Heritage or Industrial?
Why We Think It Is A Good Idea To Choose Meat and Eggs from Heritage Breed Chickens Over Others:
Heritage ChickensBiodiversity Heritage chickens are breeds that were already established before the middle of the 20th century and have been bred pure for multiple generations. Some breeds are centuries old. They represent the wide range of chicken genetic diversity and are critically important for the conservation of agricultural biodiversity. Who Controls Our Food? Much like open pollinated varieties of heirloom fruits and vegetables, the genetics belong to the farming community as a whole. Bird Health Heritage breed “meat” birds are simply the male birds of traditional dual purpose breeds. They grow slowly, at a natural rate. Slaughter weights are not reached until at least 16 weeks, more typically 6-9 months. This allows the birds to develop a healthy body that can run and fly. |
Industrial ChickensIndustrial layers and broilers were developed out of careful crossings and selection of a number of heritage breeds since the 1940s, and did not became widely available until the 1960s. They have been very narrowly selected for maximum productivity and feed efficiency and have very little genetic diversity. Industrial layers and broilers are proprietory genetic lines. Only four multinational corporations – Hendrix Genetics, Tyson Foods, Inc., Groupe Grimaud and Erich Wesjohann Group – own the genetics for almost the entire global production of broilers and layers for conventional, free range and organic production. More about these companies below. Industrial broilers are genetically selected for rapid growth and typically reach slaughter weight in 5-7 weeks. Broilers in organic production are grown for about 12 weeks. Because the birds grow so quickly, they are prone to cardiovascular diseases, as well as bone defects and deformities causing lameness. |
Your Health
A study published in the journal “Public Health Nutrition” in 2009 conducted nutritional analyses of modern broilers, both conventional and organic, and compared the results to historical data. The results were very worrying. Fat content in chicken meat has risen steadily from around 3.8% measured in 1870 to around 23% measured in 2004. During that same time period, protein content dropped from around 21% to 16%. Worse yet, fat composition has changed: since the 1970s, levels of an n-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acid (the Omega -3s you are always hearing about! ) called DHA in commercial chicken has dropped by 80%! This is bad news for humans as chickens and their eggs used to be one of the few land-based sources of DHA which otherwise is mostly found in fatty fish. The loss of DHA from our diet causes an imbalance between Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids in our bodies that is thought to be contributing to the rise in mental ill health in the human population.
The study attributed their findings to genetic selection of modern broilers for rapid weight gain, lack of exercise and a diet based primarily on grains, which are low in n-3 fatty acids. By comparison, an active, free ranging bird would obtain a high level of n-3 fatty acids from the consumption of green plant material, insects and invertebrates. The loss of dark meat in modern broilers also corresponds to a loss in B vitamins, iron and other micronutrients.
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Productivity and Cost
As heritage breed meat birds typically don’t reach slaughter weight until 6-9 months, far more labour and infrastructure is necessary to produce the same amount of meat than with industrial broilers. They consume 4.7lbs of feed per lb of live weight produced (based on 1925 figures). This may be somewhat offset by their superior ability to forage for some of their food when kept on free range. Heritage breed layers vary somewhat in their rates of lay depending on breed, but about 150 eggs per year were considered normal for traditional laying flocks pre WWII. |
Depending on strain and production method – conventional or organic – a grower of industrial broilers can produce at least 3 times as much meat with the same amount of infrastructure and labour as a farmer producing heritage breeds. Industrial broilers consume 1.91llbs of feed to produce 1 lb of live weight. The inflation-adjusted cost of producing a pound of conventional live chicken in the US dropped from US$2.32 in 1934 to US$1.08 in 1960. In 2004, the per-pound cost had dropped to 45 cents, according to the USDA Poultry Yearbook (2006). Most industrial layer strains now lay over 260 eggs per year. In Canada, the average commercial hen lays 300 eggs per year. |
Who Controls Our Food?
The following four companies, with their subsidiaries, own the genetics for almost all commercial broilers and layers sourced in Canada, including those used in organic, free range and small lot production:
Tyson with its subsidiary Cobb-Vantress (broilers);
Hendrix Genetics with its subsidiaries Bovans (layers), Hisex (layers), Dekalb (layers), Warren (layers), Kimber (layers), ISA (layers), Shaver (layers), Babcock (layers) and Hybro (broilers);
Groupe Grimaud with its subsidiaries Hubbard (broilers) and Novogen (layers)
Erich Wesjohann with its subsidiaries Lohmann (layers), Aviagen (broilers), H&N (layers) and Hy-Line (layers).
Hendrix Genetics, Groupe Grimaud and Erich Wesjohann Group are all headquartered in Europe and privately owned. This means that a very small handful of individuals controls the decision making process. Hendrix Genetics also has a strategic alliance with Tyson through Cobb-Vantress, with which it has a “Joint Development Agreement”. All are very large companies with many interests besides chickens including ducks, geese, turkeys, swine and, increasingly, aquaculture as well as meat processing, feed, vaccines and therapeutics among others.
You may be familiar with some of their chicken brand names –
Broilers : Cobb (Tyson), Ross (Erich Wesjohann), Arbor Acres (Erich Wesjohann), Indian River (Erich Wesjohann), Redbro (Grimaud), MasterGris (Grimaud), JA 57(Grimaud), Hybro (Hendrix), Cou Nu (Grimaud) and Gris Barre (Grimaud).
