Chickens today are five times bigger than 50 years ago.
It all started at the end of World War II when the United States government organized a contest called ” The Chicken of Tomorrow .”
The idea was that producers would develop, through genetic selection, a chicken that grew faster and had better quality meat.
The United States was looking to satisfy a demand for protein for the high birth rate recorded then.
Before that contest, chickens were small animals, which reached a size for human consumption in about four months.
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Now, chickens get to that point in four weeks. And not only that, the size of chickens increased by 400% in half a century, according to research from the University of Alberta.
WHY ARE CHICKENS BIGGER THESE DAYS?
One of the study authors said that the results of “The Chicken of Tomorrow” influenced the size of the chickens we eat today and that the genetic combination is still effective. But it’s not the only reason they’re bigger.
Chickens are now being raised in macro-farms where tens of thousands are crowded together, Richard Thomas, an expert in bird archaeology, told the BBC.
The chickens consume corn and soy for about 23 hours a day thanks to a light system that interrupts their sleep cycle, so they grow more in less time.
Walter Suárez-Sánchez, a veterinarian and doctor in animal behavior, told this British outlet that poultry farming has harmful effects on birds and that this form of breeding represents a potential danger to human health.
According to scientists, the creation of meat in the laboratory and the development of proteins from other organisms could solve this problem. What do you think?
