Iowa Farmer Breeds Three Legged Chickens; KFC Plans â3 Drumstick Mealsâ
Iowa farmer Warren Milledge has a lot to be proud of lately. He has a new grand-daughter, was recognized by the local Grange for 40 years of service, and as a lifelong chicken farmer, he has been the first person to successfully bred a three-legged chicken.âIâm naturally most proud of our new grand baby, Sunny Ann Milledge,âÂ  said in an interview on his Marshalltown Pike farmstead. âEight pounds, seven ounces and giggles and gurgles all day long. Gosh, we love that baby! âBut those three-legger hens are surely an amazing miracle.âMilledge, a 1977 graduate of the University of Iowa Cedar Rapids Agriculture program, explained how he came up with the idea a three legged chicken in the first place. âYou see, it was when there were just the three of us, this was before our son Benjamin was married. I love a drumstick, Ben loves a drumstick, and mother loves a drumstick, but as you know a chicken only has two legs so only two drumsticks. That meant roasting two chickens each time so there were enough drumsticks.âMilledge says that at first, it was just a joke around the house that they should try to somehow breed a three-legged chicken. Then after joking about it for several months, it started to become less of a joke, and more of an intriguing possibility.âOne day a Divine Providence visited this humble Iowa farm,â said Milledge. âA chick was born with two normal legs and a smaller, non-functioning leg that sort of twitched a bit. Youâve probably seen pictures of two-headed snakes or two-headed cows and sheep and whatnot. Well, this was along those lines.ââNormally those freak animals donât survive birth, but this little chicken, we eventually found out he was a rooster, was very lively so I chose him for breeding and after a few peeps, which is what we call bunches of newborn chicks for you city fellers, we got two more chicks with those little legs. So we started breeding those two with the rooster and eventually achieved chicks with fully functional third legs. There was a short piece in Iowa Farmerâs Digest and thatâs when KFC got involved.âPurvis Jones, a spokesperson for KFC, confirmed that the fast food company has taken a keen interest in the three-legged chickens, and have approached Milledge with the idea of being one of their key breeders.âThe long range plan for us is to offer meals with three drumsticks, but that is a few years away. Right now, we are working with Mr. Milledge to breed a solid base of three-legged chickens for production. He has about two hundred chickens now, but we need to see flocks in the many thousands before the three-leggers are commercially viable for us.Â  Right now, three-legged chick births are only running about 60% and weâd like to see some improvement in those numbers. Plus, thereâs the other problem,â Said Jones, deferring to the Milledge Farm for further comment.âYep, thatâs true,â said Milledge, with a slight laugh. âThe problem, wellâ¦we have a big problem with the three-leggers. You see, we donât yet know how these chickens taste because, well, do you have any idea how fast a three-legged chicken can run? Well, itâs pretty fast, Iâll tell you fer darn sure. We havenât caught one yet.âOnce Milledge is finally able to catch and sample the chicken meat, KFC will request samples for their future meal plans.