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60df52ea_jersey_giant-4158-106673.jpeg

Jersey Giant

The Jersey Giant is the largest chicken variety (roosters average 13 lbs., hens average 11 lbs.)....
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Seldom
Climate Tolerance
Cold
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Light Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly,Easily handled,Calm,Docile
Breed Colors/Varieties
Black, White, Blue, Splash
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
American
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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.

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Jersey Giant chicks

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Jersey Giant juvenile

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Jersey Giant hen

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Jersey Giant rooster

For information about this breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-jersey-giant.1007948/
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Latest reviews

JewelsJj
Beauties
Pros: Very calm, quiet and sweet
Cons: Very shy
I have recently purchased 3 Black Jersey Giants. I have with them 3 Barred Rocks and 6 Gold Lace Wyandottes. These girls are sweet and laid back. One of them, Annie loves to be on my lap or arm for pets and snuggles, and she doesn’t appreciate when I pay attention to others. My other 2 girls Betty & Pearl are shy. They don’t want pets or to be picked up but they come for treats and eat out of your hand and they come close to just “hang out” by you. I don’t mind if they take a bit longer to mature. I love them
B
Egg size
Pros: medium to large 8 months old
Cons: small eggs, smaller than red chickens
I felt and was told these Jersey Giants from McMurray Hatchery would lay larger brown eggs than any other breed. Now, after 8 months the eggs are small eggs like bantie eggs. Some are not dark brown at all. I am at a loss on this even with the best feeds and care. I have over 275 dollars in these 15 giants 13 hens, 2 roosters.
Purchase Price
90 dollars, 15 birds
Purchase Date
8 months ago
3m1javt
Impressed with out Black Jersey Giants
Pros: Hardy, Large, Docile, Nice Roosters
Cons: None!
We are 1 year into owning a flock of 30 JGs. We raised a straight run and butchered our excess roosters for meat. We have a large family (7) and one of these birds is plenty for us. We experimented with processing ages and found the roos had filled out adequately around 7-8 months (5 lb skinned carcass) Meat was fantastic! We had a bachelor pasture of electric poultry fence to keep out predators and they didn't eat much, we fed them high protein feed along with all our table scraps and garden excess.
Now for eggs, we have been very pleased. We must have got a good strain because we've gotten more eggs than I expected and sooner... all the hens were laying between 6-7 months, very regularly. And thru the winter they have been fantastic. Remember they must have access to water 24/7 to keep laying, so if their water is freezing that's going to be a factor. We have 28 laying hens and have gotten 33 eggs in the last two days! I am thrilled as it's only February. We think we found our favorite dual purpose breed! PS. Nice roosters are so appreciated when you want to keep a breeding flock!

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B
Big Egg 1090
May i ask the weight and size of your giant eggs? Mine are very small after 8 months and good care.
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Comments

CyndieRauls
JB8907 said:
Hello I am in search of jersey giant chicks or hatching eggs. I am in southeast Texas and would like to pick up if possible. But I will ship if necessary. I am interested in size and rate of lay over show quality. So the bigger the better!!! Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
There’s a Jersey Giant club that lists breeders by state... with an emphasis on true to breed show quality. Joining is only $15. I’ve found it to be a great resource.
National Jersey Giant Club
This might be your best bet. Good luck... it’s a lovely breed 🥰
 
pctechtx
15littlem said:
How loud are the roosters, and how friendly are the hens?
Click to expand...
Mine has loud crow if the windows are open but not annoying. Kind of useful if you don't have a dog that alerts ya. They are pretty calm IMO.Mine don't trust me enough to handle yet, slowly working with them. The hens are funny, they argue when they want to lay, they tend to want to use the same nest. Been a blessing. I average 4 min 7 most, for eggs in a day.
Note: I have 7 hens and a roo, all BJG.
 
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CyndieRauls
pctechtx said:
Mine has loud crow if the windows are open but not annoying. Kind of useful if you don't have a dog that alerts ya. They are pretty calm IMO.Mine don't trust me enough to handle yet, slowly working with them. The hens are funny, they argue when they want to lay, they tend to want to use the same nest. Been a blessing. I average 4 min 7 most, for eggs in a day.
Note: I have 7 hens and a roo, all BJG.
Click to expand...
I can attest to this. I have 9 BJG hens and they’re adorable. Very calm. When I let them out to free range (watching them chase grasshoppers 😂) I often have to check on them to see where they are as they’re so quiet.

We had a rooster (that was a chick with them) that we had to rehome.. as he grew big -fast- and sexually matured ahead of the girls… so he was mounting them and doing damage (leg injuries) both physically and emotionally. They are much happier as an all girl band. He was also pretty noisy as a hormonal teen.

Now that the girls are mature I may introduce a few chicks with rooster next year as they can kick his butt if needed. But not sure if I will as they’re pretty happy without him.
 
CyndieRauls
CyndieRauls said:
I can attest to this. I have 9 BJG hens and they’re adorable. Very calm. When I let them out to free range (watching them chase grasshoppers 😂) I often have to check on them to see where they are as they’re so quiet.

We had a rooster (that was a chick with them) that we had to rehome.. as he grew big -fast- and sexually matured ahead of the girls… so he was mounting them and doing damage (leg injuries) both physically and emotionally. They are much happier as an all girl band. He was also pretty noisy as a hormonal teen.

Now that the girls are mature I may introduce a few chicks with rooster next year as they can kick his butt if needed. But not sure if I will as they’re pretty happy without him.
Click to expand...
I’ve also considered getting a white JG roo as they’re slightly smaller and wouldn’t be as intimidating to the girls. Not sure what the chick outcome would be with this mix?
 
pctechtx
CyndieRauls said:
I can attest to this. I have 9 BJG hens and they’re adorable. Very calm. When I let them out to free range (watching them chase grasshoppers 😂) I often have to check on them to see where they are as they’re so quiet.

We had a rooster (that was a chick with them) that we had to rehome.. as he grew big -fast- and sexually matured ahead of the girls… so he was mounting them and doing damage (leg injuries) both physically and emotionally. They are much happier as an all girl band. He was also pretty noisy as a hormonal teen.

Now that the girls are mature I may introduce a few chicks with rooster next year as they can kick his butt if needed. But not sure if I will as they’re pretty happy without him.
Click to expand...
I've been paying more attention to them lately... It's funny learning their interaction... My roo, when I bring out snacks has a specific call for getting his hens to come... He's not selfish; he likes his gals to get their fill before himself...
Had 2 chicks that hatched and one turned out to be a roo and I didn't find him a new home. My family ate him and I am grateful for it's existence...
I recently learned about maggot buckets and used what I didn't consume to get it going... Very entertaining watching and listening.... Chicken speak learning has been complicated but very interesting learning....
Getting ready to incubate more eggs and see what happens. All my BJG are very calm but spook easy... Brought a gal friend over and they totally ignored us.
The pecking order is weird understanding. These things love bugs... Made some june bugs traps and they go nuts for them
I'm grateful for the blessings...
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
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Watchers
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Reviews
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Last update
Rating
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