I am told that Israel has begun the process of producing Genetically engineered Chickens with out Feathers. I would like to know if these chickens are Treif. The Gemaruh says that if the " Nutza is removed " it is Pesulah. Is this only talking about chickens that once had them , that can't be removed. Or even if the chicken was born with out them, as in our case ? ( By the way , I am told that Israel can only sell them to countries of warm climate, otherwise they get cold ( lack of down (, and die ) Thank You Shmuel Katz
If it is a breed that normally does not grow with feathers, then it seemingly can live without them and is not a Tereifah. However, if it truly cannot survive without them, then surely it is a Tereifah.
However, there may be other complications, because conceivably the chicken is produced by crossing-breeding it with subspecies which do not have feathers and might be Minim Teme'im altogether. For a discussion of the subject of crossbred chickens, please join us this Sunday for our live, online Shi'ur.
D. Zupnik