Unfortunate question

[GoneHomeGrown]

I found one of my turkeys drown itself in the duck pool this morning. It did not appear to be dead long as there was no rigidity in the body and when I removed the head, there was still drainage of blood. I am new to this and used this as an opportunity to clean my first bird, but I have concerns to the safety of the meat.

1. Could it have been dead longer than I thought and not gone rigid because it was in water?

2. Do I need to worry that the water from the duck pool (about 3-4 days old) may have contaminated the meat?

3. Having concerns with it being safe for human consumption, should I just cook it up for the dogs or should I just toss it out all together?

Any information or thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[jaj121159]

Since it bled when cut, I would say it is fine. I wouldn't worry about the water either. Heck us waterfowl hunter pull ducks out of some nasty stuff. Remember in the olden days they would hang up birds guts and all until the head fell off then clean and eat them.

 

[eKo_birdies]

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[johny]

You assumed it drowned because of finding it in water.
But how do you know it did not die of disease and just happened to be at water when it died?

 

[chix4smokin]

Why would you go home grown if you're thinking about that? That kinda defeats the purpose. ( kinda like finding road kill)

 

[eKo_birdies]

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they obviously don't want the bird THEY RAISED to go to waste. seriously, it's quite a bit different than finding road kill.

 

[mstricer]

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they obviously don't want the bird THEY RAISED to go to waste. seriously, it's quite a bit different than finding road kill.

I don't think so. It is like finding road kill. Would you just pick up a chicken that died on your neighbors driveway and eat it. Probably not. I wouldn't eat it. I don't think I would feed it to my dogs either. Home grown or not I'm not eating anything I didn't kill myself.

 

[eKo_birdies]

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they obviously don't want the bird THEY RAISED to go to waste. seriously, it's quite a bit different than finding road kill.

I don't think so. It is like finding road kill. Would you just pick up a chicken that died on your neighbors driveway and eat it. Probably not. I wouldn't eat it. I don't think I would feed it to my dogs either. Home grown or not I'm not eating anything I didn't kill myself.

to me it is a lot different. for one, you probably have more of a time frame of the last time you saw said animal alive... vs. finding a deer on the road or a chicken in your neighbor's driveway that you have never laid eyes upon before much less have ANY idea of when the animal died (short of finding maggots).

of course, if once you opened the bird up, you saw diseased organs...toss it. but there are lots out there who would boil that up for a good hour or so and feed the meat to pets.

ETA not to mention the various diseases, parasites, worms, etc. that most roadkill harbors.

 

[Salt and Light]

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Surely this isn't accurate???

 

[Rod W]

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I don't think so. It is like finding road kill. Would you just pick up a chicken that died on your neighbors driveway and eat it. Probably not. I wouldn't eat it. I don't think I would feed it to my dogs either. Home grown or not I'm not eating anything I didn't kill myself.

to me it is a lot different. for one, you probably have more of a time frame of the last time you saw said animal alive... vs. finding a deer on the road or a chicken in your neighbor's driveway that you have never laid eyes upon before much less have ANY idea of when the animal died (short of finding maggots).

of course, if once you opened the bird up, you saw diseased organs...toss it. but there are lots out there who would boil that up for a good hour or so and feed the meat to pets.

ETA not to mention the various diseases, parasites, worms, etc. that most roadkill harbors.

I have eaten some mighty tasty venison, that I ASSUMED WAS ROADKILL, perhaps it was disease or parasites that actually killed the deer(broken car parts were planted) Eat the bird, here's a link from the UK on various hanging times for various birds. It seems as they hang just about all of their birds to tenderize them!! Thank You, ROD