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Featherless chicken creates a flap

21 May 2002

By Emma Young

Featherless chickens could be the future of mass poultry farming in warmer

countries, says an Israeli geneticist who has created a bare-skinned “prototype”.

The new chicken would be lower in calories, faster-growing, environmentally

friendly, and more likely to survive in warmer conditions, claims Avigdor Cahaner
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He created his red-skinned chicken by
selectively crossing a breed with a naturally bare neck with a regular broiler
chicken.

Cahaner’s “prototype” featherless chicken (Photo: Reuters)

But critics say past experience with feather-free chickens resulting from random
genetic mutation shows they suffer more than normal birds. Males have been unable
to mate, because they cannot flap their wings, and “naked” chickens of both sexes
are more susceptible to parasites, mosquito attacks and sunburn.

“Featherless birds would also be very susceptible to any temperature variations –

especially as young birds,” says Tom Acamovic, of the Scottish Agricultural College
in Ayr.

The chicken is “disgusting”, says Joyce D’Silva of Compassion in World Farming.

“It’s a prime example of sick science and the suggestion that it would be an
improvement for developing countries is obscene.”

“Factory farming is such an inappropriate technology for developing countries

because it uses scarce resources like water, electricity and grain that could be
used for human consumption, to produce meat that only the middle classes can
afford.”

“Ugly beast”

Broiler chickens have been bred to gain weight rapidly. But in the process they
generate a lot of heat. Farmed chickens are kept at about 20°C – the optimum
temperature for weight gain. But in warm countries, expensive air conditioning is
necessary to keep to this temperature – and this cannot be afforded by poorer
farmers, Cahaner says.
The chicken is “an ugly little beast”, says Acamovic. “But there are obvious
potential benefits of not having feathers. Nutrients wouldn’t go into producing
feathers, and there would be no feathers to get rid of at the end.”

The chicken’s lack of feathers would make it quicker to process and more
environmentally friendly, says Cahaner. “Feathers are a waste. The chickens are
using feed to produce something that has to be dumped and the farmers have to waste
electricity to overcome the fact,” he said. Plucking also requires the use of large
amounts of water, he says.

The cross-bred bird is currently smaller than regular broilers. Cahaner says
further breeding should help increase its height.

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