{"id":173546,"date":"2023-12-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediaintel.asia\/?p=928864"},"modified":"2023-12-16T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T00:00:00","slug":"i-always-had-turkey-at-christmas-then-i-adopted-one-how-would-i-feel-about-eating-my-own-bird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/2023\/12\/16\/i-always-had-turkey-at-christmas-then-i-adopted-one-how-would-i-feel-about-eating-my-own-bird\/","title":{"rendered":"I always had turkey at Christmas. Then I adopted one. How would I feel about eating my own bird?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MediaIntel.Asia\"<\/a><\/div>\n

It\u2019s a sunny September afternoon and I\u2019m sitting on a wall at a small turkey farm in Surrey with my guitar, playing Wonderwall to the (admittedly slightly bemused) turkey who I adopted as a day-old chick in June, and have been down to visit every month since. I am here to get to know him and to show him a good time. Come Christmas, I\u2019ll then face the ultimate dilemma: will I still be able to eat him?
\nWe\u2019re all advised to eat less meat and, when we do, to take an interest in where it came from. You can buy a basic supermarket chicken for \u00a34. By the time you\u2019ve sidled up the aisle to the top-of-the-range, free-range, organic corn-fed, privately-educated chickens, they\u2019ve probably had a better life than you.
\n\u201cThe intensive poultry industry is still the frontline of animal welfare,\u201d explains Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall when I phone him for a quick turkey debrief. \u201cHundreds of millions of chickens and 10 million turkeys are raised in the UK each year in conditions that don\u2019t allow them to express their natural behaviour. Some indoor systems are better than others, but millions of birds suffer painful injuries and die prematurely because they are growing so fast in such stressful conditions. Birds that have lived outdoors grow slower, eat a healthier, more natural diet and produce tastier, healthier meat, higher in omega fatty acids. If you want to put a bird on your Christmas table that has truly lived well, it simply has to be free-range.\u201d
\nI\u2019m a conflicted carnivore. I\u2019ve always been a bit squeamish around eating whole chickens and fish with their heads on, but come Christmas, I\u2019ll happily gobble a slice of turkey because \u2013 well, it\u2019s a Christmas tradition, isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s just another food item on the plate. But this year I\u2019ll have a bit more of an idea where my turkey came from, other than the freezer section at Asda. I am intrigued to know what life is like for a posh, free-range farm turkey. And if I got to know one for longer than the trip home from Tesco, could I still eat it for Christmas dinner?
\nJune
\nI\u2019m not sure I want a live turkey living in my flat like Joey and Chandler\u2019s duck on Friends. Nor do I have the expertise or patience to rear one in my garden like Gordon Ramsay. So I\u2019m off to Surrey to meet 50-year-old heritage bronze turkey farmer Tom Giannandrea who started Feather Farm Turkeys in 2011 after his mate Alex drunkenly purchased a plot of land one New Year\u2019s Eve. This year, Farmer Tom plans to rear 50 turkey chicks in his mate\u2019s new 240 sq metre barn. It\u2019s also a big day because I\u2019ll be meeting my new adoptive son, Terrance.
\nWe\u2019re heading to Farmgate Hatcheries in Essex to collect our one-day-old chicks, which Giannandrea will rear. Terrance is inside with his 49 brothers and sisters. It\u2019s love at first sight. The chicks cheep all the way home in the boot of the farmer\u2019s Discovery. He puts them into the heated brooder where they\u2019ll stay for the next six weeks. I can recognise Terrance by his big eyes and funny waddle. Already feeling like a proud parent, I wave goodbye and promise to visit soon.
\nJuly
\nGiannandrea has warned me of the inherent risks. \u201cThe first three weeks rearing chicks are the hardest,\u201d he says. \u201cToo cold, they die. Too hot, they die. Too much noise, they die.\u201d Three years ago, a weasel got in and killed all the chicks, hence the new barn. This year there\u2019s a different problem. Disturbingly, the chicks have turned to cannibalism. Eight have pecked each other to death. Giannandrea has bought another 25, of which 20 have survived, leaving a gaggle of 62.
\n\u2018To show my turkey solidarity, I dress up as a giant turkey. Terrance hides with shame.\u2019 Photograph: P\u00e5l Hansen\/The Guardian
\nThe good news is that Terrance isn\u2019t dead. He waddles over to say hello. There is scientific evidence that turkeys recognise human faces. \u201cThey certainly recognise me,\u201d Giannandrea says. \u201cIf I bring someone else into the barn, it freaks them out.\u201d
\nThere are 12 toms \u2013 male turkeys. \u201cNot everyone wants a 9kg bird. Hens are smaller and sell better,\u201d Giannandrea explains. Terrance is already a strapping young lad. \u201cSoon the toms will start strutting, giving it all of that.\u201d Who doesn\u2019t like a good strut? That\u2019s my boy.
