Some Breed History in reference to Colors and Genetics
Wow, I look at the daunting subject matter up there and think to myself, "and who is
writing this article?" I could call it a number of things, My Opinion
About the Blues and How to Breed for the Best Ones; My Ramblings on the
Importance of All Jersey Giant Colors; Black and Blue and White and
Splash All Over....well, you get the idea!
When they are often referred to as Black Jersey Giants, Black is not
always in reference to the color but rather to John and Thomas Black,
who developed the breed around 1870-1890 in Burlington County, New
Jersey. The birds varied in color at first with the biggest priority in
their development being size and confirmation - they were selected for
the meat market to produce a huge roasting bird. Heavy breeds such as
Black Javas, Black Langshans and Dark Brahmas were bred in to develop
the very first Jersey giants.
The name of these wonderful birds morphed a bit, as they were known as
"Giants" in about 1895; later they were referred to as "Black's
Giants", and another poultry enthusiast who was interested in the
development of the Black Giants is given credit with adding the name
Jersey to the mix. In 1921, the American Association of Jersey Black
Giant Breeders Clubs was created and the official name dubbed to these
large beauties was Jersey Black Giant. At the same time, these birds
became the latest rage with the meat market and rivaled the turkey in
popularity. It wasn't until the commercially available broad-breasted
turkeys came about that turkeys returned to popularity as the great
American table bird. Jersey Giants were recognized as a breed by the
American Poultry Association in 1922, the white color within Jersey Giants in 1947, and
Blue colored Jersey Giants in 2003.
The Jersey Giants truly seemed to have it all and became more uniform
thanks to the aid of diligent breeders who selected birds of
uniform large size, type, and color. Other attributes included rapid
maturity, hardiness, and aptitude for foraging well. Not only do Jersey
Giants make excellent meat birds with cockerels weighing 9 pounds at 6
months of age, but the pullets start to lay at 6 months of age and
average 135 to 160 eggs per year. In my opinion, the best part on top
of all of this is the laid back and easy-going personality of the
Jersey Giants. I could not ask for a better breed nor could I think of
much that needs improving within them. They are able to withstand both
heat and cold when given reasonable shelter and care, the hens will
raise their own broods or you can take over this task for yourself if
you prefer (I certainly do!)
Although mostly black in color, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the
white color within Jersey Giants started appearing as "sports" within
the blacks. No one specific breeder is credited with their creation nor
development. Originally not given much creedence, the whites were not
looked upon favorably, although the White Jersey Giants were being bred
as a seperate variety than the Blacks.
I have found sources that say that the true White Giant is an albino,
but I strongly disagree for if this was true, it would not have
coloring in its comb, shanks, eyes, and would most likely not be hardy
to cold weather or exposure to sunlight. A White Sport is NOT normally
an albino - these are two totally different terms and should not be
used interchangably.
With the breeding of the Whites soon came another sport about 1981,
within the flock of Golda Miller. A pullet with a dusting of blue-grey
on her back, if you will, the first Splash, was developed. Mrs. Miller
did not seem interested in continuing with this sport or experimenting
with it. Leo Prokop of Nebraska, was interested in developing a Blue
Jersey Giant, and that he did. By mating that hen with a Black rooster,
a variety of colors, including Splash, were produced. Females from that
original breeding were bred back to a Black rooster, and Leo Prokop's
fancy for a Blue Jersey Giant was the result. Other breeds were not
introduced to get the Blue coloring, it was genetically there within
the Jersey Giants, waiting for the right breeder to discover how to
bring it out.
Furthermore, there have been some issues with the names of Jersey
Giants, from hatchery sneakery or misinformation to other similar
breeds. An example is that in the 1890s, the APA recognized a breed
called "Jersey Blues" and they were dropped a few years later. I know
of no firm evidence that there is any relationship or similarity
between Jersey Blues and Jersey Giants. I have had customers reporting
that they purchased Giants from a hatchery, thinking that they were
getting Jersey Giants, and the birds did not measure up to size later
on. Another question was if the Jersey Giant was in the symbol for the
state of . . . oh, I can't remember, but the symbol looked to be of a
game chicken variety, NOT a Jersey Giant.
