Chickens Look Way Different Today, And Here's The Reason Why

[QuotaMan]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/21/chickens-bred-bigger_n_5983142.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

 

 

The chickens shown were all raised in the same manner and photographed at the same age. The Huffington Post added the dates to this image. (Poultry Science, Advanced Access, (2014) doi: 10.3382/ps.2014-04291, Figure 1) (Zuidhof et al, “Growth, efficiency, and yield of commercial broilers from 1957, 1978, and 2005")

For the study, the scientists raised three breeds of broiler chickens: one breed that was common in 1957, another from 1978, and a third from 2005, called the Ross 308 breed, CBC News reported.

 

"We fed them exactly the same things, so we did not provide hormones," lead author Dr. Martin Zuidhof, associate professor of agricultural science at the University of Alberta, told the CBC. "The only difference that was part of our study treatments was the genetics."

 

(The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has long banned the use of hormones in poultry production.)

 

What did the researchers find? The Ross 308 chickens grew to be much bigger than the 1978 breed and four times larger than the 1957 breed.

 

"We had never actually tested our 1978 line before, but where they fell were very consistent with what we believed would be the case based on historical selection for growth rate and efficiency," Zuidhof told the Canadian news channel CTV.

In other words, today's chickens are bigger simply because they were bred to be bigger. Should we be concerned about eating these big birds?

 

"There is no danger in eating larger chickens," Zuidhof told The Huffington Post in an email. "That would be comparable to saying it is more dangerous to eat bigger carrots because they’re bigger."

 

The study was published online in the journal Poultry Science on September 26, 2014.

 

 

 

[OKAY]

Thailand is still raising the 1957 version, go look at Big-C.

[jerry]

Thailand is still raising the 1957 version, go look at Big-C.

 

Big part of Thailand is still living in 1957 . 

[Mr Reo]

Looks like they are feeding them the same diet as farang women.....

[cuzzy]

Plenty of 1957s running around in our village.

I'm gonna see if I can import some of the fat little poulet we have back in NZ.

Thai chicken tastes different to the ones at home too.

[COLD SODA]

Good read .... Thank you for keeping us informed ....( as usual much appreciated ) .

[soidoggy]

Looks like the morphism of the average American as well.  So it is just in selective breeding?

[mister_handy]

Plenty of 1957s running around in our village.

I'm gonna see if I can import some of the fat little poulet we have back in NZ.

Thai chicken tastes different to the ones at home too.

Is it the breed or the preparation? A friend told me that the reason why Thai chicken tastes so gamey (if you have it in a bland farang preparation) is that they don't bleed it out the way they do in the states (or for Halal/Kosher meat.)

 

Not sure if it's true; have had plenty of Turkish/Lebanese/Arab food in LOS but it's always seasoned enough that I couldn't tell you if it tastes like Thai chicken or western.

[JHolmesJr]

The 1957s ive had in thailand taste a lot better.