somone told me a while ago that a because they are supposed to be delicious meat birds they are prefered over any other breed..in parts of italy they are raised as meat birds...ive never eaten one, but will tell you that polet de bress was by far the best chicken ive ever eaten...those are handled so different than the factory farming we do...they capon them, then feed them milk and corn for a month? befor butcher..best thing ive ever eaten..would that work on any breed? not sure..there was a show on pbs with mario batali, gweneth paltrow ectt...they toured a family farm in italy they butchered a dark maran that morning for the meal...the way this italian woman made the dish was so good it left them all speechless.they all said it was by far the best chicken they had ever eaten..