Old-fashioned turkey flock is home on free range

YOU can hear farmer Steven Peirson’s flock of fine Norfolk Bronze turkeys long before you see them. Roaming free in the fields as they forage for grasses, herbs and grubs, leaping over the hedgerows and flapping onto fences and gates, they’re a pretty vocal and lively bunch.

The farm’s two collies, Spencer and Otto, can often be seen rounding wayward birds up as their high-pitched trills and characteristic gobbling calls reverberate around the North Yorkshire farmyard, close to the River Swale.

With a flock that has steadily increased from just 20 turkeys 20 years ago tomore than 400 today, the dogs have their work cut out.

Dark-coloured, with large fan tails and red fleshy protuberances known as snoods and wattles, above and below the beak, these magnificent birds are just how you would expect old-fashioned turkeys to look.

As you get closer you can see lots of rich bronzes and reds in the feathers.

It’s the sort of handsome bird Mrs Beeton might have grappled with and the type of bird Scrooge might have delivered to Bob Cratchit’s house in A Christmas Carol.

The Norfolk Black and Bronze were practically the only breeds in the UK in the 1800s, when – after shoeing – the flocks were driven from East Anglia down to the markets of London. Turkey was a real luxury then.

With 90 per cent of the two million turkeys sold in the UK now factory farmed, this breed has become an increasingly rare sight in the British countryside. Because it has dark feathers which stain the flesh when soaked, it has to be dry-plucked, which is much more labour- intensive.

Steven’s turkeys are slow grown over three months, twice as long as intensively-reared birds, then hand-plucked dry and hung with the guts intact for at least a week, for crisp skin and tenderised meat with extra flavour.

A third generation farmer, Steven is one of just a handful of organic and free range turkey producers, fattening and preparing his birds the old-fashioned way in North Yorkshire.

In the county he is the only member of the Traditional Farmfresh Turkey Association (TFTA), whose 50 members conform to strict welfare standards for the 165,000 birds they sell each year, including a natural diet, free from additives and growth promoters.

Regular customers of TFTA-stamped birds, all guaranteed slow-reared, dry-plucked and game-hung, include Jamie Oliver, the Hairy Bikers, Gordon Ramsay, Stephen Fry and Daniel Craig. “The process has such an incredible effect on the flavour and texture, you can’t believe how different it is, “ says spokeswoman Susan Richmond.

They are popular, too, with a number of high-profile figures in North Yorkshire, although, wary of confidentiality, Steven asks me not to reveal any names: “It’s fair to say a number of them have gone down to the House of Commons, “ he says.

The turkeys of Hook House Farm certainly attract a lot of attention. Photographs of them have appeared all over the world, including on the front page of the Idaho Times-News after a photographer working for the news agency Reuters spotted Spencer and Otto rounding them up in their 20-acre field.

“People often stop to ask about them, “ says Steven, as he points out the males, or stags, comically strutting about, with necks arched backwards and breasts thrust forward, as they fan their tail feathers in a sexual display.

Highly sociable, the young birds are particularly playful as they run about and frolic in the grass, or enjoy dust baths in the dry earth.

“They love getting out. Unlike hens, the turkeys all come out in a mad rush, desperate to get into the field in the morning. They are very inquisitive, “ says Steven.

And they happily perch each evening in an open barn. “They say turkeys should be able to see the stars at night and they do enjoy the view from their barn,” he says.

As well as foraging about freely for food throughout the day, Steven’s birds eat oats grown on the farm, which has been organic for 12 years. The changeover made sense to Steven, who took over the 100-hectare mixed farm, which has beef cattle, sheep and arable crops as well as the Christmas turkeys, when his father Denis retired.

“We’re in a bit of a rain shadow, between the Pennines and the Moors, which is not suited to intensive farming. Organic crops need less water and root better, “ says Steven.

The free-draining, gravelly land and relatively low rainfall are good for outdoor livestock.

“Our organic system all links together, building fertility in the soil with a combination of crops, sheep and cattle rotation. It’s a system that has worked well for centuries, “ says Steven.

Everything grows at a steadier, more natural speed. “We don’t push or force anything and think this is reflected in the taste, “ says Steven.

Christmas comes early every year, though, as far as the turkeys are concerned.

Steven had already been on the phone that morning discussing his order for next year’s chicks. He will place his order in January and take delivery of the chicks in June. Initially, they are put in a shed under infra-red lamps, in pens made from rings of hardboard. As they get bigger, they are allowed outside.

Tending to them is a time-consuming job. “We let them out when the sun comes out and put them away once the sun goes down.We’re topping up the feeders about three times a day and they start to eat faster as the weather gets colder.”

There’s also the matter of keeping them safe from predators. “We have had rogue foxes during the day. One killed five or six in an afternoon, one after the other. We have problems with badgers, too.”

Steven even has to make sure they don’t suffer from sunburn. “That is one of the biggest problems. We have to make sure they have pSlenty of shade in July and August.”

Unlike conventional turkeys, he farms five strains of bird, which grow to different weights, ranging from 10lb to 25lb.

“People often say to me, it is beautiful, it is the best turkey ever. I like to think they appreciate having good welfare for their turkey too.

“People perceive organic to be expensive; it isn’t. You are buying birds that have the finest natural diet, free from additives and growth promoters, and they enjoy life to the full.”

Steven and wife Amanda usually have about 15 family members for Christmas dinner, including daughters Sophie, 16, and Emily, 15, and will get through two or three of their own 20lb birds over the festive period.

“When you see the grown-up birds, nice and chubby, with feathers in place, it’s very satisfying.

You feel everything is right with the world. It makes for a perfect Christmas.”

Hook House Farm, Kirkby Fleetham, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL7 0SS.
Phone: 01609 748977.
Hookhousefarm.co.uk