Researchers at the University of Alberta are organizing a birthday party for a genetic strain of a broiler chicken they preserved 50 years ago to ensure it lived on amid the evolution of its monster cousins.

"At the time, it was thought by Agriculture Canada that genetic progress was happening pretty quickly and that a random-bred standard should be maintained to preserve those genetics," said Doug Korver, professor of poultry nutrition at the University of Alberta.

Images of broiler chickens at 55 days, raised from strains preserved in 1957, 1977 and 2007, show the difference in growth rate and breast size.
(Martin Zuidhof/University of Alberta)

Chickens currently sold in grocery stores have gone through extensive gene selection to boost their size and company profits, said Martin Zuidhof, a poultry research scientist.

Plump broiler chickens are prized for their tenderness and most commonly roasted in home kitchens and fried in fast-food restaurants.

Birds raised from the strain saved in 1957 are five times smaller than today's commercially grown chickens.

But researchers believe it's critical to save genes from the 1957 chickens for food security, in case of illness that could threaten the existence of lines developed over the past 50 years.

Birds raised from the 1957 strain are five times smaller than today's commercially grown chickens.
(CBC)

"If we ever have to fall back on some traits that have been lost in the commercial genetic selection process, then we have that resource available to us to rely on again," Zuidhof told CBC News.

A private party on Tuesday in Edmonton will bring together the group of geneticists who decided to save the strain in 1957.

Korver and Zuidhof have created a birthday treat for the research chickens — a special feed for the day topped off with birthday candles.