwegian Jaerhon

[gabrielle1976]

Your birds are so nice looking Im so sad that I only got one Ill have to try again soon. I want a hen . Here is a picture of the roo that hatched from the eggs

 

[Amyable]

Yes, you need hens of this breed! Your boy is looking cute, he's about 2 weeks now? Isn't it crazy how that comb just pops so fast? They are manly men!

 

[gabrielle1976]

I think 3 weeks but yeah his comb popped up days ago lol he is a manly man rooster =P
He dosnt like to be held lol him and the sweedish flower hens remind me of cats , they arnt terrified its just beneath there dignity thank you very much

 

[free burd]

thank you to everyone for this thread.
i have read it for many months - the jaer seems to good to be true in some ways.
a 3.5# hen that lays a large egg, mostly feeds herself by foraging and 'friendly'. impossible.
well, i have read everything i could find on the bird for over a year and kept quite a long file of information
including translations from articles and forums in Norway. still seems to good to be true.

the last and final question i have unanswered is the actual lay rate - per year, week or season
or compared to other breeds you have had. i don't care how you say it or what you say about it
but i would like to beg your first hand experience on this question.
the best i could settle on is a Norway publication that lists 160 per year - this WAS a good
layer in the 1920's when the jaer was popular.

is that it ??? cause that then makes this bird just a great novelty and not really a valuable
utility/production homestead bird.
(unless its economy, vigor and size reducing qualities where crossed into - say - a california gray or white leghorn...)

kindly settle this for all of us interested in this impossible to believe bird.
it was asked a few postings ago and no reply was posted. i'll settle for a weekly/seasonal rate.
anything.
(or even, if you have jaer and the lay rate doesn't matter to you - i'd like to hear what you have to say about that)

oh, i have limited space with RICH forage and will not be killing/culling birds so i have to do it right the first time.
(a lightweight calm as possible layer breed(s) who turbo-forage)
_______________________________________________________________________________________

also, thank you to the brainy genetics people who are trying to figure out the jaer - much appreciated.
no one in Norway says anything about it...

to me it always looked like crele/campine but you guys haven't brought that up in your postings at all...

are you aware that research in its homeland links it genetically to the icelandic?
like the icelandic the jaer likely at one time had a larger spectrum of charicteristics before the
govt. program isolated this layer out of the country hen population.
they do pop out of the breed frequently, especially barred(gray) and silver campine feather patterns.
as for the sand hill hatchery 'flame', no one in Norway has ever seen this pattern according to posts on forums.
looks as if a dedicated breeder could let her/his flock cut loose and re-establish itself as a landrace.
which would be cool.

thank you everyone.
robert braun [email protected]

 

[alpinefarm]

thank you to everyone for this thread.
i have read it for many months - the jaer seems to good to be true in some ways.
a 3.5# hen that lays a large egg, mostly feeds herself by foraging and 'friendly'. impossible.
well, i have read everything i could find on the bird for over a year and kept quite a long file of information
including translations from articles and forums in Norway. still seems to good to be true.

the last and final question i have unanswered is the actual lay rate - per year, week or season
or compared to other breeds you have had. i don't care how you say it or what you say about it
but i would like to beg your first hand experience on this question.
the best i could settle on is a Norway publication that lists 160 per year - this WAS a good
layer in the 1920's when the jaer was popular.

is that it ??? cause that then makes this bird just a great novelty and not really a valuable
utility/production homestead bird.
(unless its economy, vigor and size reducing qualities where crossed into - say - a california gray or white leghorn...)

kindly settle this for all of us interested in this impossible to believe bird.
it was asked a few postings ago and no reply was posted. i'll settle for a weekly/seasonal rate.
anything.
(or even, if you have jaer and the lay rate doesn't matter to you - i'd like to hear what you have to say about that)

oh, i have limited space with RICH forage and will not be killing/culling birds so i have to do it right the first time.
(a lightweight calm as possible layer breed(s) who turbo-forage)
_______________________________________________________________________________________

also, thank you to the brainy genetics people who are trying to figure out the jaer - much appreciated.
no one in Norway says anything about it...

