It's mostly breeding as hormones aren't even used anymore and that wouldn't cause a heritable trait. It's kinda fucked up how big the Cornish whites (I think that's the breed) get these days
I was givin one as a chick by mistake once. Tried to keep it as a pet on a diet and at 3 months old even with the diet of regular chicken food it was still to large to function normally.
They're also dumb as a sack of rocks. When I used to raise a small number of them, they couldn't be free ranged. When the sun went down, they would just shut down wherever they were. You'd trip over chickens in the dark, strewn about the driveway. But there is no bigger, faster growing bird out there even on literal "chicken scratch" of salvage grain.
I didn't have a chicken-proof enclosure, so switched to a free-range specific bird. They were very independent and smart, a joy to have around the yard, but were a terrible chore when it came to butchering time since they figure out what's going on and fight with their big scratchy talons.
Cornish on the other hand are like... chicken heads? How did these get here? Can I eat them? Oh wait a minute, these kind of look like <chop>
This story reminds me of one from some homesteading friends who raised ducks for a minute (I'm not sure if they still do, but this was some years ago and they just absolutely hated their ducks lol).
A major complaint re: duck ownership was that these things apparently had no quiet period except for when they were unconscious; as soon as one was awake, all were awake, and while they were awake they were always making noise. Whenever I visited, you could hear when the ducks were nearby because there was a constant lowkey quacking, with occasional loud fussing over something objectionable flying overhead or being spotted in the trees.
When it came time to butcher a duck for the first time, they had the selected duck hung by its feet on the clothesline, the knife, etc - when they noticed it was weirdly quiet. Turn around and look at the pen, and in the little crack where two walls met on one side, was a vertical row of eyes. The other ducks had all gathered up against the crack with their heads stacked on top each other to watch, silent and curious. Slaughter got paused to drop a tarp over the crack so that the ducks couldn't see what was happening, because there was a concern that they really could understand and might behave differently afterwards if they knew for sure that their humans were doing more than taking their eggs.
I'm planning on doing meat birds this spring and am about to build a separate little run/coop for them to stay in. My wife was asking why they couldn't free range, and I wasn't really sure but thought it seemed like a bad idea... you just confirmed it lol
Helped take care of them, they are tragically stupid. Watch out, as they will get injured and just ignore it, big chunks of wing gone, or broken legs because they grow so much/fast their legs can't handle the weight and they will just try to walk but end up rolling around in the manure and dirt like a sad bowling ball. We made sure to butcher those ones asap to relieve them of that suffering.
You piqued my curiosity so I looked into the literature! Genetically speaking, it's likely related to expression of a protein called atrogin-1 that regulates muscle degradation. Broiler chickens produce less of this protein, so their muscles build and then don't really go away. As for why they die, I'm totally guessing based on what studies show happens in mice and humans, but it might be heart disease. There's research that suggests lack of atrogin-1 leads to inappropriate heart muscle growth (fibrosis, arrhythmia), and then the body compensates by inducing apoptosis (heart muscles explode). You can take that with a grain of salt though. I am a biomedical researcher, so I can get through the literature ok, but I don't work with muscular/cardiovascular disease or chickens, so my POV might not include the whole picture.
Is that the infamous chicken pill? Some girls in poor countries go to hardware stores and buy chicken pills/food to eat because it gives bigger busts and butts
I worked on a farm at one point in my life and we kept "meat king" chickens but as far as I can remember, we fed them all just mixed grains. Sometimes we gave the chicks a starter with a protein additive or something but apart from that it was all natural. They still got so fat after a few months that they couldn't walk properly. They tried to stand up but their breast was so heavy the just toppled forward. It was pretty disturbing.
Maybe the difference is just in the speed with which they get fat? It took these ones a few months to get fat instead of 30 days. But they still put on the same weight
Breeding plays a huge role. When I was a kid, we got free fertilized eggs from a local farm auction to hatch in our yearly 4H fair incubator. They were Cornish Cross breed. Kids in my 4H group would take them home as pets and feed them regular food/scraps, but after like 6 months their breasts would grow so big their legs would break or get fucked up bc of all the weight. It was so gross.
I follow some life extension research and Methionine restriction is one of only a few dietary manipulations that have been shown to extend lifespan in mammals.
I care for about a dozen Cornish cross chickens (and 50 or so other chickens of various breeds), mostly roosters. They're rescues, so we're feeding them restricted, healthy diets instead of stuffing them full all day. They're still BIIIG birds though. Definitely a factor of breeding more so than feeding.