\nAugust
\n\u201cThe birds are a bit different from when you were last here,\u201d Giannandrea says. Boy, have they grown. They scuttle out and, as he whistles, follow him like sheep. They probably think he\u2019s their mum. They look like mini velociraptors and peck at my feet. \u201cYou\u2019re scared of them, aren\u2019t you?\u201d he says. I am a bit. They\u2019re cute, but I\u2019m worried they\u2019ll suddenly all turn on me and rip me to shreds like in Jurassic Park.
\nThe chicks spend their days foraging and sunning themselves, only coming into the barn to eat and sleep. Predators such as buzzards can swoop down and snag turkey chicks for lunch. Bird flu is a worry. In 2022, half a million of the UK\u2019s Christmas free-range turkeys died or were culled. One million battery turkeys also died. It only takes one diseased bird to fly in and the whole group could be infected. But all here is good, with strict bio security on site \u2013 all shoes need to be dipped and visitors are kept to a minimum. The only setback was when a neighbour offered to help out when Giannandrea took his family away for the weekend. \u201cHe likes the countryside and said, \u2018I\u2019ll look after them.\u2019 But he forgot to shut the door, the birds escaped from their designated area and shat all over the rest of the barn.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s great to see how happy the turkeys are \u2013 free to enjoy the outside and wander around the field. This is how you imagine free-range. \u201cA free-range turkey is a fitter turkey, like the difference between one who\u2019s out exercising rather than sitting on the sofa all day, and will cook in half the time because of the extra intramuscular fat,\u201d explains Giannandrea, who once appeared on (and won!) cookery show Humble Pie, hosted by Marco Pierre White and Melanie Sykes. \u201cPeople say they don\u2019t like turkey but that\u2019s because, sadly, most have been reared in mass production and so are dry to eat and lack taste. Most supermarket chickens are six weeks old when they\u2019re slaughtered and pumped full of steroids. No wonder so much water comes out when you cook one.\u201d
\nSeptember
\nNow Terrance is a turkey teenager, I wonder: should I be explaining the facts of life to him? \u201cNot really,\u201d Giannandrea says. \u201cTurkeys can start mating when they are nine months old. Unlike chickens, turkey hens only lay eggs in the spring, and turkeys don\u2019t usually live to see spring. That\u2019s why you don\u2019t get turkey eggs in the supermarket.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s nice to see Terrance but I\u2019m definitely scared of him by now. He\u2019s half adult size, around 5kg. \u201cThey\u2019re strong animals,\u201d Giannandrea says, pointing to a scar on his leg. \u201cThe spur on the back of their foot will slice you open like a knife.\u201d
\nTerrance is developing his wattle \u2013 his red, wrinkly, neck that turkeys use to regulate temperature. The larger the wattle, the more dominant the tom. He\u2019s also growing his breast beard \u2013 a long feather found in male turkeys that can grow to around 23cm (9in). If he\u2019s sexually aroused, he\u2019ll show the hens he\u2019s up for some turkey lovin\u2019 by erecting his feather. Male turkeys also use their snood \u2013 the floppy, fleshy appendage over their beaks \u2013 to regulate temperature and to indicate sexual readiness and compete for a female\u2019s attention. The dude with the longer snood usually wins. Best not tell Terrance that size doesn\u2019t matter.
\nTerrance is now an adult with \u2013 like father, like son \u2013 an impressive wattle. With a tear in my eye, I wave goodbye
\nAccording to Peta, turkeys can run up to 35mph and fly at 55mph. Terrance would beat me in a race. Turkeys see with a 270-degree field of vision, while I struggle to read the small print. Turkeys like to look their best: the farmer shows me where the birds have scratched a dust bath to groom and clean their feathers.
\nTurkeys like music, so I\u2019ve brought my guitar. I can\u2019t play Turkey Chase by Bob Dylan, Cold Turkey by John Lennon, Turkey Mambo Momma by Pulp or You\u2019re Beautiful (or should that be: You\u2019re Bootiful, Bernard Matthews\u2019s catchphrase?) by James Blunt, so I bang out a bit of Wonderwall. Terrance isn\u2019t impressed. \u201cWe need to put some big speakers in the barn, get a proper turkey rave going on.\u201d
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\nYou can also embarrass a turkey. If they get hot, excited, agitated, sick or self-conscious, their heads change from blue to red. They say owners start looking like their pets. To show my turkey solidarity, I dress up as a giant turkey. Terrance hides with shame.
