Hairless chicken: This Israeli breed caused a scandal and a storm of emotions (8 photos)

This chicken breed has caused a stir around the world. In 2002, Israeli scientists unveiled a completely featherless bird—the naked chicken! They worked on it for half a century, but their efforts were booed and called cruelty. How did this happen?





It's a strange feeling when a store-bought chicken seems to come to life again.

The Israeli hairless chicken is the result of meticulous breeding work. It took 50 years at the Israeli Institute of Agronomy! With this new breed, researchers were trying to preserve and increase the wealth of local farmers. The problem is that Israel has a rather unfavorable climate. The average summer temperature here never drops below 30°C. Chickens, however, find it comfortable to live 10°C lower. So, the scientists decided to alleviate the suffering of these poultry farmers by removing excess body hair.



— Mom, come out, I'm in the shower! — Oh, what haven't I seen there!

For half a century, scientists have been crossing broilers, naked-necked chickens, and egg-laying breeds. The fruit of scientific experiments borrowed its size from broilers. The Israeli Hairless chicken is a meat breed. They inherited the Na gene from naked-necked chickens. This gene reduces the overall feather count by 20-40%.





Naked-necked chickens originated in countries with hot climates. They truly tolerate high temperatures much better than other breeds.



It's immediately obvious – a bandit's wife!

The second gene for complete hairlessness (sc/sc). It was discovered among small egg-laying hens. It doesn't just reduce the number of feathers, it completely disables their growth. Furthermore, the birds lose their scales on their feet and spurs. What happened? Look at the photo!



Chickens without complexes.

Nude hens certainly had their advantages. Hairless hens stoically tolerated temperatures of 30-40°C. And in this scorching heat, they grew faster and larger than other breeds. Furthermore, plucking the carcass requires zero effort. There are no feathers! No unnecessary waste, savings on labor—beautiful! It would seem that the new breed is the perfect solution for countries where Tashkent is always the norm. However, the Israeli hairless chicken didn't even catch on in its homeland.



All the photos you see in this article are over 10 years old. There has been no news about the breed since its announcement.

The breed was criticized immediately after its announcement. And not without reason. Birds don't wear feathers for beauty. They are a basic part of their body's functioning. Hairless chickens have lost all protection from external environmental conditions. It's like a person walking naked into the forest. Dust, parasitic insects, temperature fluctuations, direct sunlight, fungi, bacteria—the chickens were literally naked before all these threats! The only place where such birds could exist was in closed, sterile, clean enclosures with constant temperature control.



It turns out the best places for these chickens are the laboratories where the breed was developed over many years!

These mutants won't be able to reproduce naturally either. Chickens love each other with a touch of tin and BDSM. A rooster tramples a hen, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck. But with bald chickens, the featherless Don Juan will have nothing to grab onto. Balancing isn't an option either—he has no wings! Trying to hold on to the object of his desire, the rooster will inevitably scratch the hen's back with his claws. For the hen, this can be fatal. The scratches themselves may heal, but other hens won't tolerate weakness. They finish off their wounded brethren.



Get the chickens away from the screens!

The result of years of hard work by Israeli scientists is a complete failure. Nudist farms with naked chickens have not appeared even in the hottest countries. After a storm of angry criticism, the development was halted—more than 10 years had passed since the last news about the breed. Do you think this is fair?