Selective breeding is when humans take two plants or animals with better than average

traits and breed them together for the offspring to also have better traits. Humans have
selectively bred plants and animals for thousands of years. Many examples can be seen of this
nowadays. People selectively breed for producing better plants or animals by choosing the ones
with the best traits among all plants and animals.

For instance, chickens are bred selectively for their eggs and meat. People for the past
several decades have put them in cages and given them food that changed their genetics so
they grow faster and people make more money. Unfortunately, this made them unhealthy. For
this to be a lot faster what they do is they breed the chickens, give more eggs and their offspring
will be the same. This can severely affect the money they make off the chickens so it is very
important for such companies. The chickens that live just for their eggs and meat are killed
when they are about 47 days old when their average lifespan is 5 to 10 years. They are killed
this early because they won’t grow up more and the companies need more space. There are
things such as dairy cows which live 30 times less than average cows and produce 30 times
more milk in their lifetime.

Chickens and any other type of animal living a shorter life but giving humans more food
can have an impact on individuals and society. Obviously, some positive effects are that people
get more food, and people working in such industries make more money. But with these come
some negative effects such as the chickens not being able to live freely and happily; The
chickens not living as much as they normally would have lived if not captive. Not to mention that
these chickens are more unhealthy and causes such as the fact that poultry can have the same
impact on cholesterol as red meat, unlike 10 years ago. Also forced breeding is not nice as you
have the ability to breed with whoever you want. If you compare the two, people that work in
industries such as this benefit more, however the people that have nothing to do with this can
think two opposite things being: Ignorant - “I get more chicken for lower prices. I don’t care if it is
a bit less unhealthy or whatever happens to the chickens and I won’t bother to think about it or
take any action.” And a very few aware people think such as this: “I care about the chickens and
I will buy organic chicken even if it costs more.”

Considering all means, in my opinion this is a negative impact because of bad behaviour
to chickens, health problems, high cholesterol and most importantly of all, forced breeding. Yes
sure it might make more money and be faster to produce but chickens have a life too such as
people so you don’t get to torture them all you want to make yourself slightly happier. Don’t be
selfish, think about yourself, but also the chickens. This is a call for all the ignorant people out
there. Don’t be ignorant, be aware and stop what is going on!

Resources used:
https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-selective-breeding
Jones, Mary. Cambridge Checkpoint Science Workbook 9. Cambridge University Pres, 6 Aug.
2013.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9h74qt/revision/1