to me it always looked like crele/campine but you guys haven't brought that up in your postings at all...

are you aware that research in its homeland links it genetically to the icelandic?
like the icelandic the jaer likely at one time had a larger spectrum of charicteristics before the
govt. program isolated this layer out of the country hen population.
they do pop out of the breed frequently, especially barred(gray) and silver campine feather patterns.
as for the sand hill hatchery 'flame', no one in Norway has ever seen this pattern according to posts on forums.
looks as if a dedicated breeder could let her/his flock cut loose and re-establish itself as a landrace.
which would be cool.

thank you everyone.
robert braun [email protected]

Robert,

I've been raising Jaerhons going on 7 years now in the high mountains of Colorado. Our farm is a layer of ice 4 months of the year, so I feel qualified to at least offer to you that mine have done extremely well here, hardy in my climate. They are my best winter layers, tho some of my other breeds do give eggs in the cold months (without supplemental heating or lights). I think this is partly due to the whole grain feed I use, but I originally got my first Jaerhons because a gal in Minnesota assured me that *hers* layed in the winter, albeit not as much. I have found this to be accurate, but I can't give you a count.

I have never thought to count eggs or even to really estimate how many I get per year from my different types of hens. But the Jaehon girls are my most dependable and prolific. I did do a weight average one summer and the Jaehon eggs were only slightly behind my Marans eggs in average grams per.

Best wishes in your decision-making! I don't think that, if you got Jaerhons going, that you'd be unhappy...but if you were, they are popular for me, at least, to find homes for locally.

Rosemary

 

[free burd]

dear rosemary,
i know your posts very well, have made notes on your experiences and
reread them many times to remind me of your comments - especially on
organic feed, outside conditions and how little they eat compared to the marans -
i am aware that care, conditions, feed and origin of stock all play a part in
the end results. so when the time comes for me you would be the first who i requested eggs or males
shipped from because of your experiences, rough landscape and organic principles.
any thoughtful person can recognize the value of your
firsthand experience. so i am especially grateful for your reply.

its ok that you don't have a count - since i haven't had chickens yet i am
unable to understand the point of view of someone who keeps chickens
and does not count - unless they are just pets or projects for children
there is usually some economy involved and selling - correct?
... so, i don't understand yet why people don't pay attention to their
productivity while in parallel many in forums complain of rising feed prices (!)
possibly those things where handled generations ago in your family
and it's just 'rote' for you now - so i will only understand that position after experience.

if they are your best layer overall - what is your second best breed...?
i understand that the marans are in the 150 to 180 range unless you have
found an exceptional line, so if the jaer outdoes that then it is
just 'good' but if you said that you also have RIR or easter eggers
and the jaer outdoes them, well that would be exceptional...
(with that bit of info there would be no more questions for me to ask)
i was hoping to be one of those people who didn't have to get a job
to support his chickens. honestly, i am trying very hard for this goal.
so, for you there is no egg sales figure vs. feed, supplies and labor cost figures.
i assumed i should do this fairly carefully at first so that i don't sink my ship.
also organic feed will be difficult to come by in hyper-rural north dakota
and i will be growing a lot of my own winter feed for them. beets, pumpkins, corn...
alfalfa, comfrey, nettles... etc. they will eat some non-organic sunflower seeds and possibly oats
until i get things figured out for the first year.
(good winter layers actually means more work for me to put up more food)

'the Jaehon girls are my most dependable and prolific.'
POW! that says a lot - really, but i am just going to suppose that you
have many generations of experience behind you and no longer need
to fuss with figures. you clearly know what you are doing.
the egg weight is telling though because marans lay a big egg and are
what, 3 times the size of the little jaer? it's just impossible, or, fantastic...
and thank you for the last sentence - really valuable and i know you are right.
but, without supplemental heat and light, the california grey & white
and easter eggers lay in winter as well and if the jaer lays only half as much
as them annualy, well then what should i do... keep digging for information until i figure
it out because i don't have the space to get 3 or 4 breeds for observation like many others do.
such a simple thing is such a struggle.

