Content
More than 200 chicken breeds existing in the world are divided into three groups: egg, meat and egg and meat. Some of the breeds of chickens for meat production belong to the so-called "folk selection": Cochinchin and Brama.
These chicken breeds were appreciated in their homeland for laying eggs in winter, when there was a great need for this product. But for the northern countries, these chicken breeds were not suitable. Being too thermophilic, the chickens died from the cold.
Meat poultry farming interested mankind only towards the end of the 19th century. Before that, chicken was the food of the poor (and to this day, chicken is often not considered meat), it is enough to recall the legend about Napoleon, who hated chicken.
After the attention of breeders drew attention to chickens, industrial "table" chicken breeds quickly appeared. The main efforts were aimed at achieving meat early maturity, that is, the rapid development of the pectoral muscles.
As a result, large breeds of chickens appeared, with a live weight of up to 4.5 kg for laying hens and 5.5 for roosters. But even among the beef breeds, the Jersey giant stands alone.
Breed of chickens "Jersey giant", description and photo
Jersey is a relatively young breed of chickens, which will turn one hundred years old in 2022. But many other chicken breeds are older.
Jersey Giant chickens were bred in New Jersey by breeder Dexter Uham. There is an assumption that in fact John and Thomas Black worked on the development of this breed of chickens in Burlington County much earlier, crossing large breeds of dark-colored chickens. As a result, Jersey giant chickens are larger than any other meat breed of chickens.
The female of the Jersey breed, in comparison with the roosters, can even be affectionately called a chicken, its weight is "only" 4 kg. Roosters grow up to 6-7.
Although true chickens appreciate and love this breed of chickens, today it is quite rare. And it is most likely that it is unprofitable to breed it on an industrial scale due to some features of the content.
Breed standard
Jersey giant chickens do not have any outwardly any differences that sharply distinguish them from other chicken breeds, except for size, of course. If the photo shows only a chicken, without any indication of its size, then it will be very difficult to tell whether this particular chicken belongs to the Jersey Giant meat breed or if it is an egg-style laying hen.
To be impressed by the size of the "chicken" you need to snap to scale.
So you can see if it is a giant or a laying hen.
Character
Fortunately, the Jersey giants have a calm and docile disposition, although they have Indian fighting cocks in the pedigree. Even a small, but aggressive, rooster, attacking a person, can cause serious injury. If the Jersey roosters did something like that, they would have already died out, as the real Irish wolfhound once died out.
Color
The first Jersey giants were exclusively black, but in 1921 they were brought to England, where breeders began to develop other colors. Later, the Jersey giant breed of chickens appeared in other countries of Europe. The result was: white in England and blue framed in Germany.To date, three colors are officially fixed by the standard: black with emerald shimmer, blue framed and white. Any other colors will lead to automatic culling of the chicken from breeding.
The cock of the Jersey giant breed is black.
Jersey Giant chicken is black.
The Jersey Giant chicken is blue.
Rooster breed "Jersey giant" blue.
Jersey Giant chicken is white.
Head
The Jersey Giant roosters have a fairly wide, proportional head with a large straight crest divided into 6 teeth. The bill is not long, strong, well curved. The eyes are large, dark brown in color, almost turning into black, protruding.
Earrings and lobes are large, rounded, without characteristic wrinkles, bright red.
The color of the beak of different color lines in the breed differs depending on the color:
- black color. Black, with a slight yellowness at the tip of the beak;
- white color. The bill is yellow with dark streaks;
- blue color. Same as black.
The similarity in the color of the beaks in black and blue colors is explained by the fact that the blue color is a weakened black, due to the presence of a clarifier gene in the genome of the chicken.
The homozygous blue color is lethal.
The neck is arched, powerful.
Housing
The body is tightly knit. The broad chest and back are almost parallel to the ground, the fleshy chest protrudes forward, giving the chickens a proud look.
The wings are of medium size, adhering to the body. The feathers are shiny, close fitting to the body of the hen.
Legs
The set is wide when viewed from the front, the thighs and lower legs are strong and well muscled. The color of the metatarsus is slightly different for different colors. Black color: black metatarsus with a slight yellowness below. White - yellowish metatarsus below. Blue - Metatarsals are the same as those of black.
Tail
Pride of the breed. Set at an angle of 45 degrees to the back line. In roosters, long and wide tail coverts cover the tail feathers. Large plaits cover small plaits and tail feathers.
Also, chickens are slightly lower than roosters and look squat. The tail is set at a 30 degree angle to the back line. The tail feathers are shorter, but the tail looks more magnificent than that of a cock. Otherwise, chickens do not differ much from roosters.
Vices in a thoroughbred Jersey leading to culling
Such vices include:
- small chicken weight;
- uncharacteristic body structure;
- too light eyes;
- uncharacteristic color of the hock;
- at the ends of the toes and the reverse side of the sole, there is completely no yellow-marsh tint;
- feathers of a color other than the standard.
Separately by color: for black, white feathers are a disqualifying factor; the white has light eyes and paws of a pure yellow color; blue feathers have red, white or yellow feathers.
In principle, all these defects give out an admixture of other blood in an individual. Such a chicken cannot be allowed for breeding.
Productive characteristics
The Jersey giant is growing very quickly, by the year the roosters already weigh 5 kg. The most active growth occurs in the first five months, then the daily weight gain decreases and the content of the young beef herd becomes unprofitable.
