Tips please?

[beowulf1877]

Hello, I am fairly new to the forum. This place is HuGE! Anyways, I am building a Coop and I plan to house Jersey Giants, allow them to free range, but locked in every night, as well as a fairly good size run for when I need to keep them fenced. My question is what sort of tips, tricks, design needs for the Jersey Giants should I be looking at or thinking about?

Please impart wisdom! Thank you so much.

A couple of questions I have had are, since JG's are larger what size should I make the entry door and nesting boxes? And are there any other breed specific items or concessions I should make?

 

[txmel]

Hi and welcome Have you tried looking at the jersey giant thread? very friendly and knowledgeable people over there that will be able to help you i'm sure
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/277387/jersey-giants-thread-for-pictures-and-discussion

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t have Jersey Giants but I’ve raised Midget White turkeys with my chicken flock. That tom was as big or bigger than a Jersey Giant will get.

My pop door was 12” x 12”. That turkey had no trouble using it. It won’t hurt to make it bigger and depending on how your coop is framed it may be easier to make it bigger, but you don’t have to.

Obviously my tom did not use a nest box. I personally made my nests 16” x 16” so my hens can lay together if they want to. I’ve had three crowd in together to lay at the same time with a fourth hen pacing, waiting for her turn. There were empty ones available but no, she had to have that one.

You could probably get by with a 12” x 12” nest for Jersey Giants but what does it cost you to make it a bit larger?

The only other thing I can think of is that you probably don’t want the roosts any higher than you have to make them. It’s possible (not likely but possible) that the larger birds like that can hurt their legs when they hop down from a roost. Mine spread their wings and fly down so they don’t hit too hard, but it’s still a pretty good idea to keep them as low as reasonable for any breed.

Your roosts need to be noticeably higher than your nest boxes or anywhere else you don’t want them to sleep. They tend to roost at the highest place they can get to and they poop a lot when the sleep. So position your nest box, then make your roosts a little higher than that. If they are pretty close to the nest boxes, 6” may be enough to be noticeable. If they are further away, it may mean you need about 12”.

Good luck!!!