chicken/duck anatomy, gut diagram

[Alaskan]

I can't find a good diagram of the guts! I have googled , but no luck.

I want a GOOD diagram.

the thing is I THOUGHT that I had grabbed a female duck to eat for thanksgiving. But when I butchered her, I lay out all of the guts to show the kids. I wanted to discuss it all (great biology lesson) and to specifically look at the ovary to see how close she was to laying.

NO OVARY. I thought it was odd, thought I had remembered basic biology etc. Then in the middle of the night it came to me, that maybe those 2 long things were testicles, and I had accidentaly killed my drake!!!

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGG! :ep

So, I would like a very good diagram.

Thank you! *sniff sniff*, poor drake!

 

[silkiechicken]

Maybe you can try using google image search?

If it was a drake, you should have found two oblong shaped testicles on the inner back of the duck. The ovaries might not have been too apparent if she had not been ready to lay or have been laying. I've butchered chickens as young as 6 weeks old, and the boys all have testicles that are at least the size of a kidney bean if not larger already. So I'd assume your drake would have ones much larger if it was mature. Adult chickens have ones the size of an elongated golf ball, but I am not familiar with ducks. In the girls butchered at 6 weeks, there was pretty much "nothing" to be found reproductive tract wise. Maybe you didn't grab your drake.

Graphic pics found:

If the yolks can be seen, they'd be in the laying cycle or about to start it. If it's "off season" they'd probably be just those tiny grape ones without the big yellow yolk.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/60/202383380_4f42853206.jpg?v=0

If ducks are like chickens, you'd only have seen one ovary since only one is used:
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=nMW&sa=G

The one on the left shows all the eggs in there, but I bet that hen is a good active layer.
http://cirrata.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/img-1337-1.jpg

 

[becky3086]

All male ducks have the curled up feather on the tail. If it didn't have the curled up feather(which is real easy to see) it was a hen.
Becky

 

[Alaskan]

the pictures were great......

that is kinda what I had thought I would find egg wise. This duck was already 23 weeks old, so I thought I would have seen some egg something, even though it is fall.

could you find me some of the male organs too?

There were two long dark things that I wasn't sure about. I thought that they were too long to be the kidneys....but I couldn't find any obvious kidneys either.

(sheesh, this sounds so lame )

The heart, liver, lungs, gizzard, intestines were obvious.

But anyway, these 'long things' were the same size, and very dark. They were squishy like the liver.

I kept looking for and couldn't find a good detailed labeled diagram.

Anyone know of one?

As to the drake feather, that is what I looked for when I grabbed the bird. There wasn't any drake feather, but then why no ovary? Or is it just that I am SO inexperienced? (I mean I couldn't even find the kidneys! Unless the 'long things' were kidneys. )

THANK YOU for any help! (yes, I did google, couldn't find what I wanted)

 

[Poler]

The kidneys are usually up right next to the spine on either side, you'll have to kind of dig to get them out.

I think the long things that you found were kidneys. Hope this helps!

 

[dlhunicorn]

See this link (scroll down a bit for an excellent illustration):
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/publications/field_manual/chapter_2.pdf

you might also find this helpful:
http://www.myoops.org/twocw/tufts/courses/5/content/215794.htm

 

[Alaskan]

oooh! that was very helpful.

It makes me think that the 'long things' were the kidneys. I finally had the courage to stand out there and stare at my ducks, and the drake *IS* still there.

But then why was there no ovary? Or I guess it was there but just super little?

So there will not be any eggs from the ducks until spring? I know that ducks are more effected by seasons..but I was hoping that they would lay anyway...

Do I have to wait until warm weather? Or just until the days start to get longer.....as in January and February?

And how much fat are ducks supposed to have? They were super much fatter than the rooster I did just a couple of weeks ago.