The turkey heart is a fascinating organ that works tirelessly to circulate blood and oxygen throughout the turkey’s body. Although small in size, the heart is a muscular powerhouse that enables the turkey to thrive. For those curious about poultry anatomy, let’s take a closer look at the size and structure of the turkey heart.
Average Dimensions of an Adult Turkey Heart
On average, a healthy turkey heart is golf ball-sized, measuring about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. The exact dimensions vary based on the turkey’s age, sex, and overall size. For example:
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A young hen may have a heart around 1 inch across.
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An adult tom turkey’s heart is often larger, approximately 1.5 inches in diameter.
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Heritage breed turkey hearts are generally smaller than commercial broad-breasted turkeys.
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The heart grows rapidly in the first 8 weeks increasing its size 15 times over to support the poult’s growth.
Despite variations, the turkey heart remains petite and compact, even in larger birds weighing over 30 pounds. This efficient size allows it to pump sufficient blood through the cardiovascular system.
Where is the Heart Located in the Turkey?
The heart sits centrally within the thoracic cavity, encased in protective membranes It is flanked on either side by the two lungs This strategic position enables maximum oxygenation of blood as it flows from the lungs, through the heart, and back out to body tissues.
If you draw a line between the wing joints where they attach to the body, the heart and lungs align approximately with the beard on an adult tom turkey. The heart rests just below the neck base, surrounded by the wishbone.
External Features and Texture of the Turkey Heart
The healthy turkey heart has a smooth, supple texture from the cardiac muscle. The tissue feels firm yet flexible when raw. The exterior color is a deep crimson red resulting from the iron-rich hemoglobin that transports oxygen through the blood.
Any pale sections or abnormal textures on the outer surface may indicate disease. But typically, the turkey heart appears uniform in color and regular in shape. The pointed apex tapers up while the broad base connects to major vessels.
Inside the 4-Chambered Heart
Internally, the turkey heart contains four chambers to circulate blood, just like the human heart:
- Right and left atria (top chambers) – Receive deoxygenated blood from the veins
- Right and left ventricles (bottom chambers) – Pump blood to the lungs and body
Four heart valves direct blood flow between chambers:
- Mitral valve
- Tricuspid valve
- Pulmonic valve
- Aortic valve
Though small, these valves efficiently alternate between open and closed to propel blood through the cardiovascular loop.
Blood Vessels Carrying Blood to and from the Heart
A network of blood vessels transports blood to, from, and through the four chambers:
Arteries:
- Aorta (body’s main artery)
- Pulmonary arteries (lungs)
- Brachiocephalic arteries (head and wings)
- Coronary arteries (heart)
Veins:
- Superior vena cava
- Inferior vena cava
- Pulmonary veins (lungs)
- Hepatic portal vein (liver)
- Coronary veins (heart)
This complex routing nourishes all organs and tissues with oxygen and nutrients.
Changes Throughout the Turkey’s Lifecycle
At hatching, the turkey poult has an extremely small, primitive heart. As the young turkey undergoes rapid early development, the heart correspondingly grows at a swift rate.
Cardiac output increases to supply the demands of muscle growth and maturity. Adult turkey hearts beat around 275 times per minute while at rest. With age, the chambers may enlarge and valves begin deteriorating, reducing pumping efficiency.
Caring for the Turkey Heart
While we often focus on the breast meat, raising healthy turkeys requires attention to the heart. By providing balanced nutrition, controlling parasites, enabling exercise, and limiting stress, producers can nurture strong heart development in their flocks.
So next time you carve your holiday turkey, take a moment to appreciate the small but mighty organ that keeps turkeys thriving! Though we may overlook it, the turkey heart powers each bird’s life, making our feasts possible.
Animals, Materials and Methods
This study involving turkey handling and treatments was carried out in accordance with German animal welfare law. The protocol was approved by State Office of Health and Social Affairs Berlin (LaGeSo Reg. Nr. 0218/07).
Forty wild turkeys (Wild Canadian Turkeys), 20 males and 20 females, were sourced from a wildlife park in Ostrittrum, Germany. Also sourced were forty meat turkeys from a highly selected line (British United Turkeys BUT Big 6), 20 males and 20 females, from a commercial grow-out farm (Gut Jäglitz GMBH). Agrar KG, Roddahn, Germany) were selected as day-old-chicks. This study was approved by the responsible Animal Care Committee (Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales Berlin, Germany).
Wild-type and meat-type birds were housed separately in two groups under the same husbandry conditions (10 birds/6. 5 m2), in the Institute of Poultry Diseases, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin. All birds were fed a commercial pellet diet (Ströh Hobbersdorf, Pansdorf, Germany) using a three stage feeding system. From weeks 1 to 6, this was made up of starter feed (type 015), then growers feed (type 016), and finally finishers feed I (type 017) from weeks 13 onwards. All birds were allowed ad libitum access to food and water. The study ended on week 16.
