What is the difference between 18% and 20% chick starter?

[Acre4Me]

We have BJG from a breeder. They are quite large. We butchered a male at Christmas and he was already over 9 lbs (at 22 weeks) and was muscle, not fat. The older rooster was approx 11lbs at 11 months, and we sold him after he turned 2 years old, but didn’t weigh him at that time. By nature, they are slower growing bc it takes approx 18 months for a BJG to be full grown. The legs in ours (male and female) are thicker than other breeds, with the males legs being quite thick. While there is value in getting 18% feed bc it is specifically recommended and it’s your first time raising them, the extra 2% isn’t likely to create problems.

Good luck with the BJG.


Here are one of our male and femaleat 16 weeks of age. The legs are quite thick.

 

[Angileen]

Also, you could find out what the calories/ cup or pound are in her feed, and your feed choices, to compare. Different brands will vary there, and maybe in other base ingredients, and maybe in their amino acid profile too. All should be good feeds (does she get something locally milled instead?) and I am wondering what the basic story is here. It just seems odd to me that this particular % should make such a difference. I also thought that this breed is meant to grow to adult size slowly, because of their genetics.
Mary

We have BJG from a breeder. They are quite large. We butchered a male at Christmas and he was already over 9 lbs (at 22 weeks) and was muscle, not fat. The older rooster was approx 11lbs at 11 months, and we sold him after he turned 2 years old, but didn’t weigh him at that time. By nature, they are slower growing bc it takes approx 18 months for a BJG to be full grown. The legs in ours (male and female) are thicker than other breeds, with the males legs being quite thick. While there is value in getting 18% feed bc it is specifically recommended and it’s your first time raising them, the extra 2% isn’t likely to create problems.

Good luck with the BJG.


Here are one of our male and femaleat 16 weeks of age. The legs are quite thick.
View attachment 2101456

My Black and White Jersey Giants are 11 months old. My black hens are smaller than most of the chickens in my mixed flock. My JG Rooster is smaller than my Lavender Orpington Rooster by quite a bit he's about the same size as my Midnight Majesty Marans Rooster and bigger than my Buckeye Roo. My White JG hens are one of the largest hens in the flock the Lavender hen the only breed being larger. Mine are just hatchery birds. Do you think they will get bigger. Have you ever had White Jersey Giants and if so did they get larger than your Black JG ?

 

[Cturber]

I don’t know about in chickens, because I am pretty new, but in dogs growing too fast leads to hip and other joint issues. The calcium / phosphorus ratio has to be correct to prevent future issues. I would always adhere to expert and experienced advice.

 

[Folly's place]

That's one of the reasons I wonder about the breeder's feed, and if the protein % is actually the issue.
My hatchery JGs never achieved 'breed standard' sizes, and ranged from Australorp size to a bit larger, nowhere near BIG. So, a breeder selecting for very large will have issues my birds avoided. I talked to a JG breeder here in Michigan, and her concern was roost height. I agree, and my bigger birds couldn't get up on many of my roosts. She said that her birds could have leg injuries coming off anything higher than 2', as I recall.
Mary

 

[SnapdragonQ]

As for the question of just using an 18% in general, I've been doing chickens for about 15 years and most of the time I use 18%. If I'm using 20% it's because I specifically want a higher protein ...or the store didn't have 18%.
Though I have not done JG (plan to later this year) I've raised nearly all the heritage brown egg laying breeds, blue egg layers, and dark brown layer chicks on 18% with no issues. My oldest ever hen lived to be 12 years old (Speckled Sussex)
My prefered brand is Nutrena but I've also used specialty local feeds, local mill mixes, Hubbard, Blue Seal, Purina, and Dumor.

 

[Acre4Me]

My Black and White Jersey Giants are 11 months old. My black hens are smaller than most of the chickens in my mixed flock. My JG Rooster is smaller than my Lavender Orpington Rooster by quite a bit he's about the same size as my Midnight Majesty Marans Rooster and bigger than my Buckeye Roo. My White JG hens are one of the largest hens in the flock the Lavender hen the only breed being larger. Mine are just hatchery birds. Do you think they will get bigger. Have you ever had White Jersey Giants and if so did they get larger than your Black JG ?

No, I’ve never had white giants. Did your BJG come from a hatchery or a breeder?

 

[Folly's place]

My first JGs were from MMcM, long ago. Ten straight run birds, and seven of them couldn't get up to my lowest roost, 3' up. They went into my freezer and were delicious! The three pullets I kept, smaller than those others, were never large. The larger of the three died in a summer heat wave a year or two later. The two surviving hens lived well, were very sweet, and died at age ten, within months of each other.
Since then I've had a couple of JG hens, also smaller hatchery birds, and they moved on to other homes.
Mary

 

[Acre4Me]

That's one of the reasons I wonder about the breeder's feed, and if the protein % is actually the issue.
My hatchery JGs never achieved 'breed standard' sizes, and ranged from Australorp size to a bit larger, nowhere near BIG. So, a breeder selecting for very large will have issues my birds avoided. I talked to a JG breeder here in Michigan, and her concern was roost height. I agree, and my bigger birds couldn't get up on many of my roosts. She said that her birds could have leg injuries coming off anything higher than 2', as I recall.
Mary

I can see that the roost height matters. We have a ladder style roost with the lowest roost about 18” above the floor, so they step down to the floor, but they make a thud when they hit they floor.
@hysop i just realized that There are 2 other things to consider with The large breeds: pop door size and nest box size. You’ll need to make sure popdoor is larger than normal and provide at least one larger nest box. We recently redid the nest boxes with three smaller ones on top and two larger ones on the bottom. The top three are very popular, but the JG uses one of the larger bottom ones.

BJG female in bottom box, and she fills it up pretty well.

 

[Folly's place]

As much as I like the JGs, and love the huge size they are supposed to reach, It's just not a good fit in my flock. The roosts and nest boxes are too high off the ground to work for them, and so the 'real thing' in JGs won't be moving in here. Nice birds, but not for me.
Mary

 

[hysop]

I can see that the roost height matters. We have a ladder style roost with the lowest roost about 18” above the floor, so they step down to the floor, but they make a thud when they hit they floor.
@hysop i just realized that There are 2 other things to consider with The large breeds: pop door size and nest box size. You’ll need to make sure popdoor is larger than normal and provide at least one larger nest box. We recently redid the nest boxes with three smaller ones on top and two larger ones on the bottom. The top three are very popular, but the JG uses one of the larger bottom ones.

BJG female in bottom box, and she fills it up pretty well. View attachment 2101872

Oh nice thank you. I’m actually making a whole separate coop and run for my Jersey Giants that way I can keep them with their own breed (I’m getting 12 JGs). But eventually I will integrate one or two (when I hatch my own) with my mixed flock so that set up will be good.