Chicken testicles-Warning. Pictures of raw meat.

[dkluzier]

I enjoy the taste of chicken testicles.
When DH and I took care of our rooster, Big Ben, we came across two large internal organs and I did the research. Had always wanted to try testicles of some type, so I steamed them up and on the count of "3", we both tried them. They taste VERY similar to mild liver yet the texture is different. It was not a gross texture at all, which pleasantly suprised us.
Last week we sent 9 young roos to "freezer camp" and feasted on 18 yummy testicles of all sizes. They were all the same age yet some were much more developed than others. If you like to try different foods and like liver, I highly reccommend trying them. I will never let a chicken testicle go to waste again.

 

[Dogfish]

I took a picture a wound I gave myself yesterday to share with buddy, so of course someone had to have taken a picture of set of testes. Where I come from the phrase is, "Pics or it didn't happen."

 

[Beekissed]

I culled one very aggressive roo and was surprised to find he had the largest testicles I'd ever seen on a roo...they were massive! Every bit as big as some men's. It gave me a clue as to why he was so driven and so rough on the hens. His son's testicles were comparative but not quite as large, as they were butchered at a younger age.

I've never eaten this chicken part.

The kidneys are not the mushy red part you see along the ribs and spine....they are nice, firm little things much like ours and other animals except smaller, of course. I'm thinking the mushy red and oh, so tastey stuff up by the spine is actually glandular tissue.

 

[little_grey_bantam]

Small my butt! LOL, my birds are HUGE!!!

 

[TimG]

Quote:
Are you talking about the spongy pickish red stuff? I thought that was lung.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Are you talking about the spongy pickish red stuff? I thought that was lung.

The mushy red/bright pink spongy organs between the ribs in the upper back portion are lungs. The dark reddish-brown/mahogany colored organs embedded the cavities of the lower back, not up in the ribs, are kidneys. they aren't shaped like ours. Here's some great pics, and a link to a veterinary site that shows and describes in detail, all of the internal organs and structures of a chicken. Pretty cool stuff! http://www.syriavet.com/vet/showthread.php?t=10449

Below is a pic of the kidneys

The kidneys consist of a right and left chain, with each chain being made up of 3 lobes. The lobes are tightly embedded in the bone of the synsacrum. They are normally red to dark mahogany brown in color and have a slightly granular texture

This is a pic of the duodenum, and pancreas

The duodenum has a descending and ascending loop, arranged in a U-shape. The loops are held together by a thin strip of mesentery and surround the pancreas. The appearance of the intestine can vary greatly depending on the post-mortem condition of the bird. In a fresh bird, the serosa of a healthy intestine is usually pink, smooth, and glistening. As the post-mortem interval increases, the intestinal walls will become congested, as seen here, and eventually, even a healthy loop of bowel may appear dark red. However, if the serosa has a dull granular appearance, this can be evidence of inflammation. The normal appearance of the pancreas is pale red or slightly yellow. On close inspection, its glandular nature is evident.

(I like the image in the upper left, the "autopsy bird". It doesn't appear in all of the photos, but some of the autopsy birds, like this one, have a blue egg in the drawing, that shows the area in which the structure will be found.)

Here's a pic of the lungs, right above the kidneys.

The lungs are tightly adhered to the dorsal rib cage. Their color should be bright pink in a fresh bird but will become increasingly more congested, wet, and dark red with autolysis, as seen here. To assess the lungs, do not over-interpret their color but rather, use a combination of visual inspection and palpation to assess the health of this tissue

(You can see the top of the kidneys in this shot, just below the lungs. They didn't show a picture of the lungs after removal, where you can see the other side, showing the lobes between the ribs.)

 

[texasgal]

Of course, someone had to resurrect this tread .. and post MORE pictures ..

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Yeah, when I saw how big they were in the cockerels I butchered, I knew why they'd become such a PITA, and were harassing the hens to death.

The hens did not miss them. Neither did I, and they were tasty!

I don't feed the testes to my pets, because I don't know if the testosterone would make get them all revved up and aggressive. I don't need instant dog and cat fights all over. They have plenty of other innards to eat, anyway. My DH likes the hearts and gizzards, but only from younger birds. Too tough, in the older ones, because he only like hearts and gizzards fried. So with the post-pubescent birds, the dogs and cats get hearts, livers, gizzards, spleen, lungs, and some of the fat. Throw away or compost the guts, heads, and feathers. Then the rest is for us.

I had a group of young chickens (about 8 weeks old) one time that had one little cockeral that being a real pain. He started flogging me at that age already. Well, I had another group of birds that was almost 18 weeks old. When I decided to butcher the extra roos out of the older group, I decided to go ahead and butcher the younger fella, cause I knew he was going to continue to get more aggresive. There wasn't much meat on him, but his testicles where bigger than any of the older ones. At that point, it was clear why he was so aggresive.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Are you talking about the spongy pickish red stuff? I thought that was lung.

Nope...the pinkish red stuff is lungs. Behind these, farther down and and behind where the kidneys may lay is a layer of darker red tissue that you will find on thigh meat pieces, not in the rib cage but by the pelvic/lumbar spine. Kidneys actually have a kidney bean shape and can be isolated from the rest of the organs, whereas the tissue I am talking about lies close to the spine and lies behind a thin membrane.

When you are processing, you may dig this tissue out and not see it when the meat is cooked, but commercial processing leaves this in. We always called this "the good stuff" and I still try to get those pieces so that I can have it. I leave it in when I process just for this purpose.

 

[boxermom]

Ooo yuk.

I dig that out and give to the cats or chickens.