Ross 308

Ross 308 is a commercial broiler chicken strain, not a heritage breed that breeds true in a backyard flock. Developed and sold through Aviagen's global broiler program, it is selected for fast growth, feed efficiency, uniform white feathering, and high breast-meat yield. The Ross 308 name usually refers to day-old meat chicks or to the parent and grandparent lines used by hatcheries, so performance depends heavily on the management system as well as the bird's genetics.

These chickens are designed for planned meat production with market age measured in weeks rather than months. Good results require warm brooding, constant access to clean water, controlled rations, dry litter, ventilation, and enough space to limit heat stress and leg problems. Small farms and homesteads can raise Ross 308 birds successfully, but they should not be managed like slow-maturing dual-purpose breeds. Keeping them beyond normal processing age calls for careful weight control and welfare monitoring, and breeding replacements from them will not reproduce the commercial strain.