Broiler meat has been improved and is now a healthy, nutritious, convenient product available at a price lower than it was 50 years ago.
Broilers have the best feed conversion ratio of any domesticated land-based animal.
Until 1920, chicken meat was considered a luxury reserved for special occasions. Chickens were strictly a by-product of egg production, as cockerels and unproductive hens were culled from the laying flock. Efforts to raise chickens for meat had been spotty and short-lived. In the mid 1920's production of chickens for meat reached significant levels, and the poultry industry in the United States has evolved dramatically ever since. Beginning in 1926, many processing plants voluntarily participated in a USDA inspection program for wholesomeness.