# Weird thing found in butchered chicken



## CloverDuck (Aug 27, 2012)

I slaughters some chickens lately and found something strange inside on of the hens.

Not sure of her breed she was a white chicken with some black spots. One reason she was chosen for slaughter was because she did have a bumble foot wound on her toe.

But this is strange- upon taking out the inerds i noticed 2 lumps located in the fat lining that connects the intestine together. I Cut them open and it looked like the yolk of a hard boiled egg.

There was nothing else wrong with the bird- has anyone seen, heard, or know why yolk would be in that area?


----------



## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

CloverDuck said:


> I slaughters some chickens lately and found something strange inside on of the hens.
> 
> Not sure of her breed she was a white chicken with some black spots. One reason she was chosen for slaughter was because she did have a bumble foot wound on her toe.
> 
> ...


Yep...internal laying. If the bird was very fat, these fat layers can get in the way of the progress of an egg when it is released so that it cannot connect with the oviduct. They then can become encapsulated in the body and just atrophy into a cooked yolk sort of thing. If the bird is old and her oviduct has prolapsed downward this can happen also. Sometimes these mummified yolks actually make it to the oviduct and are found in the nest. At times these internally laid eggs can kill a bird due to egg peritonitis.

I let an old Leghorn hen go past the time she should have been culled due to old age and she was fine in her health, though no longer laying. When I butchered her I found one of those egg tumors inside that filled the whole palm of my hand and when broken open showed layer upon layer of yolk materials, much like the rings of a tree. It was in her body cavity and I wonder how she was not in some discomfort from it displacing her internal organs with the sheer size of it.



> When hens have too many large ovarian follicles, a problem described as erratic oviposition and defective egg syndrome (EODES) is seen in broiler breeders. This condition is accompanied by a high incidence of double-yolked eggs, prolapses of the oviduct, internal ovulation, and/or internal laying that often results in egg peritonitis and mortality. EODES is prevented by avoiding light stimulation of underweight pullets too early and by following guidelines for body weight and uniformity, and lighting recommendations for each breeder strain. Overweight hens may also have a higher incidence of erratic ovulations and mortality associated with egg peritonitis.


----------

