Mutant Chickens Bred to Lack Feathers

A new strain of chicken has been bred to lack feathers, which is designed to keep the chickens cooler, reduce plucking costs, and help to lessen environmental waste. In addition, as a food, this strain may have less fat.

The strain was developed by Dr. Avigdor Cahaner, a professor of quantitative genetics at the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences at Hebrew University (Rehovet, Israel). Dr. Cahaner crossed a mutant strain of featherless chicken discovered in 1954 with a large, fast-growing broiler. To date, he has produced a few dozen chickens, all naked with the exception of a few tufts of feathers. Prof. Cahaner says these chickens do not require sophisticated ventilation systems since they do not get as hot as regular chickens.

Animal rights advocates are criticizing the experiment. They say chickens need feathers to protect themselves from pecking and also to help them stay cool when it is hot weather. In a rejoinder, Dr. Cahaner has stated that broilers don't peck and pointed out that as many as 10-20% of feathered chickens die from the heat, and this figure could rise to 100% in a severe heat wave. Dr. Cahaner is a vice president of the World Poultry Science Association.



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Hebrew Univ.