poor timing- i slaughtered during molt. what is this black stuff?

[orangefleabait]

so, i misjudged when turkey would be through molting... now he's slaughtered and plucked and cleaned, but he's got this dirty black slime stuff coming out where i pulled the newest, just barely through the skin feathers. it's kind of staining the skin, and is generally gross. does anyone have experience with this? it's ruining the look of the bird and water isn't really making much of a difference. thanks for any info anyone can provide, i can't find anything similar...

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Is he a bronze or other dark breed? That's the melanin, or whatever the turkey version is. It's normal. The way to get around that is to go for white turkeys. It won't harm you at all. It just looks nasty.

 

[Oregon Blues]

It's a perfectly normal part of the turkey and won't hurt you in the slightest to eat it,

 

[columbiacritter]

After slaughter when you put the cleaned carcass inthe ice bath to cool before bagging and freezing put some salt int he ice water and it will draw most of that out.