Why are white Cornish rocks so famous for their meat.

[Barredrock360]

The white Cornish rock is so popular because they grow meat way faster than other chickens. But are they really that good to eat if they spent hundreds of generations in cages getting fatter and more lazy with so many issues?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wouldn't call them famous. I'd call them the most utilitarian meat bird ever developed.

They don't spend any time in cages.
IMHO, they aren't that good to eat - just for the reasons you mention.

It has been the genetic selection that has made them into such a fast growing bird that produces so much meat for so little money in feed input is what has created this phenomenon.

They grow so fast that a broiler size bird is achieved in weeks so it is tender.

Heritage birds need to be rested after slaughter and cooked low and slow.

 

[Barredrock360]

Thanks for the reply. And what I mean by cages is that factories keep them in small cages until they're ready to slaughter, or all of them crammed into a building just as crowded

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The only commercially farmed birds in cages are laying hens. Broilers aren't kept in cages. It's unnecessary so they don't do it.

 

[Barredrock360]

Oh now that I've checked on websites and images i understand they are in one big warehouse type building, And the egg layer like Rhode island reds or white leghorns are kept in cages.