as a side note: storey publications full color breed description book
says they ware themselves out laying - which held my attention
for a while but i no longer believe it...
i do not want to feel like a parasite on the chickens who live around me.
i am more interested in them taking a winter break so they
would live longer and healthier with some extended years of laying
rather than dropping dead after a stressed life.
the man who imported them had one of the originals for 14 years - that's what i want.

sand hill hatchery in an email reply said they do have frost bite on the boys in their
uninsulated single layer metal building - even in balmy iowa.
i am going to have them in north dakota - even more volatile weather than MN.
and even though i could build them any kind of insulated coop,
i would love to erase that comb off there heads.
if they had a pea comb i would not even be asking about
the lay rate - they would have no competition in the hardy lightweight layer class.
the thought of out-crossing them with a bantam buckeye or
bantam chanticleer or LF easter egger has crossed my mind
i would like to spare them any possible suffering.
any opinion on me developing pea combed jaer strain is welcome from anyone...

that was a bit rambly, sorry it's late.
would love to hear what everyone else has to say about their layrate experience/satisfaction.
thank you
robert braun [email protected]

 

[1muttsfan]

If your concern is egg laying, then an understanding of laying in general may be helpful to you.

All hens are hatched carying all the ova that they will have for life. How long it takes then to "burn through" those ova is determined by how high their egg-laying rate is. So hens that lay a large number of eggs a year, such as leghorns and the mixed egg producers such as Isa Browns, will lay a large number of eggs a year, but only for a year our two. After that they will often continue to lay an occasional egg for years.

Hens that lay a moderate number of eggs a year will last longer in the laying flock, as their ova are not used up as quickly.

So if your goal is maximum egg production, commercial layer strains are the best, but these hens will need to be replaced about every year. If you are looking for an efficient backyard flock where the birds are productive for several years, jaers and others like them are better options.

 

[aurissavannahs]

I have had chickens for over 40 years and Jaers are my all time favorites. I have not counted the number of eggs my hens have layed, but by averaging the number of eggs I collect daily I would say they lay over 200 eggs a year. The most important thing for me is to be able to supply my family and my egg customers with a steady supply of eggs and these hens really do that. In the last year and a half they have layed steadily in weather that has varied from 9F to 100+F. They also layed steadily without pause through the molt they just finished. They now have beatiful new feathers and my customers had all the eggs they wanted. Also they have not gone broody so they keep laying.
I have a friend who has Jaers and also has game chickens. He says the Jaers are more alert and fly better than his games and are better foragers and survivors which I think is high praise considering that games are known for their ability to take care of themselves.

I don't think Jaers can compete with the commericial layers in the short term but for my needs they excede any white leghorn or production chicken I have had. I have EE, OE, and California Whites which are good layers and the Jares lay as well as they do under my farm conditions on less feed. My CW and EE are from a hatchery and the OE are from a BYCer.

 

[alpinefarm]

Robert, the combs are a concern in a cold climate. Even the hens can have a "generous" comb and wattles and could potentially freeze as well as the roos'. *However,* the one year that some of my Jaerhon roo combs froze, I was keeping them in a very "tight" coop with little ventilation during a 2 week period of severe (-20 to -30 degree) weather, mistakenly thinking my "extra care" would protect everyone. I read about open-air coop philosophy at that time and in succeeding years, with *lots* of fresh air in the coop even in the depths of winter, I have not had another frosted comb. I have seen first-hand that the freezing comes as a result of moisture build-up inside the coop rather than just cold temperatures. One of my goals in breeding now is to try to reduce the size of the comb but I am just beginning that effort.

My EEs and EE/Ameraucana crosses have been my second favorite up here and a close second. They have been great...hardy in our climate, long-lived and long-laying and alert to predators...but not as thrifty with feed as the Jaers, not as able to manage on summer foraging alone.

I do have table egg customers. But I am not a particularly precise person, records-wise. My customers (who pay $5 doz year round for organic table eggs) and I are involved with one another because we, for one reason or another, can't or won't eat "production" eggs, having special dietary requirements or philosophies.

