What are exactly meat birds?

[alessadry]

What are meat birds exactly, are they genetically modified? I still cannot believe how normal chickens can live to 7-10 years and meat birds can make it barely to one year. Is it true, that 50 years ago, there were normal chicken used for meat and laying eggs, and just recently mankind has crafted ''meat birds'' to make more money faster? I can't believe they are butchered at 6 weeks when my layers were sent out of the brooder when they were this age and had still baby blue eyes and just started exploring the great outdoors.. do not want to make it sound as a rant, no offense to anybody, but I come from a small town in Europe where you never saw chicken with deformed legs due to being unable to carry their extra weight or never heard of a chicken dying from heart disease or organ failure due to being pushed over their biological limits.. again sorry, I am not trying to rant, just trying to understand what happened exactly to these birds and if they are genetically modified...and if truthfully, they are safe to eat..sorry for my ignorance on this topic but this is totally new to me!

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
This is America, where things are often taken too far in the name of money.

 

[cmtigger]

Quote:
Do you eat purchased chicken? Then you've eaten these- they aren't just raised in the US. They are only genetically modified as much as they are a hybrid- like most commercial veggie crops. There is no gene splicing or anything going on. Many layer breeds are hybrids too.

Not to mention that none of my hens have "baby blue eyes." Your post sounds a bit like baiting to me.

 

[booker81]

No GMO or gene tinkering, just specialized breeding, same as what occurs with other animals (horses, dogs, cats etc). I mean heck, we breed pigs with more vertebrae to make longer loins for more pork chops. Cornish cross are just the result of years of selective breeding for a specific goal - high feed conversion, large breast meat, and quick time from the egg to the table. Some breeds of turkey have the same characteristics. You don't see the same with other meat animals as much due to the long time for results and rebreeding when creating a hybrid.

Of course, then there are things like Piedmontese and Belgian Blue cattle - these are European breeds that definately fit into the the "freak" growth and are selectively bred for such (myostatin inhibition).

Yes they are safe to eat, just as beef from a Belgian Blue is safe to eat. There's no wonder chemical injected at birth, it's just merely how selective breeding works

 

[GiddyMoon]

These meat birds are cornish cross birds..simply put, two different chickens who mate and produce a meaty bird very fast & produced a new breed. It is a chicken. It is a food source. A chicken does not need to live for 10 years and grow slow when nature intended it as a food source. They were cross bred for food this way in the mid 50s. Chickens cross breed all the time on their own. The issues you are talking about are not a large percentage problems..they are problems that can occur.......as with all kinds of genetic problems that can occur..like in the English Bulldog...who has a lot of generic issues due to breeding.


I don't think we want to discuss the nasty genetic path of dog breeds in Europe and how many puppies went to the slaughter or had lifelong problems due to people wanting the "perfect" breed.


Just because chickens are a food source and not a dog, doesn't make the hypocrisy any smaller.

This is America, where things are often taken too far in the name of money.

Don't blame money making on America. PLENTY of other countries do all kinds of things to make money. But these birds were created to put more meat on one bird....not sell more birds with less meat. They are actually quite cheap to buy, even in the store all cut up and ready to go.



European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics

http://www.emabg.wur.nl/UK/

"The programme aims at building capacities in the fields of Animal Breeding and Genetics to meet challenges in developed and developing countries."

Which means more meat & faster breeding for each animal.



"How do we use animal genetic resources? Is it possible to rule the development of animal health? How do we make sustainable breeding programmes for improved global food security?

The Erasmus Mundus programme "European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics(EMABG)" is a response to the need for highly qualified graduates in the knowledge intensive area of animal breeding and genetics which is operating internationally. EMABG concentrate on quantitative and molecular genetics for animal breeding purposes, with a main focus on development of breeding programmes for a sustainable use of farm animals, fish and companion animals."


http://www.mastersportal.eu/student...n-master-in-animal-breeding-and-genetics.html

If you do a search on European genetics on animals..you will find it is everywhere there.


My point being..I am not putting Europe down..but we better not blame America. Breeding happens in all countries as well as ways to make money and feed their family.​

 

[codymax2]

Meatbirds=Birds used for meat

It can be what ever bird YOU choose no need to bash any particular bird, I prefer non cornish cross birds. They just taste better to me. So if you don't like the cornish and think it's not nice to raise them choose something else, but don't bash others after all we can all control only us right.