Layers: ISA (Hendrix), Bovan (Hendrix), Hy-line, Golden Comet (Hendrix), Hisex (Hendrix),Babcock (Hendrix), Shaver(Hendrix), DeKalb (Hendrix), Lohmann (Erich Wesjohann).
Most hatcheries have their own names for the industrial meat and layer chicks they carry, like Cornish X, Cornish Giant, Rock Cornish, Cornish Game Hens, Freedom Rangers etc. That can make it very difficult to determine what they really are. The vast majority will be one of the above named proprietary strains. A few companies do still exist that maintain their own proprietary lines of broiler and/or layer breeding stock. Their market share is tiny compared to the big four. For the most part, their products are not available in Canada.
How It Works:
The four genetics companies listed above are called “primary breeders”. They breed the great-grandparent generation of the animals that will be used to produce the meat or eggs, i.e. broilers or laying hens. There are pure “male lines” and pure “female lines”, carrying specific traits. Multipliers buy and grow the offspring and sell the next generation in the form of eggs to hatcheries who then sell the chicks to the grower, or in the case of laying hens often to a pullet grower who in turn sells the point-of-lay pullets to the egg farmer. The genetics company creates a “biological lock” by refusing access to either male or female birds of one of the pure great-grandparent lines so that only they can produce the grandparent generation.
Many people are aware of the “technology agreements” that farmers who buy seed from seed companies like Monsanto must sign. These agreements make it illegal for the farmers to save seed from the plants they grew from the purchased seed and use it for growing the next generation of plants. The poultry genetics companies are doing exactly the same thing, in a different way.
Every time we buy an egg, or chicken that did not originate from an independent breeder using genetics that are a “common good”, we are supporting the status quo: control of almost the entire global chicken market by a tiny number of companies. Is that a good idea?
Who are you supporting with your food dollars???
The following four companies, with their subsidiaries, own the genetics for almost all commercial broilers and layers sourced in Canada, including those used in organic, free range and small lot production:
Tyson with its subsidiary Cobb-Vantress (broilers);
Hendrix Genetics with its subsidiaries Bovans (layers), Hisex (layers), Dekalb (layers), Warren (layers), Kimber (layers), ISA (layers), Shaver (layers), Babcock (layers) and Hybro (broilers);
Groupe Grimaud with its subsidiaries Hubbard (broilers) and Novogen (layers)
Erich Wesjohann with its subsidiaries Lohmann (layers), Aviagen (broilers), H&N (layers) and Hy-Line (layers).
Hendrix Genetics, Groupe Grimaud and Erich Wesjohann Group are all headquartered in Europe and privately owned. This means that a very small handful of individuals controls the decision making process. Hendrix Genetics also has a strategic alliance with Tyson through Cobb-Vantress, with which it has a “Joint Development Agreement”. All are very large companies with many interests besides chickens including ducks, geese, turkeys, swine and, increasingly, aquaculture as well as meat processing, feed, vaccines and therapeutics among others.
You may be familiar with some of their chicken brand names –
Broilers : Cobb (Tyson), Ross (Erich Wesjohann), Arbor Acres (Erich Wesjohann), Indian River (Erich Wesjohann), Redbro (Grimaud), MasterGris (Grimaud), JA 57(Grimaud), Hybro (Hendrix), Cou Nu (Grimaud) and Gris Barre (Grimaud).
Layers: ISA (Hendrix), Bovan (Hendrix), Hy-line, Golden Comet (Hendrix), Hisex (Hendrix),Babcock (Hendrix), Shaver(Hendrix), DeKalb (Hendrix), Lohmann (Erich Wesjohann).
Most hatcheries have their own names for the industrial meat and layer chicks they carry, like Cornish X, Cornish Giant, Rock Cornish, Cornish Game Hens, Freedom Rangers etc. That can make it very difficult to determine what they really are. The vast majority will be one of the above named proprietary strains. A few companies do still exist that maintain their own proprietary lines of broiler and/or layer breeding stock. Their market share is tiny compared to the big four. For the most part, their products are not available in Canada.
How It Works:
The four genetics companies listed above are called “primary breeders”. They breed the great-grandparent generation of the animals that will be used to produce the meat or eggs, i.e. broilers or laying hens. There are pure “male lines” and pure “female lines”, carrying specific traits. Multipliers buy and grow the offspring and sell the next generation in the form of eggs to hatcheries who then sell the chicks to the grower, or in the case of laying hens often to a pullet grower who in turn sells the point-of-lay pullets to the egg farmer. The genetics company creates a “biological lock” by refusing access to either male or female birds of one of the pure great-grandparent lines so that only they can produce the grandparent generation.
Many people are aware of the “technology agreements” that farmers who buy seed from seed companies like Monsanto must sign. These agreements make it illegal for the farmers to save seed from the plants they grew from the purchased seed and use it for growing the next generation of plants. The poultry genetics companies are doing exactly the same thing, in a different way.
Every time we buy an egg, or chicken that did not originate from an independent breeder using genetics that are a “common good”, we are supporting the status quo: control of almost the entire global chicken market by a tiny number of companies. Is that a good idea?
Who are you supporting with your food dollars???
