Pheasants breasts seem redder in the cold?

[Weimdogman]

Maybe it's just me but it seems the birds we have cleaned recently have much darker breast meat. After much rinsing they go back to normal. Someone mentioned rinsing the blood/iron out, is that the cause,extra iron to handle the cold?

 

[Tomahawker]

Shot 2 a couple weeks ago. 1 was kinda red, the other pale and looked exactly like chicken breast. Same field, same day. Age? Idk. Both in freezer

 

[Weimdogman]

So I finally got to talk to a ornithologist who is a wildlife professor about this. His reply is a survival tactic of a starving bird. Not a link but now you can at look at it for yourself if interested

 

[remy3424]

I have notice this many times. I got thinking that maybe it was the very freshly harvested birds were maybe the darker ones and the ones that were a couple hours dead were the lighter colored breast ones?? No birds I have been shooting should have been anywhere near starving....but maybe if they just hadn't eat for a day.... maybe??? An empty crop = red breast???

 

[Miforester]

Not surprising, when deer are starving one way to confirm malnutrition and death by starvation is to cut or break open the femur, their body will start to consume its own bone marrow. Since birds have hallow bones they would start else where thanks for sharing that.

 

[Lefty76]

Interesting. The bird I cleaned yesterday had more fat on him than any bird I can remember cleaning. He was also an old bird. Until today, we have not had much snow to contend with. I will definitely pay attention to this from now on.

 

[remy3424]

One of my last birds of the season had a weight issue, fat pretty much everywhere. His crop was empty when I harvested him, maybe he was being body shamed & harassed with those fat thighs and neck and was trying to shed a bit of the weight by missing a meal! Check out the pics, and this doesn't show the fat inside the body cavity! He must have been going away when shot, as you can see a lead #5 shot almost passed-through.

 

[Weimdogman]

The birds I noticed it most on harvested on a cold day -2 for the high. Right after a couple days of snowstorms.