I did a google search for the type of chickens that Purdue uses and the site says they are a "proprietary breed" specific to Purdue. It says they breed several types together to get the best traits of each combined into the perfect chicken. They mention being bred to resist disease and they reference champion race horses when they describe these birds. Reminds me of the scene in Men in Black...the best of the best of the best, Sir!
What do you mean...aren't viable after 12 to 14 weeks? She is rather large breasted, but we aren't subjecting her to light 24 hours a day and aren't feeding her round the clock like they do at the raiser farm. That is how they get them from day old chick to 3 lb fryers (dressed) in only 8 weeks.
Our friends have 4 chicken houses that house about 36,000 each. They are at his farm 8 weeks and he gets a week to prepare the houses for the next shipment. That is about 144,000 birds every 9 weeks x 5 batches per year = about 720,000 chickens per year on his farm. We have never been to visit his farm because they had to sign a contract about biosecurity. Anyone with any type of bird, even a parakeet, is prohibited on his farm. We have had a parrot for as long as we've know their family. But I would love to see his set-up.
