Jersey Giant chicken: size, eggs and care guide

The Jersey Giant is a large-size breed laying about 150 to 200 brown eggs a year, with hens around 10 lb and roosters around 13 lb. It lays genuinely extra-large eggs, occasionally too large for a standard carton, and it is the only chicken breed ever seriously proposed as a turkey substitute.

How big is a Jersey Giant?

A mature Jersey Giant hen weighs about 10 lb and a rooster about 13 lb, with a typical standing height of 20 to 26 inches. That puts it in the large class, which is what drives its feed requirement of roughly 0.34 lb per bird per day before waste, free-ranging or seasonal adjustments.

Jersey Giant egg production

Eggs are not this breed's main strength. A Jersey Giant lays around 150 to 200 extra large brown eggs a year, about 2.9 to 3.8 a week, so it is usually kept for other qualities and the eggs treated as a bonus. Output drops further during the moult and the darkest weeks of winter. To turn that into a monthly total and a dollar value at your local egg price, run it through the egg production calculator.

Temperament and noise

Docile and surprisingly gentle given the mass. Jersey Giants are calm with people and rarely aggressive, though a bird this heavy can injure a small hen simply by being clumsy in a crowded coop. Noise level is rated moderate, which matters if you keep chickens close to neighbours.

Origin and history

Bred by John and Thomas Black in New Jersey between the 1870s and 1890s with an explicit commercial goal: replace the turkey on the American dinner table. It never quite managed that, because it grows too slowly to compete economically, but it did become the largest purebred chicken in the world.

Cold and heat tolerance

Cold tolerance is excellent and heat tolerance poor. The upright single comb is the part most at risk in hard freezes, so ventilation that removes moisture without creating a draft matters.

Does the Jersey Giant go broody?

Sometimes. A broody hen stops laying and sits, which is a nuisance if you want eggs and a gift if you want chicks hatched naturally without an incubator.

Care specifics for this breed

Two things matter. It takes eight to nine months to reach full size, roughly twice a normal breed, so expect a long wait and a large feed bill before the first egg. And the weight means low roosts, ideally under two feet, because heavy birds landing hard develop foot problems.

Feed cost for a flock of Jersey Giant

This is an expensive bird to feed, and it is worth budgeting for honestly. At roughly 0.34 lb of feed per bird per day, six Jersey Giant birds cost about $28.81 a month at $22 per 50 lb bag, noticeably more than a standard-size flock for a similar or smaller number of eggs. Free-ranging offsets some of it, winter adds about 10%. The feed cost calculator gives the exact figure for your flock size and local feed price, including bags needed and how long each lasts.

Is the Jersey Giant right for you?

It suits cold climates, keepers with space who want the largest chicken available and a good dual-purpose bird. It is a weaker choice for small coops, hot climates, or anyone in a hurry for eggs. If you are still deciding, compare it against the other options in our guide to the best egg-laying breeds for beginners, or work out how many birds you need with the flock size calculator.