Most common chicken breeds in your grocery store

[mailedhorse]

Hello everyone,

I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to the world of chickens. I am just curious as to which chicken breeds are most commonly used for supermarket chicken. I doubt that the whole chickens are cornish-X since the breast is not that prominent. Would the chicken breasts come primarily from the cornish-x breed?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Pretty sure that the vast, vast majority of chicken used in food industry and grocery stores is a kind of commercial hybrid you called the CornishX. There are many similar strains of these super quick growing broilers, produced by several majors genetics companies for the hatchery/farm/processing industry. That's important to realize. There are several strains, but all are quick growing, commercial meat bird type fowl.

Rest assured, there would be statistically insignificant numbers of dual purpose breeds used. The economics of profitably growing commercial birds for meat would prevent their use.

 

[Wax Myrtle]

Fairly sure most noodle soups (and judging by a recent experience) some individually frozen, boneless, skinless thighs are also from spent layers. Although, I'd guess that a lot of pet food chicken comes from spent layers.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Fairly sure most noodle soups (and judging by a recent experience) some individually frozen, boneless, skinless thighs are also from spent layers. Although, I'd guess that a lot of pet food chicken comes from spent layers.

I agree. The bench mark for making soup, soup stock, broth and soups with bits and chunks of chicken is much different. The industrial farmer only has commercial broilers for meat, while the egg laying industry only has light-weight super laying hybrids. The dual purpose type chicken isn't used in either industry to any meaningful extent.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Cornish X isn't a breed, it's a commercial hybrid cross between proprietary strains of white Cornish and something else, usually white Rock. These strains are so far removed from what the backyard breeder can get their hands on that they're practically different breeds by this time. I am absolutely sure that most supermarket chicken is Cornish X, since I grew up in an area that raises literally millions upon millions of them every year on contract for big meat suppliers.

I also know that when you eat canned soups, etc, that you are eating spent layers. Spent layers definitely end up in dog and cat food, as well. There's one university doing research to use chicken feathers to make zero-pollution car batteries. There is very little waste in the food industry, and I'm glad of that. I would be far more upset to have spent layers simply gassed and landfilled than I am that all parts of their bodies are used after death.

 

[donrae]

Hello everyone,

I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to the world of chickens. I am just curious as to which chicken breeds are most commonly used for supermarket chicken. I doubt that the whole chickens are cornish-X since the breast is not that prominent. Would the chicken breasts come primarily from the cornish-x breed?

You might not think the breast is that promeninet on a whole market bird, but go to the meat bird thread and look at carcasses of dual purpose birds. You will see a big difference. Market birds are cornish cross. No one raises Rocks, etc for mass grocery store meat.