Worms?

[fishnhuntnboy]

I shot a pintail this morning and when i breasted it out today it had white things in the breast that kinda look like worms. Is this possible at all? You can pick them out or if you squeez the breast they kinda pop out or push out.

I will try and get a pic on here.

Thanks

[mws4dux]

We had the same thing in a mallard a week ago,don't know what it was

[Wallydog]

Fellas, it's commonly called "rice breast". It's supposedly Ok to eat but I'm not going to.......

WD

[chub]

Fellas, it's commonly called "rice breast". It's supposedly Ok to eat but I'm not going to.......

WD

What he said......

[fishnhuntnboy]

Interesting. I think I will play it safe an not eat the breast.

Thanks for the info

[bucketmouth64]

Found this on ducks unlimited blog. This question comes up a lot from hunters each season.

Sarcocystis or rice breast.

The condition described above is called Sarcocystis or "rice breast." Sarcocystis is a nonfatal, usually asymptomatic, infection that is caused by a parasitic protozoan. Various species of this parasite affect mammals, reptiles and birds. The most commonly reported species in North America is Sarcocystis rileyi, the species found most often in waterfowl. Current knowledge of the disease does not indicate a need to initiate control because there is little evidence that bird health is compromised by this parasitic infection.

Sarcocystis sp. presents no known health hazard to humans. The primary importance to humans of Sarcocystis in waterfowl is the loss of infected birds for food. The unaesthetic appearance of parasitized muscle may prompt hunters to discard the carcass. Many hunters who pluck birds never observe the parasite as cooking generally makes the parasite less noticeable than seen in raw muscle tissue.

[walleyehunter80]

i would never eat one that looked like that, glad i have never shot one