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 are sure that Rav Wosner would not have permitted the Braekel breed either.
Harav Wosner ztz”l is on record as having approved the Braekel, after having greatly encouraged a search for a kosher chicken without the serious shailos that he found on the chickens marketed today. His talmid Harav Shaul Klein shlit”a attests to this.
The Braekel is not a cross-breed therefore the concerns relating to the kabir chickens are not relevant.
However, the chickens commonly marketed today are no longer just Cornish-Rock hybrids. It’s well-known that many other breeds have been cross-bred into what’s called a broiler chicken, in order to produce the fast-growing bird that we today know as chicken. The huge, international companies that produce these chickens guard their trade secrets much more carefully than the Katz family did, and so it is easy to understand why Harav Wosner was so anxious that an alternative to these chickens be found. For the meantime, he permitted (with difficulty) the chickens we eat today. This is all documented fact.
The shochet of the Baba Sali ztz”l has attested that the Braekel was what he shechted for the Baba Sali. Many other shochtim are on record as recalling the Braekel as the chicken they shechted before WW2. The Braekel was once commonly found across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and it is even theorized that it originated in the Middle East and was brought back to Belgium with the Crusaders. It was only once cheap, large, quickly-maturing broiler chickens entered the market that such original breeds such as the Braekel started to disappear from the market.
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 are sure that Rav Wosner would not have permitted the Braekel breed either.
Kabir
Braekel
Harav Wosner ztz”l is on record as having approved the Braekel, after having greatly encouraged a search for a kosher chicken without the serious shailos that he found on the chickens marketed today. His talmid Harav Shaul Klein shlit”a attests to this.
The Braekel is not a cross-breed therefore the concerns relating to the kabir chickens are not relevant.
However, the chickens commonly marketed today are no longer just Cornish-Rock hybrids. It’s well-known that many other breeds have been cross-bred into what’s called a broiler chicken, in order to produce the fast-growing bird that we today know as chicken. The huge, international companies that produce these chickens guard their trade secrets much more carefully than the Katz family did, and so it is easy to understand why Harav Wosner was so anxious that an alternative to these chickens be found. For the meantime, he permitted (with difficulty) the chickens we eat today. This is all documented fact.
The shochet of the Baba Sali ztz”l has attested that the Braekel was what he shechted for the Baba Sali. Many other shochtim are on record as recalling the Braekel as the chicken they shechted before WW2. The Braekel was once commonly found across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and it is even theorized that it originated in the Middle East and was brought back to Belgium with the Crusaders. It was only once cheap, large, quickly-maturing broiler chickens entered the market that such original breeds such as the Braekel started to disappear from the market.