Odd Heart On Butchered Turkey

[MorningCrowing]

So, we got two turkeys in May of 2018 and were butchering them today,
10-7-18. The first one we butchered was a female and completely normal. The second turkey, though was a male and lighter than the female. We thought- whatever. We pluck the turkey and we see it’s body shape and a odd looking fall below its wing(photos 1 and 4 below.) So we continue to butcher and move on to gutting and cleaning the bird, and the intestines are very knotted up and goofy looking. The liver, too was oddly hard. We then came to removing the heart and it was about twice as big as the other one’s and it was very watery (photos 2 and 3.) Should we be eating this turkey?

 

[Redhead Rae]

What breed was he? Looks like he was deformed and had heart problems. I think it should be ok to eat him.

@rjohns39 what do you think about eating this bird?

 

[Kiki]

Are you planning on cooking him all the way?
If so then I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[MorningCrowing]

Thank you all!

 

[Birdinhand]

if my experience with growing out lots of meat chickens is comparable, he/she sounds to have been diseased. there are a variety of weird issues that could be the cause but certainly such an enlarged heart was not able to do it's job and every other organ suffered. hopefully the meat is decent and won't need to be wasted. I'm sure it's fine to eat but it might not have a very good texture. you basically put it out of it's misery and surely it would not have survived much longer.

 

[MorningCrowing]

What breed was he?

He was a broad breasted bronze

 

[guardianoftheflock]

I don't know if I would eat that... I would try to figure out what the problem was before eating...

 

[Kiki]

Thank you all!

Most "things" are safe to eat if you cook it well.
This is a good read:
https://opentextbc.ca/meatcutting/chapter/diseases-associated-with-meat/

 

[Kiki]

One more good read.
https://livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/ALBCturkey-5.pdf

 

[Lady of McCamley]

The large heart was likely caused by the cirrhosis (hardening/scarring) of the liver.

Disease caused the abdominal twisting and tumor under the wing.

Personally, I would want to know what caused the infection of the intestines and liver and caused the tumors before I ate him.

There are a number of diseases that could do that, and I'm not an expert on Turkeys.

Some of them would be harmless to humans but may cause the meat to be less than desirable in texture.

Some of the diseases should have sanitation and clean up for the safety of the rest of your flock.

I'll link a chart below. I'm leaning towards something like Avian Leucosis or Trichomoniasis.

https://livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/ALBCturkey-5.pdf