Maria's Jersey Giants, since 1977

HEAT:

 If purchasing BABY CHICKS please have your brooder facilities ready in advance making sure that the temperature level at the level of the baby chicks DOES NOT exceed 90 to 100 degrees.  

Your chicks will need to be under a 250 watt heat lamp  until fully feathered out well or till about 8 weeks and overnight temps are 70 degrees.  A light bulb is NOT  warm enough nor is room temperature warm enough for day olds.  If chicks are too cool they will not be able to maintain weight and all energy goes into staying warm. PLEASE secure your heat lamp to where heat is not too close to the chicks where they get too hot or whereby newspaper or woodshavings will catch on fire.  Place a thermometer down at the level of the chicks and do not exceed 90 degrees temperature. It is important that the box is big enough to allow the chicks to move from one end of the box to the other if they should get too warm!

FEEDING:  

Providing good quality chick starter for your chicks to not exceed 18% protein is recommended through the laying age of 6 to 8 months. Upon layig the birds can be switched to 16% layer. Keep in mind that scratch grains and crack corn are only 8 to 10 percent protein.  Please use a feeder that does ot allow the chicks to get stuck. Even with a lid that has little holes for the chick to eat from will be a death trap for a chick. Once the food reduces the chick can hope through the hole and not get out.

PLEASE DO NOT FEED ANYTHING OTHER THAN CHICK STARTER to your babies. Do not feed any  human foods such as : bologna, hot dogs etc. 

If you run short of chick starter you can boil egg yolks and mash up for them until you purchase more chick starter. . 

DRINKING

Please do not put a water dish in with the chicks as it is very important to provide a automatic water  such as a base attached to a quart jar. A waterer as such will keep the chick from getting into the water and possibly chilling and drowning.

DO's and DON'TS:

When you get your chicks it is VERY important to provide fresh water and food at ALL times. If you have your chicks with other baby chicks make sure that they are of equal size. Larger chicks will push other chicks out from getting proper nutrition and your babies will NOT receive proper nutrition and will not reach its potential. We recommend NOT to grow your chicks out with GEESE or DUCKS  as geese are feed hogs and are extremely messy and both geese and ducks play with their water. Excess dampness is not could when raising birds. A damp environment will create sick chicks!

MIXING CHICKS WITH OTHER BIRDS:

It is important to keep all chicks and/or birds with like sizes. Younger birds will either get pecked on by older birds and will not grow as well due to lack of necessary food. If the older birds are not pecking on younger birds in most all cases a younger bird will just be afraid due to size of the other birds and will therefore not eat as they should rendering a small or malnourished bird. If the immune system is compromised this can create illnesses,

HOUSING:and BROODING:  Please provide a large enough area for your birds as they grow. Overcrowdling means that there will be feather plucking and birds will walk over each other leaving the backs of chicks featherless.

 ENVIRONMENT: Provide light for your birds, sunshine, and good ventilation for your birds. Lack of ventilation renders an unsafe environment. A dry area for your birds will prevent a moldy environment. We recommend folks to use wood shavings when growing birds out. Birds in cages can get sores on their feet and feed is not utlized properly if they are scratching food out of  the feeders. This not only creates lack of nutrition but also wasting of feed.

VACCINATIONS: Please keep in mind that our baby chicks have not been vaccinated where some hatcheries vaccinate. Vaccinated birds will shed the virus through waste  whereby LIVE vaccines are used and could render sick or dead chicks. (while vaccinated birds are protected, unvaccinated birds can become ill). To vaccinate is a personal choice as it is intense requiring updated shots or water treatment for every bird. Some vaccinations are for 1000 or more birds. Once vaccine is opened it needs to be used then and there. Any remainder vaccine should be thrown away, This can be costly and intense. We have chose to have good biosecurity verses vaccinating. 

ROOSTERS: As your chicks reach maturity it would be good idea to separate out roosters from the pullets by four months of age.  Too many roosters with hens will create an unhappy environment for hens with roosters bothering them. Once mature..........We keep a ratio of one cock per 6-8 hens to achieve good fertility. Too many roosters will mean that your hens will be afraid to be on the floor eating for fear of being attacked by a rooster. A hen that is not getting nutrition will render a weak unhealthy bird with poor laying production. Too many roosters can mean over mating for the hen and can even cause death. 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION CONCERNING JERSEY GIANTS  AND GENERAL CHICK CARE ! 

