[Harmless Teddy Bear]

All chickens are “mutant chickens”. They are the result of a few thousand years of selective breeding. Beneficial mutations were kept by the human breeders in favor of the less beneficial natural traits.

Now you can argue, (and I do) that they have taken the selective breeding a bit too far since the 1970s. Egg layers and meat chickens have become very specialized and there is just something wrong with chickens that grow so fast their legs break if you delay in harvesting them.

For meat I would say either a Delaware or a Plymouth is about the best.

[Fledermaus]

Different chicken for different cuts.

[FreedomPoster]

I did a consulting gig about 20 years ago at ConAgra Poultry, back when they still had commodity meat businesses. They’ve since gotten out of chicken, beef, pork.

So I am at the HQ of a $4 billion a year poultry operation, interacting with their upper management (Directors, VPs, C-levels). These guys knew chicken.

I remember the term “superbirds” being used for these giant breast broilers.

FWLIW