These crested chickens were under special observation and received an enhanced diet—just like true donors! From time to time, they would have their blood drawn and transfused into other chickens.
Why? Oh, it’s a fascinating process!
In 1925, our country imported Leghorn chickens, which weighed about 1.8 kilograms (approximately 4 pounds). No matter how much you fed these birds, they wouldn’t get any heavier! But poultry breeders weren’t satisfied. For three decades, they selected chickens that were even just a few grams heavier than their sisters. They achieved some success—Leghorns began to weigh just over 2 kilograms (about 4.4 pounds).
With the help of blood transfusions, they were able to significantly accelerate the improvement of this breed and even create an entirely new one. By receiving foreign blood, the birds developed very quickly.
Similar work was done in France with ducks. They extracted specific substances from the blood of one breed of ducks and introduced them into birds of another breed.
At that time, newspapers reported that this was as significant for humanity as splitting the atom.