A Fowl Future?

Man has created a commercial hellhole for the chicken and so, asks Andy Cawthray, what does the rest of the 21st century and beyond hold for this most unassuming of creatures?

- Andy Cawthray

To try and predict what lies in the future for the humble chicken could be a fool’s folly. When considering the influence the chicken has had on people’s lives from culture through religion, frenzied fancy to farmed animal, and aggressive foe to feathered friend, it’s hard to think what the next chapter will bring.

One conclusion that can be reached is that there is no longer ‘the chicken’, but instead two chickens — the heritage, traditional pure breed and, to be blunt, the Frankenstein chicken that has evolved in more recent years. Both fulfil similar purposes, but both do it in two very different ways.

Commercially produced chickens should not be confused with the pure breeds. They were developed over a period of time to fulfil very specific purposes, and while the same could be said of the development of pure breeds, the speed and methods of ‘creating’ these commercial strains bears little resemblance to the pure breed evolution.

To start with, they tend to be viewed as ‘products’ as opposed to birds. They are frequently the output of genetics companies and, rather than being accompanied by breed details, they are more likely to be found with performance statistics which explain how the product will perform according to the treatment it receives. Said product will also tend to carry a name that would be more suited to a tyre specification than a feathered creature

They also have a fixed shelf life, so, in other words, they are born into a disposable life which means that once they cease to be economically viable (or an effective product) they are replaced, again much more like a consumable element of a car, such as a tyre, or a cartridge in a printer. They are simply viewed as a method of creating protein, be that through the eggs they lay or the meat they carry on their bones.

TERMINAL EXISTENCE