Jersey Giant crosses

[Love2read]

I crossed my White Jersey Giant to some Production Red girls and twice now I have gotten white chicks with black spots.

Recently I came across a thread talking about how Leghorns X Black Jersey Giants will produce the white chicks with black spots because of Leghorns being dominant white on silver-based Black (hope I got that right...). White Giants, however, are recessive white, so shouldn't produce these kinds of chicks.

Does that mean my Giants are pure or that there is simply Leghorn in the Reds (which wouldn't make sense because they aren't white, so they obviously aren't dominant white).

I got the Giants from Cackle Hatchery and they certainly LOOK pure...just had my first pure chicks born recently as well and they, too, look like normal Jersey Giants (gray "saddle" on the back).

Any ideas? I'm good with understanding genetics in general, but know nothing about the genotypes of chickens.

 

[Blackberry18]

There are two kinds of white feather genetics in chickens. The dominant and the recessive, which I guess you already knew. As far as I've heard, they can both occur in certain breeds. Hatcheries could have both and your Jersey Giant just happens to have the dominant gene. Assuming your Production Reds are New Hampshires, I could see that cross coming, where the black in the New Hampshires is dominant, while the red is downplayed by the white.

 

[draye]

There are two kinds of white feather genetics in chickens. The dominant and the recessive, which I guess you already knew. As far as I've heard, they can both occur in certain breeds. Hatcheries could have both and your Jersey Giant just happens to have the dominant gene. Assuming your Production Reds are New Hampshires, I could see that cross coming, where the black in the New Hampshires is dominant, while the red is downplayed by the white. 

First New Hampshire and Production Red are not the same thing. Production Reds= New Hampshire rooster out if (x) Rhode Island Red hen.

I'm not good at the genetics but I've produced a lot of the whites with black or red blotches on them. Some from White Leghorns and some from White Plymouth Rocks. So I really don't know which type white the Giants are. I've only had the black variety.

 

[Blackberry18]

First New Hampshire and Production Red are not the same thing. Production Reds= New Hampshire rooster out if (x) Rhode Island Red hen.

Thanks! I've also heard cases where Production Reds can be a mixture of any dual-purpose, brown-egg laying, red feathered chicken breeds (Hatchery Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshires, Red Sex-Links, etc). I noted that assuming the Production Reds were hatchery-quality New Hampshires, they could contribute the black feather gene. That could also be where the Jersey Giant cock is not pure, and could contain one barred feather gene, which could also give to the spots. I was kind of comparing the genetics to the development of Delawares.

 

[draye]

Thanks! I've also heard cases where Production Reds can be a mixture of any dual-purpose, brown-egg laying, red feathered chicken breeds (Hatchery Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshires, Red Sex-Links, etc). I noted that assuming the Production Reds were hatchery-quality New Hampshires, they could contribute the black feather gene. That could also be where the Jersey Giant cock is not pure, and could contain one barred feather gene, which could also give to the spots. I was kind of comparing the genetics to the development of Delawares. 

From my understanding Delaware were developed by crossing New Hampshire rooster over Barred Plymouth Rock hens. I think it was that way.

As far as I know Cackle has pure Jersey Giants. Cackle is where I get most of my stock from. Better quality than the most I've seen.

I don't know everything that was used to create the Jersey Giant (Black was the original), white was a sport of the Blacks.
Anyway the one breed that contributed to the Giants was the Java. Was it just the Black Java, I don't know. I will tell you that I had "Heritage Black Jersey Giants" I used a rooster over a Naked Neck hen that was a Dominant White split to Wheaten, she also had some Easter Egger blood (1/4) in her she laid a green egg. I hatched out three chicks from this cross but only kept the Naked Necked one. She was a black chick when she hatched, at about two weeks old I started seeing white coming in on her, she's now 6 weeks old and is mottled on her breast area. So, to get mottling you are suppose to have bred two mottled or carriers to each other. The mother was a possible carrier because her sure carried mottling. The other had to have come from the Black Jersey Giant father
So I believe that the Black Javas also had to have been carrying tge mottling gene.

I sag all this to say who knows what is all in the background of any chicken breed. It all seems to come out with cross breeding.

Please keep us informed of how this turns out for you.

 

[Blackberry18]

Please keep us informed of how this turns out for you.

Second on that.

 

[genesis1verse1]

Anyone ever tried a crazy cross of a Jersey Giant with a Fayoumi? Very odd combo with traits that would likely offset, but I thought it might be interesting to see if 1/4 or 1/8 Fayoumi added to JG might speed up their maturity significantly.