New Backyard Poultry Breed

New Backyard Poultry Breed AG WORLD A new breed of chicken called Easter Giants are stirring up a lot of interest because of their colored eggs and large size Dr Amy Gilbert crossed Jersey Giant roosters with Ameraucana hens to create the new breed Two East Central University ECU Ada Okla students took on the breed analysis as a senior level biology project “The pandemic caused an explosion in the number of backyard flocks that were already becoming very popular nationwide ” notes Gilbert a retired poultry scientist “I wanted to come up with a dual-purpose bird that was large friendly docile easy to catch not flighty and with a small comb that could withstand very cold weather Most importantly it would be super cute and lay colored eggs ” ECU students Mollie Nance and Allie Verner were students of Gilbert’s husband Dr Carl Gilbert They took Gilbert’s work to the next level comparing the 3 breeds in terms of size appearance egg production egg size and color They also evaluated feed efficiency rate of gain and free-range habits “The Easter Giants inherited the smaller pea comb from the Ameraucanas rather than the single comb of the Jersey Giants ” notes Verner “That is important for backyard poultry as the single comb can be subject to frost bite ” “They are big cute birds with the bearded muffed face and colored eggs of the Ameraucana ” says Nance “They lay large eggs about 53 grams versus 54 grams from the Jersey Giant Productivity and feed efficiency are about the same ” According to Gilbert the Jersey Giant is slower to mature reaching its full size in 2 years It also starts to lay eggs around 6 mos versus 4 mos for most breeds “We expect the Easter Giants to reach the same size as the Jersey Giants given their comparative rate of gain ” says Nance Size is another important characteristic for free-range backyard birds adds Nance “The Easter Giants and the Jersey Giants roamed throughout the yard ” she says “They were too big to jump the 4-ft fence unlike the Ameraucanas ” Neither Nance nor Verner had prior experience with chickens but both hope to have backyard birds in the future Meanwhile Gilbert is selling all the chicks she wants via word of mouth a yard sign and ads on Craigslist She plans to continue refining the new breed Currently she projects about 75 percent of chicks will have Easter Giant attributes “I would love it if someone wanted to develop the breed further ” says Gilbert “I just wanted chickens that little kids would want to have in their backyard ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Amy Gilbert 17130 CR 1520 Ada Okla 74820 ph 479 466-5463; amylwaldroup@gmail com

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