In Belgium we have cows specifically breaded for meat, which are called "dikbil" =(fatbutt). It's extremely unnatural, so I'm very afraid what kind of monstrosity the industry can come up with when using gene manipulation.
More like thousands of years.
Also, before humans were selectively breeding, animals were “unconsciously breeding” e.g. fruits by eating the tastiest ones and thereby spreading their seeds.
My granddad was a farmer (he was born around 1920). Back then, animals were still treated fairly well, and the animals themselves were also still natural. The real industrialization of livestock came after that, when he was already retired.
Having raised and killed animals all of his life, he actually wasn't too fond of how animals were raised and treated after that. For sure he regarded all specifically bred animals as unnatural.
Do you want chickens that can't stand on their own legs? Olden days: no, currently: yes.
Do you want cows so fat that they can't naturally give birth to calves? Olden days: no, currently: yes.
How do you breed animals? Oldens days: put the male together with the female. Currenly, jerk of the male and inject the semen in the female.
It's all industrialized. And what selective breeding has to do with how animals are treated? Everything. Unless you claim chickens too fat for their legs, cows too fat to give birth, etc, has no impact on their well being.
We're also exporting the technology and knowledge of breeding pigs.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/30/danish-b...
A marvel of engineering.
I only hope this crisper age will allow for amazing animals. I’m hoping they can breed cows with cheese inside their muscles.
My grandfather was a farmer, and at his old age he bought such a chicken. He was amazed and astounded that within a few weeks it became so big it couldn't stand on its feet anymore.
He didn't buy such a chicken again.
It's muscular hyperplasia obtained from inbreeding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Blue
They did the same thing in Piedmont, Italy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmontese_cattle