Was it a male? Dissection

[Payroll]

I butchered my aggressive quail and am wondering if it was a male or female.

The quail was 6 weeks old. I see two yellow balls inside, both about the size of a dime. Is that the testes (if that's the word) or is that an egg forming?

I guess it doesn't really matter, since whether she was male or female she was ripping the heck out of my other birds, but I still want to know.

I can post a picture if you need more details, but I figure that is too graphic for most and I wanted to ask permission first.

 

[veggiecanner]

If they were light yellow and kinda oval shaped , most likely he was a he.

 

[James the Bald]

For the anatomy of a bird, check out THIS link. And yes, it was a male.

 

[Payroll]

Looking at the picture again, the bird had two orange balls, surrounded by a bunch of tiny balls (follicles?). According to the link you posted, that would make it a Mature Ovum. Female?

It's times like these that I wish I had majored in biology, not physics.

 

[Sycamore27]

You might go ahead and post the picture, with dissection in the title I should hope the squeamish wouldn't click!
Cheers,
Jessie

 

[Payroll]

The orangy globes surrounded by balls of stuff would seem to be Mature Ovum, according to the prior link on quail anatomy.

Thank you, EllaberryGardens, for an awesome youtube video on how to butcher quail. She had it done in under 5 minutes in a very practical, yet humane manner, with simple tools around the home.

 

[Sycamore27]

That does look like ovum developing to me. The only bird I've butchered was known to be male (crowing, mounting, coloration) and had large white bean shaped organs next to the kidneys, nothing like this in his guts!
Very interesting to see, now I'll know what to expect to find when I process my first batch of mixed gender meat quail!
Cheers,
Jessie

 

[veggiecanner]

Those are egg yolks.