What breeds make broiler chickens?
The most popular term for the typical white broiler is “Cornish-Rock” which quickly gives away what the original parent stock were: a Cornish game rooster which is a heavy-muscled, large-breasted breed, bred to a White Plymouth Rock hen, a fast growing, large framed, well-balanced bird. The cross combines the two, and ideally would deliver best of both breeds, but the ultra-efficient broilers we see today are made up of generations, on generations of elite genetic selection from multiple breeds.
At the large scale companies who breed broilers there are many generations. To give an idea of what their “coop” looks like… first you have eight breeding groups of your “pure lines”, each of those groups are dedicated to produce selected males or females for the “grandparent lines”. The 4 grandparent lines are combined and produce a specific male, and a specific female to produce the “parent stock” for the end result, which is the broiler we raise for meat.
In the olden days, it would take up to 6 months for the chicken to reach proper butchering size, and the birds were not feed-efficient, and had a much tougher texture, making them harder to eat in a normal dish. These were normally a vintage version of what our New Hampshire reds, Plymouth rocks, or Rhode Island reds are today.
Now, broiler chickens are at butcher weight in just 7-8 weeks, with lower inputs and higher outputs, while delivering a tender, well muscled, easily plucked chicken.
the potters table 