Jersey Giant chickens originate from Jobstown, in New Jersey, North America where brothers John and Thomas Black created them from Black Javas crossed with Black Langshans, Indian Game, and Brahmas to increase their size sometime during the 1870's. In fact, it's the world's largest chicken breed, as some roosters (especially the black variety) may reach a weight of 15 pounds.

Jersey Giants are enormous birds that need more time to reach their full size than that of today's more common meat birds. Their slow growth rate is a reason why this breed is rare and not widely used in the modern Broiler industry nowadays. However, the Jersey Giant is a practical dual-purpose bird indeed, as it yields plenty of meat, and lays well. The hens lay very large brown eggs (150 - 170 eggs per year), and are known particularly as good winter layers. Jersey hens are also known to go broody. On avarage, the weights for rooster and hen are 5.9 kg and 4.5 kg, respectively.