definitely a rooster has yellow balls inside after slaughter-NOT eggs

[PotterWatch]

I knew there had to be an explanation!

We store organs in a separate bag from the rest of the bird, but I don't think there is any reason you can't just store them all together. When most people buy a turkey at the store, it has everything inside. We did do an order once for a group of people who each wanted everything, including the heads. When we packaged the birds, we put everything in the cavity of each bird before bagging them; liver, heart, gizzard, neck, feet, and head. I thought the heads were nasty, but to each his own!

This is my favorite place for learning how to butcher a chicken: http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/ . He shows the crop and how to separate it, the organs, and every step along the way. Invaluable for anyone starting out!

 

[2overeasy]

Great link, Potterwatch, thanks. I'm going to bookmark the page and consult for next time. 2 excess roosters are ready to go so I'll get to see testicles. And despite tjedd's testimony as to their tastiness, I won't be eating them!

 

[partsRheavy]

The testes are yellowish and bean-shaped. They look like roo-nuts to me.

Jack looks like he had one side better-developed than the other.

 

[annageckos]

Quote:
I have cut up a lot of chicken (I feed raw to my cats, dogs and ferrets) and it is not unusual to see testicles stuck to the back bone. They are usually pretty small 1/2 inch to one inch long, but they are there. The yellow balls in the photo do not look like testicles to me.

 

[partsRheavy]

This will sound strange, but were the yellow organs from the RIGHT AND left sides...or were they both extracted from the LEFT side??

The reason for this question is that usually a hens' ovaries and undeveloped eggs are on her LEFT side whereas the right side ovarian development is vestigial.

By contrast, a roo will have nuts on both the left AND the right sides.

Had to check some poultry anatomy sites to learn this.

Thus, as a n00b-wannabe-intermediate caponizer I have resolved to do the LEFT side first from now on just in case a mistake has been made in gender identification of the presumed cockerel. If a mistake is made there is an automatic FOWL-UP!!!!! Or maybe it's an unintended "poulard..."

PS: I would save any crop/gizzard/liver SEPARATELY from the remainder of the chicken.

 

[sourland]

Those little yellow balls are not rooster 'balls'. I'm betting that the other chicken that was processed was a hen.

 

[Tracydr]

Just to reiterate. I think there is confusion between crop and gizzard. Crop is a balloon type organ near the top of the chest which is very thin, can be filled with feed and water and is discarded. The gizzard is a very muscular organ inside the cavity which is opened up, lining peeled back and can be eaten. It is often filled with small gravel and can also have some feed in it but once the lining is peeled off you still have a substantial, muscular organ that can be eaten or given to the dogs.
Testicles are usually little beans, remind me of little white northern beans. But, they can be much larger in mature Roos. Just that most of us are used to processing Cornish X and at the most, maybe roos less than 20 weeks of age.

 

[BlazeJester]

When I processed 6mo-old roosters a couple months ago, the testes were about the size of my thumb to the first joint, whitish and kidney-shaped. They got discarded but had we thought about what they were, I might have kept them

Looking forward to growing up some more roosters and having a processing day! I'm glad you learned some from this experience and I sympathize with the emotion of it. I found the entire process much easier than I had expected, probably because the roos were someone else's and I was along for the learning experience. Helps when you haven't raised them from eggs.

 

[twentynine]

Sorry I created the error in terms substitute gizzard for crop.