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Why is chicken so cheap? | The Economist
- The industry expects intensive breeding to persist as long as consumer demand prioritizes low-cost and abundant chicken supplies.
- Operational plans involve cleaning barns within a 7 to 10-day window between production cycles.
- The farm anticipates executing 7.5 to 8 annual cycles, each delivering approximately 90,000 chicks.
- Market analysis suggests that higher-welfare organic or free-range models are not economically viable due to the significant price disparity with intensively reared products.
- Current selective breeding enables rapid weight gain and larger bird size, yet results in physiological dependence on human technology and medical complications if birds exceed their intended lifespan.
- Strategic reliance on a shrinking genetic pool creates a systemic vulnerability where a single avian health issue could impact the entire population.