The Jersey Giant is an American

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of domestic

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

. It was created in

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.

, in the late 19th century. As the name suggests, it is a large breed, and is among the heaviest of all chicken breeds. Jersey Giant Chicken
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

History

The Jersey Giant was created by John and Thomas Black; with the intent of replacing the turkey, the kind of poultry used primarily for meat at the time. They were produced by crossing Black Javas, Black Langshans, and Dark Brahmas. The Black Jersey Giant was added to the

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standard''" ...

of the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respo ...

in 1922. The White variety was added in 1947, and Blue in 2002. Black Jersey Giants are, on average, a pound heavier than White Jersey Giants. Though the breed's present size is considerable, they were heavier in the past. For a time, they were raised as

capon A capon (from la, cāpō, genitive ''cāpōnis'') is a cockerel (rooster) that has been castrated or neutered, either physically or chemically, to improve the quality of its flesh for food, and, in some countries like Spain, fattened by force ...

s and as broilers by the

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

. They grow much more slowly than today's more common meat birds, and are thus not widely used in the industry.

Characteristics

A large amount of food and time are required for the Jersey Giant to reach its full size. The Jersey Giant is a calm and docile breed. The cocks are rarely aggressive. The hens lay very large brown eggs, and are fair layers overall, known particularly as good winter layers. The birds are robust and fairly cold-hardy. The breed's plumage comes in blue as well as black and white; legs are willow in hue. Jersey Giant hens will go

broody Broodiness is the action or behavioral tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs to incubate them, often requiring the non-expression of many other behaviors including feeding and drinking.Homedes Ranquini, J. y Haro-García, F. Zoogenética. 1ra. edi ...

References

Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy Chicken breeds originating in the United States Chicken breeds {{poultry-stub