Why does chicken eating quality vary?

[einstein]

Asking for a friend...I said it maybe diet,age of the bird,breed?
Her son has commented that his chicken isn't what it use to be..
Also she ...like many others has said there must be hormones in the feed??
Can someone tell me what a typical diet would be? Are antibiotics and hormones involved?
And from abbatoir to the supermarket is anything else added.
I'm asking about budget chicken really...
Would free range be produced in the same way.?

 

[Woolless]

Your modern supermarket chicken is very fast growing (ready in six weeks or possibly less now?), fed a pelleted diet and doesn't have space or need to move far. Efficient, yes. A recipe for eating quality, absolutely not.

 

[chickens and wheat]

No hormones or growth promotors, anti biotics increasingly rare.

There is a syndrome called woody breast which strikes randomly and alters the texture of the meat, not pleasant tbh.
We are growing the birds slightly smaller to try and prevent wood breast,but it can occur in smaller birds also.
The breeding companies told us several years ago that they didnt know the root cause of wood breast but would eradicate it with selective breeding. Seemed a bit of a brave promise at the time .

Main diet ingredients are wheat and soya,. With a coccidiostat added as without it you get major problems.

 

[Chasingmytail]

no fat is the issue.

Breeds - ie old strains crossed give depth of flavour

No growth hormones are allowed in uk.

Im happy to pay over £10 for a bird that tastes good and I can make a healthy stock out of.

You cant raise free range cheaply. Birds raised in low numbers on grass with sun and rain is what natural intended.

 

[Dry Rot]

I breed OEG for this reason. Don't eat the eggs. They are currently penned, still taste good, but I think they were tastier when on free range and roosting in the trees. Currently on straight whole barley. But they are slow growing (and not commercial).

As we all know certain breeds of sheep and cattle taste different and animals when fed different diets taste different. It's common sense, isn't it?

While on the subject, could this be the future for British meat? (Not saying whether good or bad!). Import the food for the super markets and sell home bred (gourmet) through the delicatessens?

 

[Netherfield]

OEG ?

 

[chickens and wheat]

tbf our chicken tastes pretty good, fresh, standard broilers.

Our local butcher did a blind tasting sample on his counter, cubes of chicken on cocktail sticks, standard, higher welfare and organic, most people couldnt tell the difference, many got it wrong,
He went with the middle ground as it was the most profitable for him, People will pay for a fancier wrapping bag. human nature

i do understand cube of cold chicken on sticks isnt the best way of comparing, but it is a way.

Sadly that butcher has now closed, he was only a mile from the nearest morrisons, also he had a bad habit of parking his own van right outside his own shop, so customers couldnt park up, instead rolling on to morrisons

 

[Ukjay]

OEG ?

I assumed Old English Game

 

[Bongodog]

You can see the quality of modern quick produced chicken by the amount of water that comes out when you cook it, Its just quick cheap protein more or less tasteless.

 

[teslacoils]

From the old Morrisons supermarket I've concluded there is no real taste or texture difference from normal, organic, or this "corn fed" chicken.

I just mainly eat the thighs now which are the only decent bit I can buy with the skin on.

 

[Castle Farm]

Super market birds and free range traditional birds are like lamb and mutton.
My FR birds never get fed pellets, just a grain diet and what they find around the farm.
All my birds are Indian (Cornish) Game cross Australorp. The bird in the picture is a Welsh Black Fowl. A strain I developed over the last 20 years. They are a good size bird and the hens lay well for a traditional breed.

 

[chickens and wheat]

I feel guilty now for buying so much feed from local mills. Arable farmers would prefer to keep their wheat than be forced to sell it

 

[Wilksy]

It’s an interesting thread, we’ve been experiencing some tough chicken breast, so convinced the missus to stop buying cheap supermarket chicken and get it from the butchers, vast difference in price but so is the taste and texture

 

[Woolless]

From the old Morrisons supermarket I've concluded there is no real taste or texture difference from normal, organic, or this "corn fed" chicken.

I just mainly eat the thighs now which are the only decent bit I can buy with the skin on.

Chicken thighs are definitely better and also means that you avoid 'wooden breast' (a new one on me).

 

[BuskhillFarm]

I eat a lot of chicken and 95% is nice but you do get the odd pack that’s a bit hard or not as nice textured (always from same supplier)
I do remember a man being hauled over the coals for taking cattle to abattoir and they turned up with hormones in them… turned out he had a tonne of turkey feed left over from Christmas he put in diet feeder…

 

[chickens and wheat]

What hormone would that be? When did this happen?

 

[BuskhillFarm]

What hormone would that be? When did this happen?

Honestly don’t know. Just a convo I overheard in daera from a few high ups. Was 6-7 years ago
Stands to reason when they’re pumping chickens out in less than 4 weeks

 

[chickens and wheat]

Stands no reason at all, please dont offend us with non facts

 

[Fogg]

It wouldn't have been hormones, it could happen with a coccidiostat, but there aren't any performance enhancing hormones in poultry feed. Not over here, anyway.

Broiler growth rate is primarily down to selective breeding of the parent stock.

 

[einstein]

Thanks for all the replies..
Also curious about corn fed chicken....would that be fed on maize only?
Why do folks think this may be better??
Am I right in thinking that all soya and maize used would be GM..?