This Turkey Tuesday is my annual post about one of the biggest and longest running misconceptions in the wild turkey world – beard rot. The one tom in these images has an odd beard. Beards are specialized feathers that grow continuously, and they’re dark colored because of melanin, which is the most common pigment in birds. Melanin is produced through interactions between amino acids released from nutrients in foods that turkeys eat and enzymes in the skin. When melanin production is disrupted because the tom has a nutritional deficiency, or has been ill or injured, the growing beard gets a rusty colored stripe in it. Typically, the bird recovers from the issue that caused the melanin disruption, and he starts producing melanin at normal levels again – so the new growth is once again black. However, the section of the beard that is rusty colored is brittle and often breaks – almost looking like it was cut – which is perhaps what causes folks to think the beard is rotting. But alas, there is no such thing as beard rot! The take home is a simple lack of melanin production is the root cause for one of the most common misunderstandings in the wild turkey world. Has anyone shot a tom with an odd colored beard?
Pics by Darcy D. Photography
