Jersey Giant

I had black giants. The rooster was impressive 14 pounds... but he was so big and mean that he even scared my Dad. we called him Black Devil. the hens were nice and quiet but their eggs were small and they broke eggs in the nesting box often.
Close to the age of 9 months something happened that caused this breed to drop like flies. They would limp or have a bad leg... some would just sit. I was able to keep my rooster alive for 3 weeks but once i left back for college my parents had to put him down... it was too sad seeing the head rooster go from 14 to 7 and be stuck in a cage because he couldn't walk. I don't have giants any more, I think all of them died off. It wasn't a disease because I paid for the vet to test the rooster to see why he went bad. All tests came back negative. I assumed it was a genetic problem or a joint problem because i felt inflammation in the hip joints of many of them.
This breed was a disappointment for me.

I have both white and black. They can get quite huge which for me is interesting. Cold hardy and pretty good layers of brown eggs.

Good things come in large packages, too! My husband was the one who wanted to get the giants so we ordered a dozen eggs from Maria Hall in March of 2010. We had 11 healthy and beautiful chicks as a result. We sold some and kept our favorites. In 2011, we hatched our own and kept a splash cockerel and a blue pullet. Though they are slow to grow and it takes them a long time to start laying, it's worth the wait. They are huge, friendly birds. We joined the Jersey Giant Club this fall and got a black trio from another member so we could improve the size in our flock. I am really excited about hatching more in 2012. Don't tell my Australorps, but I think the Giants are becoming my favorite. The cock from the trio we recently obtained has become my gardening buddy, so much so that I call him Mr. McGregor because he spends nearly as much time along side the beds as I do!