Scrawny chickens

Post by **chickaboom** » June 23, 2013, 6:52 am

Does anyone know why most chickens here are of the ling legged skinny type rather than the plumb, big breasted ones we have in the West? When I see them at the market there doesn’t seem to be a lot of meat on them but maybe they taste better?

Post by **BobHelm** » June 23, 2013, 7:53 am

I am sure that if you went into a Thai Chicken Factory Farm that they would be identical to plumb chickens that you see in the West.
That is the result of being immobile & force fed chemicals for a very short live span.

The male chicken you see in Thailand are also used for the sport of cock fighting.
A short legged , over weight 'food style' chicken would not make a very attractive betting prospect in the ring...
The genes for a male chicken come from the mother as well as the father, hence the variety of, mainly scavenging, bird raised.
An outdoor bred bird will automatically have more muscle than something that cannot move. As such it would need to be slow cooked if the requirement is to have tender meat...

Post by **pienmash** » June 23, 2013, 8:05 am

Non factory farm reared chickens are the skinny ones you refer to ,, free range wanderers prized by their owners ,,,,until they are skint and need to scoff one , grilld gai yang in the villages is most the skinny variety ,,,, the nice plump cickens and their various cuts seen in the supermarkets are all factory bred , and pumped with all sorts of stuff to make them bigger quicker to the selling weight ,, and precisely the reason my business doesnt stock chicken of any kind ..

Whilst living on a farm in Buriram i had my own gang on scrawny chickens , loved them dearly the big daddy was named Elvis and the momma was Priscilla ...they ruled the roost until my then mother n father in law ate them ,,,bastards !! i filed for divorce and ended up in Udon ,,,,so blame it on the chickens .

mash

Post by **trubrit** » June 23, 2013, 11:06 am

Not the same bird .

: jungle fowl.jpg (8.87 KiB) Viewed 2597 times

: chicken.jpg (8.86 KiB) Viewed 2597 times

The jungle fowl is more closely related to our pheasant than a chicken.Note the long legs for foraging in higher vegetation.
.

Post by **parrot** » June 23, 2013, 11:19 am

Free-range, non-hormone fed chickens are all the rage in some parts of the US. And you pay a premium price!
For me, the best chicken is somewhere between a true gai bahn (ไก่บ้าน) that very tough and a forced fed chicken (like Big C sells) that has no texture. The chickens at the famous bbq store in Khao Suan Kwang (เขาสวนกวาง) on the way to Khonkaen are the perfect texture (IMO).
Back in the 70's when I was stationed at NKP, I knew a fair number of GIs who refused to eat local chicken......as in, the same ones feeding off the side of the road/klongs. Too bad for them, they missed out on some of the best grilled chicken made by the local Vietnamese market vendors.

Post by **pienmash** » June 23, 2013, 12:09 pm

I reclon the chickens from the 5 star booths are dam nice ,,,regardless of what they were fed on before being murdered

Post by **jai yen yen** » June 23, 2013, 1:52 pm

The chickens that you call scrawny are actually a fighting breed, meat birds are totally different and are actually better eating if they are raised free range. Thais prefer to eat the fighting ones although they are tougher to chew on, my wife says the fighting chickens have more flavour.

Post by **BigRick808** » June 24, 2013, 2:33 am

I'm far from a chicken expert, but I don't think they usually sell roosters in the stores in the West. On farms some people castrate the males and they grow big and fat and are more tender. I'm pretty sure commercial suppliers use only hens for the most part.

Post by **jai yen yen** » June 24, 2013, 5:38 am

BigRick808 wrote:I'm far from a chicken expert, but I don't think they usually sell roosters in the stores in the West. On farms some people castrate the males and they grow big and fat and are more tender. I'm pretty sure commercial suppliers use only hens for the most part.

When I was a kid I worked on a commercial chicken farm, the roosters and hens are both raised for meat birds. The meat birds are a breed designed for maximum growth in a short period and maximum amount of meat versus bone size, in fact if you keep them too long they get so heavy they can't walk. Similar to some Farang you can find around Thailand.

Post by **Tracechain** » June 24, 2013, 5:48 am

Here is one observation, and just an observation. I am surrounded by chickens where I live. I've seen skinny ones, fat ones, all colors and shapes...long and short legs. I have concluded that they all have one thing in common, they crap all over the place!

