black testicles

[CarolMinnesota]

Just slaughtered the 50th rooster. He was 24 weeks old. He had been housed with eleven hens (same age) for about a month. He was a Black Crevacoure. He had been crowing since the age of five weeks.

Everything about him looked normal, except his testicles--they were the size of kidney beans and black.

He was the only BC we had. All other roosters had whitish testicles ranging in size from soybean to peach pit.

Is this normal? Should we eat this bird?

Thanks!

Carol in Minnesota

 

[greyfields]

I cannot imagine anything which could be dangerous to eat the bird for a human. Most the testicle I've seen were kidney bean sized and white to dark red.

 

[pips&peeps]

Just means he was infertile.

 

[SandraMort]

The roo I processed over the weekend had HUGE testicles, I should have weighed or measured them! I mean, two inches long maybe. Wow.

 

[FarmTillURdead]

I have also been running into this problem with black testicles that are shrunken. Does anyone know if this is a cancer? I have had cancer and I am growing all of my own food to avoid things like this! But several of my heritage birds have had this and a few chickens... Can anyone aim me in any direction to educate myself on the issue? I have looked everywhere and can't find any information... and believe me... I have spent hours. I plan to breed these birds looks like I may only be 50% successful. : / (well... not with this one...)
Out of the 20 turkeys I slaughtered this year I ran into this 4 or 5 times. Could it be worms?

 

[Fenika]

If you keep running into a problem, the best thing to do is find a pathology lab that will do histology on them. You need to get instructions on how to send the sample and the price ahead of time. Price will probably be a limiting factor.

To the OP- if you didn't see any other problems, it was likely just in the testicles, which can be much larger in individual birds. It would help to cut into them and compare them to more normal testicles. I've seen black pigmented testicles in *meat silkies* (yeah, don't ask) and they were all black, except the very large ones were speckled black.

If an organ is enlarged but removable (like the testicles) I wouldn't be too worried myself. If it was the kidney or liver or spleen that makes me more concerned since these are filters, but how concerned depends on exactly what they look like (and they are still removable)

 

[FarmTillURdead]

Good information - Thanks! I only saw one spleen that looked "soggy" (well... that thing I think is a spleen anyway). I chose not to save the livers or gizzard on that one but I will likely still eat the bird. I will look into labs if this continues. I won't know until next year and I am thinking of purchasing my birds from a different source from now on incase it is genetic. I hope to breed it out if these few I have do breed. Thanks for giving me some direction! I needed it so I could quit obsessing about "turkey testies". : /

 

[galanie]

Thank you for this thread! I processed a 27 week old Orp male with huge testicles and wondered how normal that was. I swear they were two inches long like the ones SandraMort had. And much lighter colored than I'd seen in others. Guess that explains his aggressive self

 

[marshtackynut]

We've processed hundreds of birds over the years and never came across this before. One testicle was black the other normal. It was in a Crevecoeur who was the biggest and nicest bird among the culls. Seemed healthy. All other organs looked normal. Anyone else have more thoughts on this. Anyone see just one out of the two colored like this? I didn't have the ability to send it to a lab for a look-see. Inside tissue of both looked fairly normal other than the color of the black one.

 

[Maeser]

Each state has an ag college. That facility is usually associated with a state veterinarian and the state's extension service headquarters. You could call or email the state veterinarian or check their website and contact their poultry specialist. If you can't find the contact info you need, call your local extension service & they will put you in contact with the person you need.