Pteranodon thighs

[quilbilly]

Has anybody else noticed that chicken thighs (frozen or unfrozen) from the grocery store have gotten much larger recently? They are huge in my neck of the woods recently. Have the growers found a new way to grow chickens faster and with less food? Not complaining - just curious.

[Wayne Smith]

Don't know, but the frozen breasts we get from Sam's are huge enough that we split one for the two of us - routinely, not just some of the time. This has been true for the past few years.

[45_Colt]

Yes, growth hormones. It is in all food today. I've become verrryy picky about which meats I purchase. An example was that ham steaks were on sale last week. I looked at and checked every single one in the case before I selected the one to purchase.

The others had a ton of gristle, fat, and looked old (pig old). So a no go there.

All food today needs to be looked over carefully. Even produce such as lettuce, oranges, potatoes and so on. Oh, and be sure to check the sell by dates. I've found food stuffs going on a month old sell by. Yea, your problem, not to be pushed onto me.

It just isn't the same as it used to be.

45_Colt

[Johnch]

I seem to remember seeing a You Tube video about how chickens are raised
Some can barely walk from how big they grow

John

[FISH4BUGS]

Exactly the reason we buy our processed whole chickens from a local farm. I know what she feeds them, how they are housed, and how they get treated. We average about 18 chickens a year.
$4 a pound for whole chickens.....average 5 lbs each....bagged with twist ties.....they go straight into the freezer....and they are worth every penny.

[jonp]

Yes. The problem with the chicken and turkeys is that there is no one to slaughter them when needed so they were held over getting bigger. I talked to someone at a turkey grower last year about that.

[Misery-Whip]

Ive got a sexlink hen thats 3 years old. Still lays, good sized, but lean. Ive gotten to hold of her a few times, its her feathers that make her look fat.

Dont think I dont feed her or the others, they cost a small fortune for high quality feed. Not purina stuff.

So they are feeding them something that isnt natural.

[ulav8r]

We raised chickens for Tyson for a few years. When we first started averaged 5 1/2 to 6 weeks per batch. After 3-4 years seldom exceeded 5 weeks for the same size chickens, usually averaging just over 5 pounds. Yes, they were putting growth hormones and antibiotics in the feed.

[DocSavage]

I've been calling the huge chicken thighs Teenage Mutant Ninja Chickens

[granville_it]

There not turkey?.

Mark

[Mal Paso]

They grow the chicken parts in a lab now so they can make them any size they want. That way they don't have to grow beaks, feathers and the less profitable parts like backs. More than likely a bean counter chose the size as the most profitable.

[farmer66]

We have bought fresh rotisseree cooked whole chickens at Sams Club for a few years. They are huge and $4.98 each. I don't know how they can make a living at that price. We get at least one a week.

[alfadan]

Yes, and I think they're gross. Unnatural and flavorless. They are so thick you can't cook them through without burning them. Always have blood against the bone.

[rancher1913]

Exactly the reason we buy our processed whole chickens from a local farm. I know what she feeds them, how they are housed, and how they get treated. We average about 18 chickens a year.
$4 a pound for whole chickens.....average 5 lbs each....bagged with twist ties.....they go straight into the freezer....and they are worth every penny.

we had thoughts of selling some of the ones we raise but nobody would pay the 20 bucks a head that we needed to come out even on them, so we only do about 50 a year and they all go in our freezer.

[10x]

Yes, and I think they're gross. Unnatural and flavorless. They are so thick you can't cook them through without burning them. Always have blood against the bone.

Blood left in chicken meat is because they gas them rather than decapitate them. When we had farm raised and home butchered chicken we never had blood in the meat.
I only buy halal chicken now, it has been bled properly and there is never blood around the bones.

[Thumbcocker]

https://youtu.be/G__PVLB8Nm4

[Hometek]

Yes, growth hormones. It is in all food today. I've become verrryy picky about which meats I purchase. An example was that ham steaks were on sale last week. I looked at and checked every single one in the case before I selected the one to purchase.

The others had a ton of gristle, fat, and looked old (pig old). So a no go there.

All food today needs to be looked over carefully. Even produce such as lettuce, oranges, potatoes and so on. Oh, and be sure to check the sell by dates. I've found food stuffs going on a month old sell by. Yea, your problem, not to be pushed onto me.

It just isn't the same as it used to be.

45_Colt

So just to clear up a common misconception. Nobody feeds growth hormones to chicken. Not only is that a turn off to certain consumers, it's also impractical with an animal that grows so fast. USDA has banned growth hormones in chickens since the 1950s.
https://www.chickencheck.in/blog/4-r...20the%201950s.

The birds have been bred to get to slaughter size incredibly fast and the way growth hormones work it's just impractical. Antibiotics are usually what people are thinking of when they object to modern farming practices. I raise pullets for the cage free/pasture raised egg producers. We don't use antibiotics. There is a lot of misconceptions that consumers have of the poultry industry. There will always be people that will raise a chicken just like you want and remember from the 50s. They will be very expensive. Some people value that enough to pay the premium, the far majority wants to get their Thursday KFC special for as cheap as they can.

Being in the niche market, our biggest challenge is to incorporate ethical practices in a way that is financially attractive to the few consumers that value such farming practices. In US today, you live close enough to a farm that grows such an animal, the question is then, do you value such a product enough to put your money where your mouth is, or has the extremely low cost of food lured you to the lowest common denominator.

https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50sfood.html

According to this website, in 1950 chicken was .43 per lb, eggs were .79 per dozen, adjusted for inflation that is 5.30/lb and 9.73/dz. The change in price reflects the economy of raising poultry in the modern age with modern practices, larger operations required to compensate for far lower profit margins, and the ease of transporting farm goods. It's easy to have a doom and gloom attitude, but never in the history of mankind has man had such buying power and choice of goods. I guarantee that every one here has a person or store within driving distance that has heritage breed broilers and eggs within 6/lbs and 10/dz that would love to have you as a customer. Patronize these growers, reward them for providing such a valuable serive, and watch the magic of capitalism.

[CBH]

Selective breeding over many generations to acquire the chicken that you want. Example: Laying hens for major egg producers typically have very little meat but can lay more eggs then others. They live approx. 100 weeks before they’re taken out of production.

[Hometek]

What's also very interesting about brown layer hens that are raised commercially. If they are taken care of and look nice at the end of 100 weeks, there are groups of people, most of the population of the world actually, that prefer the taste and texture of layer hens for soup. And pay upwards of 8-15$ per bird. Spanish speaking peoples call it sopa de gallina, the French coq au vin, the Chinese dùnjītāng lǎomǔjī, Americans just call it chicken bullion. We add it to soup to help out the bland tasting chicken we buy from Krogers ect. The disconnect of the average American from the origin of the food they consume is frightening.

[Omega]

I wish Popeyes would get some of these large chickens. It seems their drumsticks and thighs are much smaller lately, but priced the same.