CHRISTMAS TURKEYS !
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Our Norfolk Blacks are considered the tastiest breed, and they are raised to certified ORGANIC standards from Day One here on our Farm. The only food miles these turkeys see is their daily commute from their overnight perch to a grassy field full of green things to eat. We pluck and process them by hand, pack and sell them direct from the Farm, with low-impact packaging.
The Turkey Blog:
September 30, 2021: They are all out there, all 75 of them, munching away happily on the nettles, docks, comfrey and quite a few other green things. As the sun goes down they all head for the barn, which in this case is an old marquee reinforced with some chicken wire to stop them from scratching and tearing the sides. Turkeys are really easy to manage, they all walk straight in most afternoons, and only occasionally does one of them forgets or makes a break for freedom; but generally all we do is open the marquee up in the morning and say "hello", and close it in the afternoon after saying "good night".
The 2021 turkey book is filling up fast even though we haven't advertised anywhere. It seems there's going to be an industry-wide shortage of 10% according to the national news, as some conventional turkey growers for supermarket turkeys have reduced their production due to labour shortages. We're very small producers, and we only use local labour, mostly people who live on our Farm, so the only effect we are likely to feel is selling out early. Turkey production for Christmas starts in April when we book our day-old poults with a specialist organic grower in Devon.
Incubating a batch of turkey eggs for a month or so is a skilful business and we leave that to Rosie Yells, who has been practicing her trade for about 20 years. Our day-old birds arrive in something that looks like an enlarged pizza box at the end of June, and they're all the same age, a mix of males and females, and they are all very scrawny to look at as their main feathers have not yet grown. Day-old chickens are cute little fluff-balls; day-old turkeys are long-necked, bald heads, and not very good at walking
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December 12, 2020: In the next few days we'll move the turkeys into our "Big Barn" where we have a pen ready for them. There's an Avian Flu warning throughout the country so we're obliged to move all of our poultry under cover to protect them from the disease that is carried by wild birds. For the turkeys, however, it is their final day or two; we'll be plucking and hanging the birds ready for our customers on December 22-24. The turkeys have so far been enjoying quite a bit of freedom, and these last few weeks they have become much more adventurous, ranging over several fields well outside their allotted field. Since the beginning of October they have been enthusiastically flying over their fence with increasing frequency and exploring the countryside. It starts with one or two of the more assertive birds flying over the fence, usually with an abundance of curiosity towards a person who has come near. Every day more turkeys follow the leader, and this last week or so we have about half the flock flying out in the morning, walking in a big gaggle all over the place, and when a person or vehicle comes their way the gather together in a tight group and begin hurrying their way back to their proper field. Perhaps they feel guilty for having been discovered sneaking out of their enclosure.
December 1, 2020: This will be the last month for this year's turkeys. We're not quite there yet, but not far off. Christmas is coming, and we might imagine we know which way the turkeys would vote.
November 2020: The birds are nearly full-grown now, and very keen on more food every evening when we put them to bed, so they're quite easy to get in. One of the features of keeping birds is that they make a mess of the ground in front of their marquee and in the marquee, particularly under the perches. Turkeys have very big feet so they can balance all of that weight, and they have no problem negotiating slippery mud, but by November they've completely scratched up all of the vegetation inside the marquee and immediately in front of it, and made a thorough mixture of mud, rain and muck that is not much different than an ice-rink to walk on. That means it's an on-going task to get fresh bedding down to help keep their feet in good condition and give them the opportunity to sit down on something warm and dry. Another feature is that they have an instinct to perch for the night, so as the sun goes down late in the afternoon they begin to look around for the best perch for the night - - a tree, a perch in the marquee, or the top of the marquee outside. If we encourage them to go inside just at the right moment, when they begin to have the "feeling" about perching but before they have begun to look around at other possibilities, they are very easy to herd inside - - often they just walk over to the person who arrives in the field and will just follow that person in. But if we wait too long, when the instinct to perch has already gone into action, some have already decided to be up on top of the marquee on the outside, and locked their very long toes around the bars. At this stage it is almost impossible to get them to release their hold on the bars, so we leave those few out for the night. They are safe enough, although if it rains in the night they look a bit sorry for themselves in the morning.
