Chicken Dissection Lab Analysis

In this lab, we used whole chickens from Safeway. We were instructed to find many different muscles by cutting into the back, front, wings and legs. In the first incision we cut along the midline of the chest to expose the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. These muscles help the bird move its wings, while in humans it pulls the shoulders forwards and down. These two muscles have striations running in opposite ways.

After this, we flipped the bird carcass onto its chest and did the same cut on the midline of the back. We peeled back the skin to expose the Trapezius and Latissimus Dorsi muscles. In humans, the trapezius either shrugs the shoulders, or pulls the shoulders back. The Latissimus Dorsi helps to extend the arm or wing.


We extended the wing of the bird next to get a better angle at the Deltoid, Biceps Brachii, and Triceps Humeralis. The Deltoid is located at the top of the shoulder to help with raising your arms. The Biceps Brachii flexes, or bends, the arm, while the Triceps Humeralis extends the arms. The second half of the wing, also our forearm, contained the Flexor Carpi Ulnaris, which flexes the hand, and the Brachioradialis, which pulls the hand back.

Moving onto the Chicken's legs, we found the Sartorius, Iliotibialis, Biceps Femoris, Semimembranosus, and Semitendinosus on the thigh area. The Sartorius flexes the thigh and is what allows humans to cross their legs, the Iliotibialis extends the thigh as well as flexes the knee. The Biceps Femoris flexes the leg, similarly to what the Biceps Brachii does in the arm. The Semimembranosus and Semitendinosus both help with extending the thigh.

The last section that we cut into was the drumstick, or the calf of humans. In this area, we found the Gastrocnemius, the Peroneus Longus, and the Tibialis Anterior. The Gastrocnemius extends the foot and flexes the lower leg, the Peroneus Longus also extends the foot, and the Tibialis Anterior flexes the foot.

After we did all of this, we started the cleanup process and disinfected the table, tools and our hands and forearms