I wouldn't, myself, keep a production flock that had to be culled yearly. My oldest Jaer girls are still laying well at 7 and some of my EE/Amer hens have gotten beyond 10 and still layed, caught mice, and raised broods. So a part of this is that I get to enjoy a long-term relationship with my flock.

 

[free burd]

to 1muttsfan,

you are very smart to pick up that layer longevity is a key factor in my choosing.
i really appreciate the way you made it so clean and understandable.
PLEASE WRITE A CHICKEN BOOK.
i had an understanding of laying strains but not as well as you just put it and
nowhere have i read that the principle applies to every breed - so if that
is the case - it is one of the grossest omissions in all of chicken publishing -
1800's to present. (note: i haven't read genetics books yet)

my goal is comfortable egg production (for the hens) over as many years as possible
with forager economy as the base, no culling. which from that point of view would be,
for me, a maximum egg production bird. and every ones replies have convinced
me that i will likely be a jaers man for life. i still can't believe they are real.

and if i understand you, that ALL commercial layer strains - white leghorn
austra whites, production blacks/reds or hybrids are engineered for a
2 year run then they are all out of the question for me.
(though i have not heard a single bad word about the easter egger.)
you would be the first to inform me of this. (!)
(note: i also read that lay longevity of the calif. grey was a breeders goal originally
which is why i refer to it often - though finding that bird may be a challenge -
i am not convinced that a production black is the original thing and hatcheries
will not give me a straight answer on this question.)
i am so sick of shifty/sins of omission breed descriptions of hatcheries.
strombergs being one exception - not comprehensive but at least honest.
http://www.strombergschickens.com/prod_detail_list/Chickens-Chicks

i understood from one reference that the isa brown is a 2 year layer
but never have read this characteristic applied to any other layer breed or hybrid.
i have only read that hybrids, supposedly, have exceptional lay longevity along
with vigor - but the sex-link types have many secrets, don't they - like how they get
a 'red' over a delaware (two big birds) to produce a hen that is only 5 lbs
and though that 'hybrid' should lay longer than the original 2 breeds - it may be
somehow engineered to shut down after 2 years...
why cant the breeders/hatcheries just publish honest breed discriptions and expectations
so that i don't have to bother you folks with a tangle of questions.
nowhere can i find this information unless i ask someone who has had the
actual chicken... 'do your red stars lay longer than 2 years?' 'how long'?
the hatcheries wont publish it. why?
(i am using the delaware/red star because i found an obscure study that showed
production reds and the delaware cross of red stars to be the two best foragers of all production
strains of layers - and i considered the red stars for a while)

do you realize that after studying over a year, sometimes 8 hours a day for
days at a time i have no understanding or information on one of the most
important questions to me - layer longevity - i don't even know if that is the
term used in the poultry world. i have also read 100's of pages of forum entries
and in all this time i have read ONE posting from a woman who said her new
hampshire's are still laying 4-5 eggs a week after 5 years.
frankly i expected to find such data on every breed and hybrid.
n-o-t-h-i-n-g is said about this = that's really really weird.
i know there are many people out there who are not killing their 'old' friends
because they slowed down or stopped laying - but no one talks about the
actual output of any breed in their later years... WOW.
it is in my top 5 questions about chickens and i cant find a word about it.
PHEEW i have been wanting to get that off my chest for months.
finally - the jaers people have come to the rescue.

2 other references to drive my point home:
*henderson's
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
does not have an entry for this characteristic under each breed.
*and on this icelandic PDF
http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/10E06A03.pdf
page down to 'utility and qualities'
this is what a real simple honest breed description looks like.
and it is the only one on planet earth that i am aware of.
make a special note of the number of years of lay listed
and quantity in the first paragraph, like it matters... (!!!)
plus a personality description (!!!)
back up on the page to read the history and 'conformation' data
it's superb.
is this too much to ask of the poultry world ?

i ranted there,
thank you jaers people for listening.
thank you 1muttsfan
robert braun [email protected]