Are there any GMO chickens in the world?

Expert response from GMOAnswers Admin_1

Thursday, 09/06/2016 23:05

Are chickens GMO? No, there is no such thing as a GMO chicken. In fact, there are not currently any genetically modified animals commercially available for food. In late 2015, genetically engineered salmon was the first GE animal to be approved but it will not be on the market and available for purchase for a few years. Modern chickens are bigger than ever before, which raises the question – how’d we do that? A number of factors go into raising larger, healthier birds, but creating genetically modified chickens isn’t one of them.

So what factors do go into raising larger, healthier chickens? It all starts with selective breeding. Over the years, we’ve selected chickens with the best traits (size, health, leg strength, etc.) for breeding, to help get the best start possible without creating GMO chickens

Modern advances in farming including state-of-the-art housing, nutrition, climate controls and biosecurity, coupled with good animal husbandry and cooperation between farmers and veterinarians, all help us raise larger, healthier birds.

So in answer to your question, ‘are chickens genetically modified?’ the answer is no – they are made more desirable through selective breeding only. Which means all chicken available to purchase today is non-GMO chicken.