EDIT: for some context on the problems this creates
The science is clear that fast-growing chickens like the Ross 308 are doomed by their genetics. These have been engineered to grow so incredibly fast, and their bodies just cannot handle it.”
Jackson said secret filming at broiler farms supplying big supermarkets has shown birds struggling to walk or collapsing under their own weight, or dying from heart failure, and dead birds were filmed lying among the flocks.
[...]
Andrew Knight, a professor of animal welfare and ethics at the University of Winchester, said: “With these really rapid growth rates, it can be difficult for the heart and circulatory system to keep up with the expanding body mass. A proportion of these animals suffer from heart failure. It’s also difficult for the bones, ligaments and tendons to keep up with the rapidly increasing body mass, meaning that a proportion of these birds become severely lame [inability to walk properly].”
And that quote only lists just some of the health problems they face. There's a ton of other problems too
What is the downside for the chicken?
For customers i wouldn't be surprised that the meat is less flavorful and less enjoyable (like less tender).
Quite a lot,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/16/cheaper-than-chips-frankenchicken-at-the-centre-of-fight-for-animal-welfare
They are more likely to have all kinds of other health issues not listed in the quote above such as hock burns
Oh yeah, I heard about that. 😞
Thanks!
https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/broiler-chickens-health-issues-ze0z1802zmos/
While I can't attest to the veracity of this website, and my objection to the practice of raising chickens for meat has more to do with treatment than anything else, this website gives common reasons why the modern broiler chicken is an unhealthy breed
Gotcha. Thanks!
I hope the situation will improve with more regulations or pressure. Or maybe if we try to only buy better breeds.
A good place to start is by changing consumption levels as not doing doing so would make things much harder. It'd be difficult to maintain current consumption levels with slow-growing birds as it'd require a much larger number of chickens to be slaughtered
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.210478#d1e265
It might also be easier for people like me to try to eat less meat than going full vegan. 1 meat-less meal per week to start doesn't sound too bad.