Egg laying chickens (layers) are very different from meat chickens (broilers). Layers have been bred to be lean and put their calorie surplus into producing eggs. Broilers have been bred to pack on weight as quickly and efficiently as possible. No one eats layer chickens they are usually turned into compost or pet food.
Source: My wife manages +100K birds on one of the largest egg farms in the US
Chicken breeds used by commercial operations are highly optimised for either meat or egg production. Hobby or specialist farmers might do as you describe, often with more general-purpose breeds, but it usually isn't worth raising a layer breed bird for meat.
as I understand, male chickens are aggressive and really hard to raise. they fight and destroy one another when kept at the density that industrial processes would like to keep them at. And I don't think the meat is very good or desirable.
Not defending any of this, just saying there's a rationale and twisted incentives to do this twisted things we do
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Wait, I always thought that they would let them grow up to full size, and then kill them for meat? Why kill them immediately?
Egg laying chickens (layers) are very different from meat chickens (broilers). Layers have been bred to be lean and put their calorie surplus into producing eggs. Broilers have been bred to pack on weight as quickly and efficiently as possible. No one eats layer chickens they are usually turned into compost or pet food.
Source: My wife manages +100K birds on one of the largest egg farms in the US
Chicken breeds used by commercial operations are highly optimised for either meat or egg production. Hobby or specialist farmers might do as you describe, often with more general-purpose breeds, but it usually isn't worth raising a layer breed bird for meat.
as I understand, male chickens are aggressive and really hard to raise. they fight and destroy one another when kept at the density that industrial processes would like to keep them at. And I don't think the meat is very good or desirable.
Not defending any of this, just saying there's a rationale and twisted incentives to do this twisted things we do
the article says it costs more to raise a male chicken to be slaughtered than they can sell the meat for
Males provide just too little meat.