Just processed a meat bird, it had no gallbladder!

[CasaRosie]

Hi everyone! I move very slowly, and I'm by myself, so I can only process 1-2 birds a day. Yesterday I did my first 2 birds, (Cornish crosses) they both had nice little gallbladders, which I successfully cut away.

Today I did one bird, and I couldn't find her gallbladder anywhere! It's been pretty visible on the others, and I searched the guts...nada, zip, nothing!
Has this happened to anyone else? Is this common?

I finally cut up the liver and gave it to my kitties...still no sign of a gallbladder!
I took a couple of pics of both sides.

 

[RiverOtter]

It happens. If you work with animals long enough, you'll see it all. This? This is why I try to force myself to autopsy everything that dies - if this was a layer, you would never have known why she got sick and passed if you didn't autopsy.

Just like people, some are born this way. Some blind, some deaf, some not right in the head, some get cancer - I once treated a poor goat for respiratory everything I could think of, and when she passed I found a tumor along her esophagus - not big enough to feel from the outside but big enough to make it hard for the poor girl to breathe.
If it happens to people, it can happen in animals too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I do dual purpose birds, not Cornish Cross. I've butchered cockerels, pullets, hens, and roosters and never seen that. So I would consider that unusual. But I also agree with RiverOtter, there is just no telling what you will find.

 

[Molpet]

I butchered a heritage turkey that I could not find a gallbladder in either