Dual-purpose chickens require a product specification, not a welfare shortcut

A new review from Ege University examines dual-purpose chickens as an alternative to highly specialised meat and laying lines. The starting point is well known: males from laying strains have insufficient meat yield, while the culling of male chicks is under growing ethical and regulatory pressure. The authors compare performance, carcass traits and breast-meat characteristics, while considering genetics, feeding and housing systems together.