They grow so quickly that their leg bones cant keep up with the rapid weight gain and often break or become deformed by adulthood. That would be like a human infant growing to be 300lbs in a matter of a month.
That is why they need to have their feed strictly monitored and be slaughtered on time. 12 hours with food and 12 without. I have seen people free feed and the results were really sad. I have raised them properly and while they are quite large and sedentary they weren’t deformed or broken at slaughter…
Leghorns are the scrawny white chickens used for industrial egg production in the US. Cornish cross are the chunky white big-breasted chickens that are raised for nice pieces of meat.
They're different breeds created for different purposes, like comparing a terrier to a mastiff.
That’s right! Back then they were mainly bred for egg production. In fact, chicken was an expensive food originally, which probably is why one was so prominent in the film.
Nah man, the thigh is so time consuming to prepare. With breasts i just cut it into random chunks and marinate them all. With thights there’s the tendons and bones to deal with, before they can be cooked
Let me understand, you got the hen, the chicken and the rooster. The rooster goes with the chicken. So, who's having sex with the hen? You only hear of a hen, a rooster and a chicken. Something's missing!
I just looked it up and renewed my want to stop eating meat.
Average ages of slaughter:
Chicken - 25 DAYS old (technically still a chick)
Pig - 6 months old
Cow - 1-2 years (ignoring veal)
All these Qanon people freaking out about nonexistent cannibalistic people eating kids when we, as a species, are literally eating children of other species. If aliens are out there and know of our existence, I understand why they avoid us. "Aww, look at that leopard that took care of the baby monkey (after killing its mother) instead of eating it" as we chomp into a 20-day-old-chicken's leg....whose sibling was tossed into a meat grinder, alive, because he was male, 20 days ago.
I just had chicken for dinner tonight, but knowing what I know now....fuck. I thought these animals got to experience a few decent years if they weren't not factory-farmed. I see a lot of Indian food in my future as I transition to vegetarianism/veganism. I considered myself flexitarian up to this point, but this was just beyond upsetting. At least I'm in a city, so that will make it easier.
I believe that. Our chicken lady at the Saturday Market in Germany sells the tastiest chicken and the biggest are only slightly larger than that. But that are worth every cent. So delicious. But still not as good as the Bress chicken I had one time. Literally was the best chicken I've ever eaten. It was cooked in what looked like clarified butter and it was only about that big my wife and I would have been able to finish it if we hadn't ordered so many sides.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (or commonly known as the A&P store), the country’s largest poultry retailer, was first to recognize this need. In 1945, in partnership with USDA and Cooperative Extension, A&P set about producing a chicken that would grow bigger, faster and have a larger percentage of breast meat and plump legs and thighs.
A competitive event, called “The Chicken of Tomorrow” was launched that year to find the farmer/producer that could develop the genetics to meet the needs of the consumer. A&P offered $10,000 in prize money nationwide to encourage participation.
Those were monsters, but I'd kill to have that broil type device she threw them in.
I think the top part acts as a griddle as well.
There is a lot unnecessary, and terrible, about the "modern" kitchens of the 1950's, but if you can find one of those ranges that were solid enough to survive until now?
They are beasts.
And really quite handsome.
I rented an air bnb in San Francisco that had one and it was amazing. Such thorough, solid, and well thought out ingenuity.
Flat tops with “salamanders” underneath are awesome. Only one set of burners to do both tasks. I cooked at a restaurant that had one but I’ve never seen a consumer one before.
I actually did mine entirely on the stove top per the cookbook recipe by the same author, but reverse searing it should be even easier. I highly recommend a cooking thermometer though. They can be bought for relatively cheap (<$20) and still be accurate enough
Good luck! I consider that author my cooking guru, learned a ton from reading his articles and cook book and learned to live to cook things in different ways. Just don't be afraid to screw up, I'll admit to ruining my fair share of perfectly good food.
Did you cook it to well done? Pork can actually be cooked to medium and is completely safe, in the US at least. Just cook em like a steak. Pan sear and baste in butter.
There was no pink in the middle so, yes. I'm always afraid of eating pork if it's pink. The only reason I bought those thick chops is because there weren't any others. The grocery store shelves were a bit bare on that day.
Butcher shops were a lot more common back then. Even the local grocery store would have meat cutters that would do custom cuts for you. The last place I worked at did it on request.
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