Why chickens are twice as big today as they were 60 years ago

MarketWatch ^ | January 7, 2017 | Evie Liu

[Trump20162020]

American families are getting smaller and yet chickens are getting larger.

As we begin 2017, Americans can look back at 2016 as yet another year with record-high chicken consumption—an average of 89.6 pounds per person. That’s more than three times as much as our grandparents ate.

Chickens we eat today are twice as big as they were 60 years ago. In 1955, the average weight of chickens sold on market was 3.07 pounds, while the number for the first half of 2016 was 6.18 pounds, according to National Chicken Council, a nonprofit trade organization based in Washington, D.C.

[BigEdLB]

It’s Trump’s fault, of course. /s

[Ciaphas Cain]

Two hundred years in the future they will be monstrous!

[Delta 21]

Why chickens Americans are twice as big today as they were 60 years ago.....

[Moonman62]

I thought they were pumping the meat full of water.

[TalBlack]

One word: Perdue. Frank made high standard chicken his mission.

[stars & stripes forever]

I go for the range-fed chickens. They are tastier.

The abnormally large chicken piece have a strange texture.

[tet68]

Chickens weigh twice as much today?
I weigh twice as much today.
Obviously gravity is increasing,
doubling in a mere 50 years.
Meanwhile candy bars continue to shrink,
just like pants.

[Still Thinking]

American families are getting smaller and yet chickens are getting larger.

They have to. With the Ebola economy, people can only afford half a chicken in every pot.

[Dacula]

I have got 5 girls and the are the biggest amongst all our friends who also have chickens. We feed them very well and take good care of them daily. They also eat a lot of our leftover food that is natural.

Nothing better than fresh eggs.

[Billthedrill]

just like pants

Yep, mine are certainly like that. But not the legs, just the waists. I asked a physicist friend why that was and he said it's because gravity is up and down, not back and forth. It makes sense to me.

[bigbob]

Silicone. No wait, that’s just the breasts...

[Zeneta]

[17th Miss Regt]

He’s got a book under his wing. I can just barely make out the title - “To Serve Man”.

[Georgia Girl 2]

We also have 5 hens but they are only average size. One is a Silkie and is bantam size. The Ameracaunas are not that big. If it lookjs like the grid is going down I’ll run out and get some Buckeyes. :-)

[TomGuy]

2016 was 6.18 pounds

Likely part of that extra weight is from the saline solution pumped into the meat during the processing cycle.

[Morpheus2009]

The changing climate is mutating the chickens. In a few years chickenZilla will have a rampage.

[dragonblustar]

LoL!

[Joe Bfstplk]

They are attempting to breed a boneless, all-white-meat chicken.

[zeestephen]

Bottom Line...

“Top of the Food Chain” is the only planet you ever want to live on.