Salah Al Masri1Institute of Veterinary Anatomy, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyFind articles by
Received 2016 Oct 14; Accepted 2017 Jan 11; Collection date 2017. © 2017 Al Masri et al
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
This research looked at the heart structures of two types of turkeys: a British United turkeys BUT Big 6 meat-type line that grows quickly and a Canadian Wild turkey wild-type line. At 8 and 16 weeks of age, 10 birds of each genotype and sex were sampled. The meat-type turkey gained weight faster than the wild-type turkey, both in terms of body mass and heart mass. But the relative heart mass went down a little with age in both lines of turkeys. The drop was statistically significant only in the male turkeys. Furthermore meat-type turkeys had a significantly (p < 0. 01) less heart mass and left ventricle thickness compared to wild turkeys of the same age The wild-type turkeys’ heart muscle cells didn’t change much in size from 8 weeks to 16 weeks (cross-sectional area and diameter). In contrast, the size of cardiomyocytes increased significantly (p < 0. 001) with age in the meat-type turkeys. The number of capillaries in the left ventricular wall increased significantly (p < 0. 001) in wild turkeys from 2351 per mm2 at 8 weeks old to 2843 per mm2 at 16 weeks old But there were no big changes in the meat-type turkeys. Their capillary numbers were 2989 per mm2 at 8 weeks old and 2915 per mm2 at 16 weeks old. Correspondingly the area occupied by capillaries in the myocardium increased in wild-type turkeys from 8. 59% at the age of 8 weeks to 9. 15% at 16 weeks, whereas in meat-type turkeys this area decreased from 10. 4% at 8 weeks to 9. 95% at 16 weeks. Our findings show that the meat-type turkeys’ heart capillaries were not as dense or well-structured as those in the wild-type turkeys, and their body mass and heart mass did not develop at the same rate.
Breeders, nutritionists, and growers are under pressure to make birds grow faster, use feed more efficiently, and get bigger breast muscles because people around the world want more chicken. Turkeys are sold in about half the time and at about twice the body weight they were 50 years ago [1]. These changes are due mainly to the high heritability of body weight and body meat composition [2]. These kinds of changes have made it harder for modern birds that are growing to deal with stressors, like heat stress in their environment [3]. Some people think this has led to the failure of several organs and body systems because of the higher metabolic demands needed for very fast body mass gains [4, 5].
Turkeys have developed many undesirable traits, such as circulatory disorders like ascites, aortic rupture, spontaneous cardiomyopathy (round heart), and cardiomyopathy causing sudden death, all of which are accompanied by a decrease in muscle production and/or a high death rate. These traits are likely caused by the stress that comes from growing so quickly [6–9]. One mystery in recent years is the occurrence of perirenal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in flocks of male turkeys that are heavy and growing quickly. Often, there is no clear cause. Here, mortality is most common between 8 and 16 weeks, which is when metabolic stress is highest and muscle growth is fastest [5]. In turkeys with noninfectious cardiovascular disorders, Julian [10] says that the cardiomyocytes can only respond very limitedly to changes in blood pressure and volume as well as a lack of oxygen. They can only get bigger to meet the extra demand.
According to Schmidt et al. [11] a study compared modern broiler turkey lines to heritage turkey lines and found that modern broilers have a lower physiological capacity to accommodate increasing skeletal muscle volume. This may be because they have a lower relative heart mass. They found that the hearts of heritage line birds (UIUC) grew at a rate of 7 mg/g of bird, while the hearts of modern broiler birds (Ross) grew at a rate of 5 mg/g of bird. Heritage and modern broiler birds of the same weight were compared, and the UIUC hearts were bigger than the Ross lineage hearts.
The heart growth after birth in domestic birds has mostly been looked at from the points of view of healthy development [11] and disease [7, 12]. In the same way, the shape of turkeys’ vascular systems has mostly been looked at from the point of view of gross pathology [5, 13].
Not much is known about how age, gender, and genetics affect how the heart grows and the structure of the capillaries in a turkey’s heart. A study compared the heart structures of a highly selected meat-type turkey line and a wild-type turkey line during critical growth periods. The goal was to find out if there are any links between genetic selection for fast growth and heart diseases in turkeys. To find out how the hearts of Canadian wild turkeys and a highly genetically selected meat-type domestic turkey line look and work under a microscope, we looked at the hearts of both groups during their fast growth period between 8 and 16 weeks old.
Turkey Heart Anatomy, for kids
FAQ
How big is a turkey’s heart?
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Parameters
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Age (weeks)
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Wild-type turkey
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Male (n = 10)
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Body mass (kg)
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16
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3.35
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Heart mass (g)
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8
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7.14
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16
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19.74
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Are turkey hearts good for dogs?
How do you fill a Turkey Heart with a filling?
Stuffing the turkey heart with a delicious filling can elevate its taste and make for an impressive dish. Consider using ingredients like breadcrumbs, herbs, cooked vegetables, or even a combination of nuts and dried fruits. Just make sure the stuffing is fully cooked before placing it inside the heart.
How do you cook a Turkey Heart on a grill?
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat and grill the hearts for 4-6 minutes per side until they are nicely charred and cooked through. Sautéing: Heat a tablespoon of oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey hearts and cook for 3-4 minutes per side until they are golden brown and cooked to your desired level of doneness.
What can you do with cooked turkey Hearts?
You can chop cooked turkey hearts and add them to salads, pasta dishes, or stir-fries for an extra protein boost. They can also be diced and used in soups, stews, or casseroles. Get creative and experiment with different recipes to make the most out of the turkey hearts in your kitchen.
How do you store Turkey Heart & giblets?
Chop the heart into s mall pieces witha sharp knife, and season it with salt and pepper. Store the turkey heart and giblets in the refrigerator before cooking, and use within one to two days. Defrost the turkey heart and giblets in the refrigerator, cold water or a microwave oven. Find your way to better health.
How do you clean a Turkey Heart?
Follow these simple steps: Give the turkey hearts a quick rinse under cold water to remove any surface impurities. Pat them dry with a paper towel to ensure a better sear and to prevent excess moisture. Trim any excess fat or connective tissue from the hearts.