Chicken.

It's probably not the subject of most great discussions in the dining halls at Harvard. For many students, the much-maligned bird is simply an alternative to a plate of foliage or grilled cheese for the third consecutive evening.

And the chicken at Harvard usually get gussied up more often than most students do.

But for the most part, there doesn't seem to be any real difference in taste between the various chicken meals, be it barbecue, fried, lemon pepper, or cordon bleu.

According to Richard C. Silver, though, there's a big difference between fresh and frozen fowl.

As the owner and manager of Maylower Poultry Company, Silver has provided Cambridge and Boston with the freshest quality poultry available for the past 35 years.

A large black and yellow sign, boldly emblazoned with the words "Live Chickens Killed Fresh Daily," invites discriminating taste buds to Silver's establishment on Cambridge Street.

Silver says customers know his chickens are the best around because they are as fresh as he can get them.

It's top quality, he says.

"Fresh chicken," says Silver, "is all I carry. It's all government inspected--I won't handle anything that's not [Grade A]."

And why slaughter the chickens every morning? Silver says many finicky fowl lovers can taste the difference.

"Some customers require chickens killed fresh daily," Silver says, "The fresher the meat the more the flavor."

Short, Unstressful Lives

Silver and his band of ten employees say they work 12 hours a day to process nearly 300 chickens.

Chickens, says Silver, are early birds and arrive at the Cambridge street building before 5:00 am.