October 2020: The turkeys tend to stick together in a tightly grouped flock, particularly when anyone comes near. They assume that a person will be bringing them food, so they often rush over to the near part of the fence. They tend to be curious about other animals wandering by, and they often send a "Mexican wave" sound greeting, which the horses definitely don't like. Our Farm dog Jake usually looks intimidated when faced with several dozen black creatures all staring at him. We're growing leeks not far from the turkey fence, and quite a few of the intrepid birds fly over the fence whenever we are weeding or pulling the leeks. Hopefully they all fly back again, as they actually prefer flocking together with their own kind, leaving our leeks undisturbed. Fortunately one of the few green things they don't like are the alliums (leeks, onions and garlic).
September 2020: This year we've moved our marquee housing to the bottom of the Espalier field which is in the middle of the Farm. Inside the canvas they have perches, and this is where we supply their cereal feed and water drinkers. The turkeys are behind a fence to keep out the fox. We use two electric "sniff-wires" just outside the fence to discourage any hungry vixens from sneaking in. It's a system we've used for the laying hens for five years now, and despite a fox den only a hundred metres or so away, we've had no incursions so far. The turkeys like eating greens - - nearly everything green, so our collection of docks, comfrey, burdock and quite a few other undesirables disappear during these months. Their specially tasty green is nettles - - a wheelbarrow-full dumped into the field disappears in about 15 minutes - - leaves, stems, roots and all.
August 2020: We've about 65 turkeys who are growing well. We start them on a special high-protein growing diet, and for the first month they get very small-sized pellet food. At the end of this month we turn off the heat lamps because the birds are now fully feathered. they have a bit more "personality" now - - they come to the door of the pen every time a person approaches, probably hoping for some special food.
July 2020: The day-old turkey poults arrive in two pizza-sized boxes, with about 35 little birds in each one. We keep them in a closed part of the barn, surrounded by a circular plastic wall. The young birds are somewhat delicate, more so than other birds - - they require heat lamps even in the middle of summer, and they need their pen to have no corners, as they don't know how to go in reverse once they get into a corner. They're very active right from the start, running around, eating, sleeping, drinking, and bumping into each other nearly all day and night. After a couple of days they settle into a day-time and night-time routine, going much more quiet when the sun goes down. Because they hatch out with almost no feathers they tend to huddle around the warmest place in the pen which is the red circle of light from the overhead heat lamp. When this gets too warm they wander out, have a drink and a run-around, and then fall asleep for a few minutes.
Organic Turkeys
Phone us on 07908 088369 for more information We've raised turkeys again for Christmas, our 18th year, again using the Norfolk Black variety. We've chosen the traditional Norfolk Blacks because they are a heritage breed and well suited to living outdoors with a free-range lifestyle, growing a bit more slowly, and delivering a very distinct and delicious flavour. They've been on our Farm since Day 1, and they are all hand plucked here (which leads to aching thumbs). We hang the birds for a few days which helps to develop a more tender and succulent taste. The birds are drawn and dressed and packed here on the Farm, so there's zero food miles. Most of our sales are very local within a few miles of the Farm, but we can ship to anywhere in the country for a small delivery charge. We have some other Radford Mill products you might enjoy. They are all made on the Farm, and they are exceptionally tasty. Basil pesto - creamy and tangy Harvest chutney, with a variety of veg and fruit Honey - we have about 8 beehives Apple juice - pressed and bottled on the Farm This year we're running an "Adopt a Turkey" scheme, so you can buy a live turkey from us for £45. you may want to consider this wonderful idea which can transform your garden spaces - -- they love eating most green things, and they add very nutritious natural fertilizer every day. We also might have a few frozen turkeys which we will sell at a discount price just after Christmas. You can give us an idea of approximately what size you would like. We'll do our best to match a turkey to your choice, but we can't guarantee the exact weight so you may get a bird that is slightly larger or smaller than requested. The weight range is likely to be from 3.5 kg to 8 kg, Generally speaking we suggest that a 4 to 5 kg bird will comfortably feed 7 adults with some leftovers for the next day; and a 6 -7 kg bird will do for 9 -12 people with some left for later. We always include the giblets for making really good gravy and liver pate We include some cooking suggestions and recipes that have worked well for very many years.
If you have any questions please send an email or phone and leave a message on the answerphone. info@radfordmillfarm.com 07908 088369. Telephone reception is variable on the Farm, so an email might be best. ==================================================== |
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We also have ...
Apple juice, creamy basil pesto, harvest chutney, and lots of organic vegetables. All of the above will be available when you collect your turkey at the Farm, whenever you wish, if you give us a few days' notice. |