May 28, 2002
		Scientist Creates Featherless Chicken for Animal Factories. Claiming to be more humane, economical and environmentally gentle, scientists in Israel have bred a featherless chicken which they say is faster growing. The birds, created at Hebrew University, would not need to be plucked, which would help processing plants save money. The head researcher has acknowledged that the featherless chicken would be unsuitable for living in cooler countries, but claims that the breed would fare better in warmer climates and also in the intese heat and overcrowded conditions in the industrial barns that are home for most chickens. Professor Avigdor Cahaner, who headed the project, told the BBC: “This is not a genetically engineered chicken - it comes from a natural breed whose characteristics have been known for 50 years.” Cahaner continued: “I am just transferring that to fast growing broiler chickens. It’s a normal chicken except it has no feathers.” Cahaner also said that broiler hens were over-fed to achieve fast growth, which means that they produce more body heat, adding to their suffering in hotter climates. The featherless breed tend to be leaner and grow faster, which could save the producers money. He claimed that removing the plucking process would reduce pollution because that procedure produces large quantities of water that has been contaminated with feathers and fat. Animal protection groups, however, have warned that feathers are essential to help the birds ward off parasites and that without them, they are likely to suffer from sunburn. Broiler chickens are already bred to have thin skin, and the bald chickens would lose the needed protection that the feathers give them, particularly given the violence inherent in the wrteched overcrowded conditions of factory farms.