Chicken Breed Focus - Jersey Giant

[sumi]

The well named Jersey Giant chicken is the largest purebred breed of chicken. It was the result of a breeding program started around 1870 by John and Thomas Black in New Jersey, with the original objective of the breed being a replacement for the turkey. The resulting adult birds are massive in size with mature roosters weighing in at 13 lbs, hens 10 lbs, and capons capable of reaching 20 lbs.

The Jersey Giant is known as a calm and docile breed with an even temperament. Adults are very poor flyers so are relatively easy to keep confined, they are fine foragers and are sometimes used as a slow growing meat bird on pasture. The hens are fair to good layers of large brown eggs and are known as very good winter layers. They will occasionally go broody. The roosters are said to have exceptionally good temperaments. They are single combed, clean legged, and recognized in three colors, black, white, and blue. The breeds used in the development of the Jersey Giant included Javas, Orpingtons, Langshans, and Brahmas.

The breed was recognized by the APA in 1922 and is on The Livestock Conservancy's Watch list.

Details:

Breed purpose: Dual Purpose, Meat
Comb Type: Single
Broodiness: Occasional
Climate Tolerance: Cold hardy.
Weight: 13lbs roosters, 10lbs hens
Egg Productivity: Fair-Good.
Egg Size: Ex-Large
Egg Color: Brown

BYC Breed reviews:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/jersey-giant

Exhibition, Genetics, & Breeding to the Standard of Perfection thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/277387/jersey-giants-thread-for-pictures-and-discussion/0_20

General breed discussions & FAQ thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/844839/black-jersey-giant-thread/0_20


Jersey Giant Chicks @silkiechicken


Jersey Giant Rooster @BassetHound


Jersey Giant Rooster @CrzyChicLdy45


Jersey Giant Rooster @Moonchild


Jersey Giant Hen @theoldchick


Jersey Giant Hen @Fuzzbutt


Do you own Jersey Giants? Are you a Jersey Giant breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

 

[rjdemille]

I have 2 black JG I love them !!!!! They want to be picked up all the time they are 10 wks today

this one is snookie

 

[Mims]

Do they get along in a multi breed flock?

 

[rjdemille]

I have 2 black JG I love them !!!!! They want to be picked up all the time they are 10 wks today

this one is snookie

this is Carmella

 

[rjdemille]

mine do I have 8 different breeds 2 of each and they do awesome

 

[1cock2hens]

how tall do they get? you said its the largest purebred chicken, are they taller than the saipan jungle fowl?

 

[Naliez]

I wanted a JG so bad and when the local feed store had some come in, I was first in line to get one. The problem was that they also had a separate bin of black Australorps, which I got 3 of, (2 for a friend, which we ended up keeping anyway) When I got home with my one BJG and 3 BAs, I couldn't tell them apart! We lost one to a dog and I was really hoping it wasn't my only Giant, but at about 10 weeks old now, they still look the same, even the bottoms of their feet are the same white-ish color. I also know that they are probably all hatchery birds, which can make it even harder to tell them apart. The only difference when they were little was that one had a fully black face and the other 3 had a lot of white. Every day we still try to pick out differences between the 3 we have left, hoping that maybe the JG is one of them. Lol Here's pictures of them as little ones; the one with the dark face and the other 3, who looked similar.

(Never mind the fat little EE. She's a whole other story!)

 

[rjdemille]

I wanted a JG so bad and when the local feed store had some come in, I was first in line to get one. The problem was that they also had a separate bin of black Australorps, which I got 3 of, (2 for a friend, which we ended up keeping anyway) When I got home with my one BJG and 3 BAs, I couldn't tell them apart! We lost one to a dog and I was really hoping it wasn't my only Giant, but at about 10 weeks old now, they still look the same, even the bottoms of their feet are the same white-ish color. I also know that they are probably all hatchery birds, which can make it even harder to tell them apart. The only difference when they were little was that one had a fully black face and the other 3 had a lot of white. Every day we still try to pick out differences between the 3 we have left, hoping that maybe the JG is one of them. Lol Here's pictures of them as little ones; the one with the dark face and the other 3, who looked similar.

(Never mind the fat little EE. She's a whole other story!)

JG will only have yellow under there feet any other color it is not a JG

 

[TwoCrows]

Love this breed! Come on all you Jersey Giant keepers, lets see your birds!!

@theoldchick How about your lovely birds?!

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I love this breed dispite bad stock expereices! Hope to obtain quaility breeder stock in the next few years (focusing on other breeds right now LOL).

This was one breed that GREATLY disapointed with the hatchery stock (MM and Meyer both). They were hens were smaller than the Orps, and the males were ridiculously aggressive. I'll never go back to Big-Hatchery birds again!