2 Responses

1. Some 18 years ago, We discussed with Rav Shmuel Wosner the issue of cross-bred chickens being used in the USA and Israel. Rav Wosner was of the opinion that there is sufficient reasons and no significant differences it’s permitted even though they are cross bred.

   Yet the Kabir breed is not permitted as there are significant differences, and the breeder (katz family) would not reveal to Rav Wosner with what birds were the Kabir breed cross bred.

   We believe that Rav Wosner would not have permitted the Braekel breed either.

   Kabir
                                                                                                              Braekel

2. 18 years ago is a long time… Since then, a lot changed in the poultry industry.
   Harav Wosner ztz”l is on record, far more recently, as having serious doubts about the kashrus of the chicken commonly sold today, after it became known to him how many different strains of chicken are cross-bred into it. The huge, international companies that process this chicken closely guard their trade secrets – worth billions – and therefore it is impossibly to find out exactly what goes into a broiler chicken, in addition to the base of Cornish and Rock. Since most of klal Yisrael eat this food, Harav Wosner exerted himself to find a heter for us to do so, while at the same time strongly encouraging a search for a chicken of a simple breed (heritage) with a clear mesorah.
   When the Braekel was shown to him, he approved it, and recalled that this was the chicken he saw shechted and eaten before the war, in Europe. This is all documented fact and attested to by his talmid, Harav Klein shlit”a.
   The Braekel, as a heritage chicken, is not a cross-breed (hybrid) and therefore the concerns that related to the Kabir are not relevant.
   Furthermore, many shochtim, including the shochet of the Baba Sali, have attested that the Braekel is the chicken they remember from the pre-war era. The Baba Sali’s shochet recalls shecting it for the Baba Sali.
   Anyone who begins to investigate the broiler chicken immediately realizes that the chicken we eat today is nothing like what it looked like decades ago, and certainly not what it was in the pre-war era, when it probably was just a simple cross-breed of Cornish and Rock. Today’s bird matures far faster and is ready to shecht at just 8 weeks. If allowed to live longer, it usually dies young of heart disease or broken legs, as the ridiculously accelerated rate of weight gain – which it has been bred for – is at the expense of general health – the organs and bone structure don’t keep pace.
   Incidentally, Harav Moshe Shternbuch himself, along with the Ga’avad Harav Tuvia Weisss, both signed onto a letter, dated 4 years ago, that the Braekel is kosher with a mesorah.
   A lot of money is at stake here and the misinformation campaign going on is very troubling.