Oversized Hard Gizzard

[perkysmiles]

We dispatched an overly aggressive rooster this evening. I'm not too up on the internal anatomy of a chicken, however, after some research I'm about 90% sure we're discussing a gizzard here. It was probably3 to 3-1/2" long, oblong shaped, a couple inches wide, and maybe an inch thick. I understand they're full of rocks, but, it seemed unusually large to me and it itself was hard as a rock. The whole bird was about the size of a larger small cornish game hen you might buy at the supermarket. I'm including a pic, although after reading some other posts I'm sure wishing I'd have thought to dissect it and get pics of that too. What do you guys think?

 

[sourland]

That's a gizzard, and it appears to be 'healthy'. I once processed a bird with an enlarged gizzard that actually contained a nail that had become encapsulated.

 

[Chickielady]

That's a gizzard, and it appears to be 'healthy'. I once processed a bird with an enlarged gizzard that actually contained a nail that had become encapsulated.

Yup, looks like a gizzard to me, too.

 

[perkysmiles]

That's a gizzard, and it appears to be 'healthy'. I once processed a bird with an enlarged gizzard that actually contained a nail that had become encapsulated.

Wow that's interesting. I imagine being free range, if I were to dissect any of our birds gizzards going forward, I might find all sorts of stuff. I guess its lucky it encapsulated the nail, otherwise it might have proven fatal. It bothers me when we have to dispatch an animal due to illness. One: they're so much fun to have around. Great for hours of entertainment. Two: It's such a waste. You can't eat something you don't know what was wrong with.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I butcher chickens regularly as I raise them for meat. You'd be surprised at how much variation you can find in the size of internal organs, gizzard, heart, or liver for example. There is a fairly wide range of sizes that I consider normal.

Most of the gizzards contain what you'd expect, rocks for grinding and whatever they are eating. The gizzard is a very strong muscle, it will be quite hard. But you can find some strange things occasionally. Several times I've found plum or peach pits in there. Those will eventually be ground down and passed on through the system, but it shows you how big of something they can swallow.