Okay, now for some color genetics now that we've surpassed some history
and development of colors within the breed. It doesn't seem to matter
which color is the hen and which color is a rooster, when you mate the
following combinations, here is the probability of the colors you will
produce from each mating:
Black to Black - 100% Black
Blue to Black - 50% Blue, 50% Black
Splash to Black - 100% Blue
Blue to Splash - 50% Blue, 50% Splash
Blue to Blue - 50% Blue, 25% Black and 25% Splash
I feel that the Whites have become less popular and not much
information is available about how the color interacts within different
breedings. I plan on doing some research on this myself. I have seen
the other breeding combinations at my own farm with my own birds proven
for accuracy. I have been told that if you take blue-bred Blacks, such
as from a Blue-Blue breeding, and breed them amongst one another long
enough, that you will get some red or brown come out. I've not done
this, I've not seen it, this is purely heresay. I keep giving up on
blue-bred Blacks as a variety to have around, at least in hens, and
when I give in and develop a flock for myself, I find someone who wants
the whole flock. One such flock went to a living history exhibit at a
museum in Dallas, Texas. I currently have a small replacement flock
started.
Blue to Black seems to be a fairly common mating, although some people
have Blues and Blacks in both hens and roosters and you get Blue-Blue,
Black-Black and Blue-Black breedings from such a flock. Breeding
strictly Blue-Black should keep the lacing within the blues and a nice,
dark blue color.
Breeding Blue-Blue generation after generation can produce dingy, faded
looking Blues, almost so light as to be easily confused with a Splash.
I do not find this desirable and when I've seen this happen, those
birds were culled from my breeding program. I personally do not like
the opposite, either, a Blue so dark that you wonder half the time if
it is Blue or if it is Black.
My favorite dynamite breeding is Black to Splash to produce the
nicely-laced Blues that is very desirable for show. Which reminds, yes,
my birds are show-quality but no, I do not show them. I do not trust
and am cautious of bringing in disease, having to quarrantine, etc. and
would be devastated to have a bird stolen from a show, which I have
heard of. I am competitive in such things and would want to bring my
best, but I am afraid that I would hesitate and so with such mixed
emotions, it just isn't for me.
Our family does a fair share of travelling to Native American powwows
and other like events with Mother Earth Beat and Black Eagle Spirit
drums; and with Slant Six Mopar racing with our 65-66 Cudas and 73-74
Dusters. Our first race car, the 73 Duster, was dubbed The Quail Duster
by its previous owner, Rob Simmons. With all of that going on, and
family out-of-state, it is hard to coordinate other hobbies that
include traveling. Our birds stay at home, safe and sound. We will,
when possible, use our road trips to deliver birds or hatching eggs to
customers who might be along the way. This makes a safer trip for the
birds and is more economical for our customers! Ask if we have trips
headed towards you when contemplating shipping birds.
Another favorite breeding is Splash-Splash, for if you desire to
introduce Blue into your existing flock, Splashes are the way to go! I
currently have a flock of 23 of my best Splash hens and 4 beautiful
Splash roosters. Ralph, my favorite Splash boy, is among this flock and
I hope to take good pictures of him soon, after the rainy season ends!
I also plan on rearranging the Splash-Splash breeding to Splash-Black,
about half the time I do one breeding and about half the other. It is
nice to be able to easily switch gears. It take about 10-14 days for
the new breeding to be definate, we usually set the "in between" eggs
at home or advertise them as "could be this or that".
I have recently acquired Whites and Blacks from a White sport bred back
to Black in an otherwise all-Black-bred flock. This year I will work on
getting up my numbers of Blacks and Whites to have two separate flocks,
next year I will start some color genetics testing by breeding the black-bred Blacks and Whites with each of
the three different colors. I hope to share the results in a year or
two! No eggs or chicks will be available from the Black-bred Blacks or
Whites in 2008, they will not become available until I have the
quantity and quality of my initial breeding flocks established later
this year/early next year. I may have some White adults that I will
cull from the flock, mostly for lighter eye coloring.
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