Sick Turkey

[StanP]

Hello everyone,

  a buddy and I shot a pair of jakes last week.   both birds looked normal and healthy.  when I gutted them later, one of them had a liver which had a brownish yellow color to it and was very soft.  the other bird's liver was firm and the typical dark red.  has anyone ever seen that before?   I did wait a couple hours before gutting, but the other bird's liver was perfectly normal.   the bird clearly had a serious disease of some sort.    any idea if there is someone i should contact with something like this?  am I ok eating the jake?     i shot the bird in NEast CT.    thanks

Stan

[redarrow]

I don't think I have ever seen a turkey liver. I remove the wings ,beard,tail and fillet the breast . Never see the guts. So I have no idea what you should do.

[renegade19]

Aint got a clue.  I never look at their guts either.  Seems like we used to watch for yellow spots on a rabbit's liver back in the day?

[lvetgas]

Was the whole liver a sort of yellow color?  If it was distributed evenly I suspect fatty liver but, without seeing the liver I am not sure.

Google fatty liver disease. The thing that I question is if it was diet related why didn't both birds have a fatty liver?

Better safe than sorry because the liver does tell a lot about overall health. If it was diet related the high fat diet probably would make very tasty meat. If it was disease related then the taste is not worth the chance.

[catman529]

Surprised so many don't know what a turkey liver looks like. That sounds weird, that jake's liver. I'd be leery of eating but would hate to waste it. I save livers too, for catfish bait.

[DirtNap647]

if you doubt it may want to throw it out ruins the meal anyways everybite you take its on your mind...how did everything else look

[StanP]

thanks for the feedback.   first,  if you are just breasting the turkey, you should try flipping it over and getting the legs and thighs off.  should take about 5 minutes.   tastes great, but tough, so you need to slow cook.   makes a great stew.
a buddy of mine loves eating the liver, so the last 3 years, I have been pulling the liver out after I breast and remove thighs and legs.   I tried it once, and it wasnt half bad.
the liver was totally that color and a similar size to the other birds, so normal.    the jakes were running together, so I assume they have been doing that for a while. so i would guess a similar diet.    the rest of the bird looked good.  quality of meat appeared to be just like the other bird.   

[horsedoctor]

Lots of variation in what a liver might look like and still be normal. Certainly too risky for you to eat. Freeze it and send it to me & I'll take all the risk and let you know how it tasted.