 

[codymax2]

Great post!!
Quote:
Don't blame money making on America. PLENTY of other countries do all kinds of things to make money. But these birds were created to put more meat on one bird....not sell more birds with less meat. They are actually quite cheap to buy, even in the store all cut up and ready to go.



European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics

http://www.emabg.wur.nl/UK/

"The programme aims at building capacities in the fields of Animal Breeding and Genetics to meet challenges in developed and developing countries."

Which means more meat & faster breeding for each animal.



"How do we use animal genetic resources? Is it possible to rule the development of animal health? How do we make sustainable breeding programmes for improved global food security?

The Erasmus Mundus programme "European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics(EMABG)" is a response to the need for highly qualified graduates in the knowledge intensive area of animal breeding and genetics which is operating internationally. EMABG concentrate on quantitative and molecular genetics for animal breeding purposes, with a main focus on development of breeding programmes for a sustainable use of farm animals, fish and companion animals."


http://www.mastersportal.eu/student...n-master-in-animal-breeding-and-genetics.html

If you do a search on European genetics on animals..you will find it is everywhere there.


My point being..I am not putting Europe down..but we better not blame America. Breeding happens in all countries as well as ways to make money and feed their family.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Don't blame money making on America. PLENTY of other countries do all kinds of things to make money. But these birds were created to put more meat on one bird....not sell more birds with less meat. They are actually quite cheap to buy, even in the store all cut up and ready to go.



European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics

http://www.emabg.wur.nl/UK/

"The programme aims at building capacities in the fields of Animal Breeding and Genetics to meet challenges in developed and developing countries."

Which means more meat & faster breeding for each animal.



"How do we use animal genetic resources? Is it possible to rule the development of animal health? How do we make sustainable breeding programmes for improved global food security?

The Erasmus Mundus programme "European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics(EMABG)" is a response to the need for highly qualified graduates in the knowledge intensive area of animal breeding and genetics which is operating internationally. EMABG concentrate on quantitative and molecular genetics for animal breeding purposes, with a main focus on development of breeding programmes for a sustainable use of farm animals, fish and companion animals."


http://www.mastersportal.eu/student...n-master-in-animal-breeding-and-genetics.html

If you do a search on European genetics on animals..you will find it is everywhere there.


My point being..I am not putting Europe down..but we better not blame America. Breeding happens in all countries as well as ways to make money and feed their family.

I didn't say that making money is exclusive to America.

I didn't say that other countries don't breed animals to get more bang for the buck.

What I said was "This is America, where things are often taken too far in the name of money." And I followed that with

because it was meant as a sort of "yeah, we do lots of crazy things here" comment to someone not from here. It was not a rant on America.

Are you saying that in America, things are NOT often taken too far in the name of money? That is the only statement which would disagree with what I said.

The OP was sounding as if (s)he's more used to old-fashioned chickens where (s)he comes from. Is it more cost-efficient to raise Cornish X for meat? Yes. Are the birds "taken a bit too far"? Many here on BYC seem to agree they are, so I know I'm not alone in that opinion, but even if I was, I am entitled to my opinion. "Taken too far" is subjective, not objective. If I said "Americans are the only country that breeds chickens like that" then that is able to be proven correct or incorrect. Saying "this has gone too far" is an opinion, and yours is as equally valid as mine.

 

[cmtigger]

Quote:
So he can't disagree with somebody elses's opinion?

Personally, I don't think it's a case of having gone too far- It's not like capons were an American invention, and if they're neutered early enough they grow pretty fast too. It's just part of human nature to try to make food more plentiful. I don't think it's a money issue. It's a food issue.

Most of the people who think that they are taken too far fall into one of two camps- those who like the flavor of the heritage breeds and those who think that chickens should be more pets. But, even some of those who like the heritage breeds understand why a fast growing chicken that can be butchered long before it becomes tough is not a bad thing. Chicken used to be WAY more expensive than beef in stores, because of ways to raise chicken faster that is no longer the case.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if there was something that happened to a large chicken farm, and some chickens were let loose, there wouldn't be a feral colony of chickens established to threaten native animals. It's just not simply in the nature of the cornish cross.

 

[AquaEyes]

I responded not because he's not allowed to disagree, but because he claimed I was blaming America, or that I said it happens only here. Re-read and see what I mean.