The Jersey chickens left for the tribe lay their first eggs at the age of 6-8 months with a body weight of 3.6 kg. A fully grown Jersey layer weighs one kilogram more. For the beef breed, the Jersey giant has very good egg production rates: 170 eggs weighing 70 g per year. The eggshells of the Jersey giants are brown. With good quality feeding, it is strong.
Pros and cons of the Jersey giant
The advantages include:
- unpretentiousness to conditions of detention;
- docile and calm character;
- well-developed hatching instinct;
- fast growth;
- high percentage of meat yield.
Disadvantages:
- obesity tendency;
- the need for a large living space;
- loss of taste of meat at the age of poultry older than a year.
Since the unpretentiousness of the Jersey giants to the conditions of detention due to the requirements of a large range is somewhat exaggerated, it is logical that the Jersey breed did not become widespread on an industrial scale.
Jersey diet
The composition of the diet for the Jersey giant does not differ from the diet for any other meat breed of chickens: 40% corn, 40% wheat and 20% various additives, including vitamins, shell rock, cake and chalk.
The second variant of the diet: ready-made feed. Here it should be borne in mind that, in general, feed for egg breeds of chickens, designed to stimulate egg production, go to retail. You can get out of the situation with feed intended for chickens. Since chicks of any breed grow fast enough, this feed is able to provide the Jersey giant with the protein and calcium it needs.
Feeding is carried out 2-3 times a day.
In winter, chopped vegetables and herbs can be added to the Jersey giant. The nutrition of hens intended for breeding must be monitored especially carefully. Jersey giants are prone to obesity, and an overweight chicken is not capable of producing a quality fertilized egg. Accordingly, the percentage of fertilized eggs in a clutch will be very low. Therefore, the rate for the laying hen is cut a couple of months before the start of laying. In the summer, to make life easier for themselves, and to improve living conditions for chickens, Jersey giants can be released to walk on the grass.
On such grass, Jersey chickens will happily find themselves all the necessary vitamins and minerals, leaving behind a dead desert in which there will not even be ants.
Content specifics
The Jersey giant can adapt to being kept in a cramped environment, but its health condition will leave much to be desired. When keeping chickens indoors, it is necessary to take care of a well-designed exhaust ventilation, which will remove the ammonia that accumulates in the floor area. Chickens love to lie in bedding, and the Jersey giants are no exception. This is where the ammonia released from the decaying droppings is collected. With the systematic presence of high concentrations of ammonia in the premises, the death of livestock may begin.
Jersey chickens tolerate Russian winters well and are able to walk in open-air cages during the day. The open-air cage area for one Jersey chicken is 0.5-1 m.
Due to their large body weight, Jersey chickens do not fly (however, it is not known whether the Jersey themselves know about this), but it is better to enclose the aviary with a high enough net or make it with a roof so that smaller breeds of chickens, who know for sure that they can fly, could not enter the enclosure to the Jersey giants.
Yes, this is how your aviary will look like in reality instead of advertising green grass with Jersey chickens walking on it.
Moreover, with the declared density of chickens per unit area of the enclosure, it will look like this at most in a month.
To completely clear a plot of land from grass, insects and underground larvae with earthworms, it is enough to fence it and run chickens there. The population density of chickens depends on the time allotted for cleaning the site. One chicken per 50 m² will cope with the task in 2-3 months, if the site is not overgrown with weeds, and in six months, if powerful plants need to be destroyed. It is not recommended to leave chickens for a longer period, the trees may also end.
In fact, chickens really need to be given green grass and vegetables, but it is better to harvest it yourself and give it in an aviary specially built for them than to let it go in search of pasture.
Breeding
If you decide to start breeding the Jersey giant, and the neighbors do not have this breed of chickens, it is irrational to drag live adult chickens from afar. It is much easier and cheaper to buy hatching eggs and, following the instructions, hatch the desired chicks.
On the first day after hatching, chicks usually do not eat, even if they have food in front of their noses. But they need water. It is better if it is heated up to 50 °.
In the first days of life, not only Jersey, but also any other chickens need to be given a chopped egg, since growth during this period is very rapid and babies need a large amount of protein to build their own body. Or you need to take care of a special feed for Jersey chickens in advance.
General recommendations for growing chickens boil down to the observance of just a few conditions:
- air temperature not lower than 25 °;
- long daylight hours;
- lack of drafts;
- clean heated water;
- special feed for chickens;
- vitamins and antibiotics.
Unfortunately, infections often roam in industrial incubators, so antibiotics will be needed for chickens. In the future, if your chickens are healthy, then chickens do well without medication.
The power of the light bulb and the level of heat generated by it are selected depending on the ambient temperature. If the street is +30 and above, then the light bulb needs a minimum power, only for lighting.
The principle here is simple: if you don't know how to do it right, do it as in nature. In nature, chickens receive heat from above from the body of a brooding hen. At the same time, they may have wet ground under their paws. Therefore, the cold floor is not so terrible, although it cannot be cold with a bedding, as the inability to warm the head and back.
Grown up Jersey chickens are capable of breeding from six months. The ratio of hens and roosters should be 10: 1. Jersey giants are good brood hens, but due to their large body size and some awkwardness, chickens can crush eggs or throw them out of the nest. Therefore, eggs from under their Jersey chickens must be collected and also placed in an incubator.
If it is necessary to preserve the purity of the breed, the producing herd must be kept separate from hens of other breeds.
The arrangement of housing and aviary, as well as the feeding of Jersey chickens can be seen in the video.
Owner reviews
Most likely, having tried to get the Jersey giant breed, you will fall in love with it and will no longer imagine life without purebred Jersey chickens.
