discolored testicle in heritage mix... cause?

[Kiki]

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[casportpony]

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Great pictures for @WVduckchick's thread!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/reference-pictures-wanted.1295231/

 

[casportpony]

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You gonna eat them? They are quite yummy!

 

[Kiki]

You gonna eat them? They are quite yummy!

 

[casportpony]

I only had them once but they were good!

 

[WVduckchick]

Great pictures for @WVduckchick's thread!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/reference-pictures-wanted.1295231/

Thank you, I was going to ask her to add them there.

@Molpet it would be much appreciated if you wouldn’t mind adding the pics to my reference thread. I’m trying to collect good pictures of things to put into an article.

 

[Molpet]

So... what might be accounting for the size difference, and perhaps color difference in the testicles is a feature native to all birds.

Birds, unlike mammals, can atrophy organs they aren't using, and in the case of testicles and ovaries... usually only one is active at a time, therefore one will be bigger than the other. This is theorized to be a mechanism to reduce weight in flying birds - they can also do it with some of their organs, particularly in species that migrate long distances in one shot. It lets them pack in more fat if they can squish down their organs. In the case of the testicles and ovaries, in normal birds the gonads are not only active only in spring, but only one gets used at a time. With chickens it's slightly different since we've bred them to lay for far longer and far more eggs than any wild junglefowl would make. Results may vary in domestic stock... but that is what it is in the wild.

EDIT: Some reading material on the subject:
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000362
https://www.karger.com/Article/Fulltext/358406

That second paper seems to imply that the second set of gonads never develops. My Ornithology Prof in college as well as the notes I took on avian breeding says otherwise.

interesting articles
Thank you

 

[Molpet]

After looking at more birds testicles I have come to the conclusion that the birds
I have are with a CX background. Some are white and mature faster with large testicles and they tend to stay normal looking.
Some are barred or black. Those mature slower and come late fall the testicles shrink and discolor...they are less randy then

 

[Wannabee Offgrid]

Color goes all the way through

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I realize this is an old thread but hoping you or others could help me. I recently processed a Peking duck with testicles just like this. Wish I’d saved the pictures. Did you ever discover the cause? Was the bird still safe to eat? I read the Canadian article further along in this thread and they imply it could be salmonella related. Would that taint the meat as well? Have you come across this again?

 

[Molpet]

I realize this is an old thread but hoping you or others could help me. I recently processed a Peking duck with testicles just like this. Wish I’d saved the pictures. Did you ever discover the cause? Was the bird still safe to eat? I read the Canadian article further along in this thread and they imply it could be salmonella related. Would that taint the meat as well? Have you come across this again?

Yes

After looking at more birds testicles I have come to the conclusion that the birds
I have are with a CX background. Some are white and mature faster with large testicles and they tend to stay normal looking.
Some are barred or black. Those mature slower and come late fall the testicles shrink and discolor...they are less randy then

Someone mentioned the Time of year because they don't need them since few hens go broody in the fall. Seems to be what I am finding. Fall and winter strange testicles. Late spring and summer normal.


ETA I ate the meat from the birds with no issues...tossed the testicles