Fed: A Chicken and Egg Story

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

So we started farming this bird called chicken, and it spread around the world. But what does it actually TAKE to feed us the amount of chicken we want to consume?

100 years ago this was a scrawny, egg-laying bird, only good for a stew once her eggs ran out – no one ate chicken meat. Fast forward to today and it’s the most consumed protein on the planet. How did we come to eat it in the first place, and what are the consequences of producing chicken meat on the vast, industrial scales we now consume it?

Dr Chris van Tulleken uncovers the extraordinary accident of history that birthed a new industry, and changed the way we eat – and think about – meat forever.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to quickly tell you about some others.
0:05.0	My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland.
0:11.0	It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter
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0:31.3	So if you like this podcast head to BBC
0:33.8	signs where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the
0:38.1	UK.
0:40.1	What time is it? It's 745. So we should we should put the chicks away in a minute. Oh there we go.
0:47.5	It's week two of the great Van Tullican chicken experiment.
0:52.0	Pick them up so that they're used to being handled.
0:55.0	So I've got five very small squeaking chicks
0:58.0	leaving a huge cardboard box in my study.
1:01.0	And the experiment seemed like a really good idea when I came up with it.
1:04.3	Look at this guy, look at it.
1:05.3	Water's just standing on my hand.
1:07.3	Also quite small and squeaky are my two daughters, Lyra and Sasha and they've named them.
1:11.9	And that one's yours. No And that one's yours.
1:14.0	No, that one's mine and that one's mine.
1:16.0	But these aren't your usual backyard birds.
1:19.0	None of mine are ever going to lay an egg.
1:21.0	I've got broiler birds, bred for meat. My plan is in about five weeks to
	...

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