PROTEIN LEVELS AND SHOW POTENTIAL:

With baby chicks you can possibly have Pet, Breeder,  and/or show potential birds. Now it is up to you to feed them appropriately at the protein level of 18%  and later supplying 16% protein level.

Feeding protein levels over 18% can cause leg problems . To feed scratch grains and/or cracked corn only contains protein levels of 8-10% and will produce a less than satisfactory bird.

Caging verses Free Ranging:

A bird that is grown in a cage and given high protein will take on the appearance of a broiler with lack of exercise. The coordination of the bird is under developed and lacks in free range leg motion. If you do feed a bird in a cage make sure the area provides space and the feeder is as such that allows no waste. Quite often caged birds peck and scratch their food out of the feeder and it falls underneath verses them gettting the actual nutrition.

MATURITY AND FERTILITY: While our birds have great size , longevity, and super fertility............ 

A Jersey Giant matures slower than other breeds, but have been known to lay at 6 months of age.  They will continue to grow up to 2 to 3 yrs of age. It is at this time you will see a true picture of your Jersey GIANT provided you gave them what they needed.  As my daughter says this is the teenage years! Feeding the appropriate percentage of protein in the  feed can mean the difference between BIG or SMALL and it can also mean the difference between having EGGS and NO EGGS! OUR JERSEY GIANTS HAVE EXCELLENT FERTILITY AND ARE EXCELLENT LAYERS!

BIRD SELECTION: OUR BIRDS HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY SELECTED BY MYSELF FOR SHOW POTENTIAL, SIZE, PRODUCTION, EXCELLENT BLUE LACING, AND GREAT DISPOSITION,  AND OUR Jersey Giants are the dual purpose breed providing both eggs and meat for the family!  Our Giants get rather large and make excellent companions along with possible show birds.

WHITE WING FEATHERS AND/OR TIPS: It is VERY important to note that as a part of normal development some chicks will have white wing feathers. A bird that molts and looses feathers will re-grow new solid feathering within 4-8 months of age.  

BREED DISPOSTION: Very rarely are Jersey Giants mean. It is important they are SHOWN RESPECT to GET RESPECT. This concept can apply to all species including HUMANS. (Treat others how you would  want to be treated)  We have been in the presence of 50-80 Roosters at ONE time and have NEVER been attacked by a single one. 

CARE OF CHICKS: If you have not raised chicks before, please do research on the care of baby chicks and how to feed Jersey Giants.  Your thermometer should be at the level of the baby chicks.  A temperature of 90  degrees is suitable for the first week of a chicks life.......The incubator temperature here is 99.5 degrees. If you do not have a fancy brooder one can use wood shavings with a heat lamp in a large box  or a rubber maid tub. The box should be in an heated area.  It is important that the chicks can get away from the lamp if need be so they don't get too hot.  If your baby chicks are sleeping contently without chirping they should be fine. If they are peeping a lot one needs to evaluate the temperature and check food and water supply. 

 POST OFFICE: I am only responsible for paid chicks and/or adults  that are possibly lost during a shipment...........your box needs to be opened at the post office and needs to be post marked along with documentation on total number lost on actual paid chicks.

PLEASE NOTE

WHEN CHICKS ARRIVE: 

When your chicks arrive you might see a little buldge on the right side of the neck near the breast bone . This is not a tumor, but is where the crop is located. With all of the feasting on treats in the chick box the crop has been stuffed with food. From the crop the food moves into the gizzard of the bird and food will be stored there to be digested. So eventually this area will reduce in size as the bird empties its crop out. Don't worry.........everything is working as it should. 





If purchasing BABY CHICKS please have your brooder facilities ready in advance making sure that the temperature level at the level of the baby chicks DOES NOT exceed 90 to 100 degrees.  ORDERS will be filled in the ORDER RECEIVED.