There is an especially delicious organ at the botton of a chicken thigh. There does not seem to be an analogous organ in humans. Also I have heard speculation that it is a blood vessel but it seems oddly shaped for a blood vessel. What is it?
nugget?
Which way is bottom to you on a thigh? Would it be toward the foot? Or would it be the part of the thigh that’s toward the body of the bird?
The organ at the bottom of the thigh is called “the drumstick.”
Nothing but meat, mate. Muscle tissue, fat, a few tendons which are so small you don’t notice 'em (unlike in the drumstick). There must be blood vessels as well, but can’t say as I’ve noticed them, either. No “organs” in the organ meat sense.
Just how many human thighs have you eaten?
Could you be talking about the “Pope’s Nose”, or the tail? It’s a little triangle of greasy stuff that starts where the back stops. I guess if you were sloppy about your cuts, it could connect to the thigh via a strip of skin.
It sounds to me like the OP might be describing either some morsel of dark meat buried deep within the thigh, or may be referring to the ‘oysters’ - a different morsel of dark and usually especially moist and tasty meat that rests in a little dimple on the underside of a traditionally roasted bird (i.e. on its back, because it is roasted breast-upwards) - I suppose this could be considered ‘at the bottom of the thigh’, as it is found in the general area of the leg joints.
IIRC, the whole of the leg in chickens is considered “dark” meat.
My WAG, the OP is thinking of the cartiledge (scientific word woud be meniscus) that is frequently attached to the knee end of the thigh bone. That’s the only thing in there that would have a different consistancy from muscle, though I’d hardly call it the tastiest part. And anyway, it’s more commonly on the top end of the drum stick.
But maybe the OP means “bottom” as in close to the bone, under all the meat?
To be truthful, I can’t envision what the OP is describing. The chicken leg is fairly analogous to the human leg, just with some of the bones stretched and/or fused together. The muscles, nerves, and vessels are all more similar than not.
Why Not: knowing that a chicken’s tail is also known as “pope’s nose” is singularly hilarious. Thank you.
“Parson’s nose” is what I’ve heard it called.
This was my initial thought, as well. Mmmm…oysters. The oysters traditionally go to the cook who prepared the roast bird, as they’re often considered the tastiest part of the chicken. As you note, though, they’re not really located on the thigh, but the description in the OP is fairly vague, so this may be it.
But, yeah, it’s just meat.
I’ve always heard it called the ‘polkee’ (spelling is approximate).
If it is the oysters (or even if it isn’t), I would like to know, anatomically, what they are and what they do.
Actually, I think maybe I asked that already in a thread of its own - if so, I have forgotten the answer, if there was one.
Mangetout:
I’m 80% sure the oysters are remnant glutteal muscles. The location matches with other mammals, and their function (extending the hip) would explain why they are dark meat. (Chickens spend most of their time standing, so they need muscle with lots of myoglobin to provide a long-term oxygen supply. Myoglobin makes the muscle dark. Conversely, chickens don’t spend a lot of time flying, so their breast muscles don’t have myoglobin and are therefore white in color. Ducks, by comparision, have dark meat on their breasts and white meat in their legs.)
If the thigh is cut to include the hip (?) bones and part of the back, then in the hip/back area, on the inside of the bird, you can find something that’s vaguely liver-like tucked into a bony nook. I’ve had relatives claim it’s the kidneys, but I’m pretty sure it’s not.
The consistency is not at all meat-like. It’s more the consistancy of cooked blood with a bit of added tissue. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a large blood vessel, as has been suggested.
Ahh, I bet you’re right. At hoity toity chef school, they do teach you to cut these off with the chicken quarters, apparently.
Picture of the oyster on the thigh.
They are glutes, I’m pretty sure, although I couldn’t tell you which ones go where.
What you saw is a kidney. The kidneys in birds are much longer, proportionally, than they are in humans, and they sit in pockets right along the inside of the pelvis, along either side of the spine.
You should trust your relatives more 
I think he’s referring to the kidneys.
Guess what? Chicken butt!
D&R
[quote=“Pullet, post:17, topic:472778”]
What you saw is a kidney. The kidneys in birds are much longer, proportionally, than they are in humans, and they sit in pockets right along the inside of the pelvis, along either side of the spine.
That’s interesting to know–for whatever reason, I remember them being called “lights” in my family. We also called the tail the “parson’s nose”. I cook a lot of chicken thighs, and always wondered about that little nugget–the oyster!