GIGANTIC KIDNEYS - what happened to this chicken?!

They have two kidneys, a left and a right.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0012.html
"Examine the kidneys, which are elongated, lobulated organs that are embedded in the backbone of the bird, and the left ovary/oviduct (or paired testes), which are positioned on top of the kidneys."

-Kathy

And this:

-Kathy

This is what I eat:






-Kathy

Here is a rooster that I processed. Above each testicle was a kidney. Of course I ate all of it, lol.



-Kathy

HEChicken said:

I think I know what's going on. Your description of "eating" chicken with kidneys combined with the picture you posted to demonstrate the kidneys....I think you are mistaking the tissue that is on either side of the spine for the kidneys. The kidney is the shape and color of a red kidney bean. In a chicken, it is also about the size of a bean. However in addition to the liver and kidney, there is tissue of the a similar color, that is located on either side of the spine. It is irregular in shape because it follows the contours of the spine. I believe that is what is pictured in your photo above and that would make more sense that you are seeing it when you eat the bird, as that is typically left in the cavity, while the kidney and liver are removed along with the intestines, heart and lungs.

I am very thorough when I clean a bird, as I want to make use of every single piece of it. Therefore, I keep the kidney and when I have enough of them, I use them to make a steak and kidney pie. I save the liver and we cook that up and eat it as liver and onions. We cook the testicles, heart and gizzard along with the bird. The intestines are fed to the animals. Because I carefully take apart every part of the contents of the bird's cavity, if there were more than one kidney, I would have been happy to add it to my baggie of kidneys, since with only one, it takes a long time to save up enough of them for a pie

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i hate to break it to you but your not eating the chickens "one kidney" chicken's kidney's are not bean shaped at all and there is indeed two kidneys in a chicken anyone who tells you otherwise does not know what their eating/looking at. The kidneys are located on either side of the spine tucked underneath some sinew along the back. You can go buy a store chicken and find them because the factory's doesn't clean out the kidneys as eating the chicken back is not a normal process for most american's. I've seen thousands of birds hand processed and i can guarantee you there are two kidneys and their not bean shaped not even slightly.



From the USDA
Urinary System: The urinary system of the chicken does not contain a urinary bladder. There are two trilobed kidneys, one on each side of the ventral surface of the vertebral column. This pair of kidneys is embedded in the deep bony crypts of the pelvic and synsacral area of the skeleton. Ureters carry the urinary waste to the cloaca. The uric acid is discharged into the cloaca and excreted with the feces. The white pasty material in chicken droppings is considered to be urinary system excretion. Birds excrete their nitrogen waste as uric acid, whereas mammals excrete it in the form of urea.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/shared/PDF/PSIT_Anatomy.pdf?redirecthttp=true

Tri-lobed not bean shaped aka dual lobed


The bean shaped thing they have one of that your eating is the spleen






http://www.poultrydisease.ir/Atlases/avian-atlas/search/examfinding/689.html

Not believing everything you read on the Internet is good rule..but believing that the USDA and Cornell and pretty much every other poultry scientist that's works on organs are all wrong....that's silly. BTW spleen is perfectly fine to eat and is eaten all over the world, just know your making steak and spleen pie.

@misfitmorgan , one of the best posts I've seen in a long time!

-Kathy

Interesting.
Do hens have 1 ovary or 2?

seminolewind said:

Interesting.
Do hens have 1 ovary or 2?

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http://www.extension.org/pages/65372/avian-reproductive-systemfemale#.VWZ2Lo5VhBc
"As stated, the female chicken reproductive system is made up of the ovary and the oviduct. (Figure 1 shows the female chicken reproductive system, and Figure 2 shows the location of the reproductive system in the body.) In almost all species of birds, including poultry, only the left ovary and oviduct are functional. Although the female embryo has two ovaries, only the left one develops. The right one typically regresses during development and is nonfunctional in the adult bird. (There have been cases in which the left ovary has been damaged and the right one has developed to replace it.)"




-Kathy

Edited to add picture

casportpony said:

@misfitmorgan , one of the best posts I've seen in a long time!

-Kathy

Click to expand...

Thank you Casport