[Avodah] Kashrut agency will not slaughter controversial chicken

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

This whole thing reminds me of the one-a-generation broohaha over leghorn
chickens. Leghorns and braekels are chickens, much the way chihuahuas
are dogs, despire being rather unique looking dogs -- or chickens. Like
other chickens, they are Gallus gallus domesticus. Not even a remote
question of problems interbreeding.

Every 20 years or so someone notices that the leghorn chicken has two
"thumbs" pointing back, and two toes pointing forward, rather than the
usual 3-and-1 we expect for kosher birds. And yet, white leghorns make
beautifully white eggs, and so it is the breed most American chicken
eggs come from.

Actually, both it and the braekel chicken do indeed grab the perch in
a 2-and-2 grip, once comfortably on it, they go to the 3-and-1 of the
rest of the species.

And like the leghorn chicken, the braekel chicken is a source of
eggs in the US. However, not under the name "braekel". But America's
campine chicken, which has the same kind of foot, was breed from the
Kempishe Breakel.

The question was resolved quite a while ago, which is why we in the US
don't have to chase down which breed of chicken an egg came from.

So maybe the question is like that of the zebu, where the question was
raised, we were about to assur, and then it was found that in much
of the world zebu was already being eaten as cow. And in fact, MOST
tefillin made from gasos are zebu leather!

The breakel, which is a normal enough part of the general chicken gene
pool to get the usual taxonomical name -- Gallus gallus domesticus. But
there are two subspecies of cow: those without a hump between their
shoulder are Bos taurus taurus. Those that have such a hump, eg zebu,
are Bos taurus indicus.

But I thought the definition of "min" for animals is that they can
interbreed and produce fertile young, in which case how did any of these
questions get started? The mesorah for chickens must therefore include
oddballs of the min like leghorn, braekel and campine breeds, and that
for cows must include the full min, both subspecies.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             You will never "find" time for anything.
micha at aishdas.org        If you want time, you must make it.
http://www.aishdas.org                     - Charles Buxton
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