turkey just dropped dead - would you eat it?

[Czech's_chicks]

Appreciate the replies. I'll go the safe route.

These aren't poults, we are withing 3 weeks of the fair - so you can see why I didn't want to waste it. I think it was about 20#

I could use a little help in ensuring the kids are on top of things, though. Water cannot be hung. I had a bigger one in there, but they kept dust-bathing and I couldn't keep it clean.

My turkey are held every day. Even though they are food, I am proving a point to the kids IT CAN BE DONE! The judge will see right off the bat who has worked their birds. When they scream when picked up and flap around - you know it wasn't worked.

I have a feeling he will stick to rabbits, next year. Got 19 awards and I guess after that, he bit off more than he could chew this year.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

The boys are raising BB Whites for the fair. I have 2 that were banded for my son to work with. I let the rest free range and his 2 stay in the pen so the feed can be controlled better. They keep knocking the water over so it has to be filled several times a day. I wasn't home much the last 2 days and the kids would not take the initiative if it came with $20.

No clue why, but one dropped dead. It happened almost directly before morning feeding, gullet completely empty. Here is where it gets a little squirmy - would you process and eat it?

My best guess is the lack of water and it was dehydrated, and when I processed it, I could not see anything wrong, organs looked good, no sign of parasites, etc. The internal temp was still high.

I was able to band another one and put it in the pen, so my son wont know, but now we are against the clock to get that one fattened up for the fair.

Czech's_chicks, while many have and will go the "better safe than sorry" route, I'm going the other way and say go ahead with the processing and eating, assuming of course that you plan on cooking it before you eat it. Here's the thing, you've obviously processed turkeys or chickens before and you know what the carcass is supposed to look and smell like and you've given this one a thorough examination. So, what could the turkey have died of? Perhaps dehydration. Perhaps heart failure (I know this is common in meat chickens and would assume BBW have some of these issues too). Either way, this does not affect the health of the meat. Wait, some will say, perhaps it had some sort of illness. The only disease I've ever heard of that a human can get from a bird is Avian flu, but since I haven't ever heard of an outbreak in the US, I think you're safe there. Anyway, you contact it from contact with a sick or dead bird, and since you've already handled your dead turkey, you have nothing more to fear. Most importantly, you are going to cook this turkey. Remember, just about EVERY chicken you purchase from the store is probably swarming with salmonella bacteria, and you have no clue as to the health of the chicken before it was processed and put in those shrink wrapped packages, but if you cook it properly, there is no problem with bacteria.

You've already invested time and money in this turkey, plus the additional time in processing it. I'd brine it in a big ziplock bag for a few days, because it wasn't bled out properly and then would cook it or smoke it and feed it to my family. FYI, I posted a similar question to this forum a few years back when I had a pullet killed by a bobcat almost right in front of me. I chased the bobcat off, retrieved the chicken and then went ahead with processing it (I had never processed a chicken before, but thought of it as a learning experience). I got mostly "don't eat it" advice from people, but then someone pointed out that if I had a hunting dog or a hunting falcon, I'd always be eating meat that had been killed by an animal so I went ahead and brined her and popped her in the smoker. The next year I was back posting the same question about a hen who I found almost dead in the coop from what looked like a prolapse. This one became a tasty fricassee.

However, a few weeks back I came out in the morning to let my meat birds out into their run to discover that something, probably a raccoon had killed three. Two of the poor things each had a missing leg quarter and one looked almost unharmed, but all three were dead (still warm) inside the coop. That was just a too icky for me, but I did skin them and feed them to my dogs. What can I say, I hate for anything I bought and raised and fussed over and fed to die in vain. So, if the "err on the side of caution" folks win the argument in your mind, you could at least feed the turkey to your dogs.

 

[Happy Chooks]

So, if the "err on the side of caution" folks win the argument in your mind, you could at least feed the turkey to your dogs.

That was my thought as well.

 

[pound4pound]

kinda scary but sometimes indicative of disease or stress when this things are happening. observe you remaining flock and watch out!

 

[Thailand Bill]

Foul are always knocking over the water or scratching and getting it dirty. I took a 4" pvc pipe, plugged the ends, drilled holes in it just big enough for the birds to drink. Hung it up in the air a bit and it has helped. Made another one out of 2" pvc for the chicks