Jersey Giant Growth

[Fishfam]

Does anyone have growth weights on Jersey Giants according to a chart? I am trying to figure out the cost/benefit ratio of raising Jersey Giants and processing them sooner than their “maturity date”. I was hoping to get in communication with somebody who has experience with this breed.

 

[FunClucks]

I wouldn't do it. Jersey Giants spend the whole first year growing their frame/skeleton. They only start bulking up/adding muscle in their second year. It's not worth it monetarily to feed a chicken so long for the amount of meat produced.

Now if you have them anyway already and are raising them for eggs, sure, eat the chickens you have, since you already have them and are growing them.

But if you are selecting a breed to get started with, and your criteria include feed efficiency, low cost, or shorter processing timeline than 1.5 yrs, I wouldn't pick Jersey Giants.

Also you're limited on cooking methods since the 1.5 yr old birds will be very old and tough (with strong flavor, which you may love or hate) - you can make them delicious and edible, but these will be birds you'll most likely want to pressure cook, and will not be appropriate for frying. Sticking in the oven as a roast is also dicey - low heat, slow cooking methods are good for old tough birds, but you'll also want to carefully select your marinade or tenderizing method and make sure it doesn't dry out.

What are your other criteria for meat bird selection? There are a lot of other options that would probably work better for you, but knowing what you're going for and what is important to you will help us give better recommendations. Also, how do you plan/want to cook them? This helps narrow it down also.

 

[Fishfam]

I wouldn't do it. Jersey Giants spend the whole first year growing their frame/skeleton. They only start bulking up/adding muscle in their second year. It's not worth it monetarily to feed a chicken so long for the amount of meat produced.

Now if you have them anyway already and are raising them for eggs, sure, eat the chickens you have, since you already have them and are growing them.

But if you are selecting a breed to get started with, and your criteria include feed efficiency, low cost, or shorter processing timeline than 1.5 yrs, I wouldn't pick Jersey Giants.

Also you're limited on cooking methods since the 1.5 yr old birds will be very old and tough (with strong flavor, which you may love or hate) - you can make them delicious and edible, but these will be birds you'll most likely want to pressure cook, and will not be appropriate for frying. Sticking in the oven as a roast is also dicey - low heat, slow cooking methods are good for old tough birds, but you'll also want to carefully select your marinade or tenderizing method and make sure it doesn't dry out.

What are your other criteria for meat bird selection? There are a lot of other options that would probably work better for you, but knowing what you're going for and what is important to you will help us give better recommendations. Also, how do you plan/want to cook them? This helps narrow it down also.

Thank you for your replay.
We intend to use it for various purposes not just canned goods. We are looking into hybrids or crossing heritage bred birds to find a viable option to the meat bird industry. Finding something versatile that can be used for more than just stew meat is our intent. We however don’t want something that is crossed with a Cornish (not heritage).

 

[FunClucks]

There are a few lines of heritage birds optimized for meat production that are currently available. Might be worth checking those out before developing from scratch. Some of these are mentioned on this site, so it's worth some research. I'd look up American Breese, there's a lovely thread on here about a member who's spent 12+ years optimizing his for meat, and they are great! Freedom Ranger Hatchery has a number of heritage breeds optimized for meat (that lay decently also), they have very nice New Hampshires, Sasso, and some other heritage breads that might be of interest to you. I have some of the NH, and they lay every other day and give an excellent size carcass while young enough to still be tender. I bake those breasts, legs, thighs, wings in the oven in a good marinade at 275F for 1+ hrs, and they're super tender and delicious. They produce enough eggs to be used as a dual purpose flock, and most of them lay a decent size egg.

When I mentioned pressure cooking, I meant for eating, not canning, per se. For instance, i'd put a whole old rooster in a 28 qt canner with chicken soup veggies and 1/3 container of water, and then can according to the chicken soup directions - delicious chicken soup, egg drop soup (with broth), and pea soup (with veggies), and pulled BBQ chicken.

If you don't want to use a canner, then you may need to do some experimentation with age of processing and cooking methods for your particular birds.