Post by **BigRick808** » June 24, 2013, 6:56 am

jai yen yen wrote:
BigRick808 wrote:I'm far from a chicken expert, but I don't think they usually sell roosters in the stores in the West. On farms some people castrate the males and they grow big and fat and are more tender. I'm pretty sure commercial suppliers use only hens for the most part.
When I was a kid I worked on a commercial chicken farm, the roosters and hens are both raised for meat birds. The meat birds are a breed designed for maximum growth in a short period and maximum amount of meat versus bone size, in fact if you keep them too long they get so heavy they can't walk. Similar to some Farang you can find around Thailand.

I don't have to come to Thailand to find that

BTW, when exactly where you a kid? Did you guys raise, process, and wholesale? I would think the consumer would prefer the hen and this sets demand and the suppliers would compete to meet demand. Seems it would be best to use the males for hot dogs , sausages, potted meats, etc.
IDK-- as I said...not a chicken expert

Just trying to add to the forum

Be well!

Post by **BigRick808** » June 24, 2013, 6:58 am

Tracechain wrote:Here is one observation, and just an observation. I am surrounded by chickens where I live. I've seen skinny ones, fat ones, all colors and shapes...long and short legs. I have concluded that they all have one thing in common, they crap all over the place!

Hey! That's a sh*tty thing to say!

Post by **trubrit** » June 24, 2013, 9:02 am

It would appear that many are not up to date on poultry rearing. Firstly males are chemically castrated at about three days old by injection, this encourages the feminine characteristics to develop rather than the male ones. These are known as capons. Most poultry meat you buy is from them . They are preferred over the hens as being tenderer and of course for the bigger and quicker weight gain they have .(photo illustrates)

: chickens.jpg (4.98 KiB) Viewed 2386 times

There was at some time a theory that eating these birds could cause a change in human sexuality. It was never proven but many still believe it to be true .Hens on the other hand are rarely sold as meat until their egg laying days are over and then only normally as processed chicken /ie pies, burgers etc .

Post by **pienmash** » June 24, 2013, 9:14 am

Its a hard life being a chicken ..........

Post by **goshawk** » June 24, 2013, 10:30 am

A high proportion of chicks are sexed at 1 day old ,the males being killed and sold as pet food.(uk)

Post by **goshawk** » June 24, 2013, 10:35 am

pienmash wrote:Its a hard life being a chicken ..........

it is if your a male

Post by **jai yen yen** » June 24, 2013, 12:16 pm

BigRick808 wrote:
jai yen yen wrote:
BigRick808 wrote:I'm far from a chicken expert, but I don't think they usually sell roosters in the stores in the West. On farms some people castrate the males and they grow big and fat and are more tender. I'm pretty sure commercial suppliers use only hens for the most part.
When I was a kid I worked on a commercial chicken farm, the roosters and hens are both raised for meat birds. The meat birds are a breed designed for maximum growth in a short period and maximum amount of meat versus bone size, in fact if you keep them too long they get so heavy they can't walk. Similar to some Farang you can find around Thailand.

I don't have to come to Thailand to find that BTW, when exactly where you a kid? Did you guys raise, process, and wholesale? I would think the consumer would prefer the hen and this sets demand and the suppliers would compete to meet demand. Seems it would be best to use the males for hot dogs , sausages, potted meats, etc.
IDK-- as I said...not a chicken expert Just trying to add to the forum Be well!

This was about 40 years ago in B.C. Canada. I was there from the time the chicks were brought in until the catchers came to take them away, for sure some were roosters and some hens. I even raised a few meat birds at home about 25 years ago, again some were roosters. I kept one rooster as he was very tall and feisty, really protected the hens and actually killed a raccoon that came in the hen house one night, that guy would fight anything, left me with a bleeding leg one time. He was a tough guy, definately had my respect.

Post by **BigRick808** » June 26, 2013, 8:06 pm

jai yen yen wrote:
BigRick808 wrote:I'm far from a chicken expert, but I don't think they usually sell roosters in the stores in the West. On farms some people castrate the males and they grow big and fat and are more tender. I'm pretty sure commercial suppliers use only hens for the most part.
When I was a kid I worked on a commercial chicken farm, the roosters and hens are both raised for meat birds. The meat birds are a breed designed for maximum growth in a short period and maximum amount of meat versus bone size, in fact if you keep them too long they get so heavy they can't walk. Similar to some Farang you can find around Thailand.

I looked into the chicken industry a little more and found out that you're right. Both male and female chicks are ready in about 5-6 weeks, and since they are ready so quick, they both pretty much taste same. I didn't realize that there are so many different divisions of production in the poultry industry. The next time someone asks....

Here are a couple articles for anyone interested. I realize Wikipedia isn't always the best source for info(sometimes it's pretty good) but after reading several articles from different sources, I think these two sum it up fairly well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broiler http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capon