\nOctober
\nIt\u2019s pouring. Nice weather for ducks, but not turkeys. I find them perched high inside the barn.
\nTurkey are playing Latvia in the Uefa Euro qualifiers. As a treat, I\u2019ve brought a projector to watch the match with Terrance and his turkey mates. It\u2019s a slow first half after Turkey\u2019s Akg\u00fcn\u2019s four-minuter is disallowed by VAR. 0-0 into the second half, Latvia\u2019s Emsis, Ozols and Da\u0161\u0137evi\u010ds all receive yellow cards for foul play. Foul play! Against Turkey! It ends 4-0 to Turkey. I\u2019m engrossed, but when I turn round, none of the turkeys are watching.
\nPerhaps the gang will be more interested in the turkey rave Giannandrea previously suggested. I\u2019ve brought some speakers, a disco ball and a playlist of dance classics, so I dim the lights and crank up the tunes. The turkeys nod vaguely in time, although I\u2019m not sure they\u2019re quite as big fans of 90s techno as I am. They do seem to enjoy a bit of Born Slippy by Underworld, but who doesn\u2019t?
\nNovember
\nThe turkeys are doing well and are now up for local sale. They sell for \u00a316 a kilo. At six to seven kilos, that\u2019s \u00a396 to \u00a3112 each. \u201cSome customers have wanted a 2kg turkey. They might want to consider a chicken instead!\u201d The farmer estimates he\u2019s spent \u00a3500 on the chicks, \u00a31,000 on food, \u00a31,000 on electricity, plus the new fencing and man hours. \u201cI\u2019ll be lucky if I walk away with a profit,\u201d he says. This is a business operated for love, not money. I ask him why he does it. He tells me the focus is to produce a quality, non-intensively farmed turkey worthy of any Christmas dinner table, and reinvest in the business to improve year-on-year. Next year, he hopes to rear 150 turkeys. \u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed the countryside and when the opportunity came up to create a small-scale farm, I jumped at it. This was 10, 12 years ago,\u201d he explains. Giannandrea used to sell concrete for a living. He now owns two nurseries with his wife. \u201cI\u2019m what you\u2019d call a hobby farmer. If people support the little farmers like me, it\u2019s better for the birds and the people eating them.
\n\u201cMy dad grew up in an Italian village in the mountains,\u201d he continues. \u201cI remember watching an old lady sitting pn a little wooden stool plucking her chicken outside her front door. My auntie had rabbits in hutches in her garden. She said, \u2018Pick one.\u2019 We had it for dinner. Since Brexit, if you buy a supermarket chicken curry, the meat will most likely have come from Vietnam or China. People won\u2019t eat venison sourced up the road, but they\u2019ll eat avocados flown in from Mexico.\u201d Is he happy to eat his own produce? \u201cI try not to get attached to my turkeys as they are reared for food,\u201d he says. \u201cAs long as their welfare is catered for, they will do the rest.\u201d
\nI\u2019m certainly attached to Terrance. He\u2019s now a turkey adult with \u2013 like father, like son \u2013 an impressive wattle, snood and breast beard. How\u2019s his luck with the ladies? \u201cHe likes to fan his tail and drag his wingtips across the floor to make a rumble sound to the hens.\u201d With a tear in my eye, I wave goodbye for the final time. I hope Terrance remembers me as fondly as I remember him.
\nLate November
\nThe day has come to pick up Terrance from the farm. He looks different from last time: a lot less feathered, gibletted, alive. He\u2019s also in a smart cardboard box wrapped in fancy paper. He\u2019s had a great life \u2013 but one cut dramatically short. Wild turkeys can easily live to four or five years; domesticated, up to 10.
\nAt least Terrance has gone to turkey heaven in the most humane way. Gone are the days when farmers went around wringing necks. \u201cA registered vet needs to observe me slaughtering the birds, to obtain a Watok slaughter licence,\u201d Giannandrea says. And by slaughter? \u201cI\u2019ll stun them before bleeding them.\u201d Yikes. \u201cYou hear stories about how chickens still run around after they\u2019ve had their heads cut off. One year, a turkey was flapping its wings, caught me on the side of the head and knocked me clean out. It was like getting punched by Mike Tyson.\u201d
\nI\u2019m warned what\u2019s next. \u201cAt first, rigor mortis kicks in. You have to wait for the meat to relax. They are hung with innards intact in a temperature-controlled environment before evisceration. As soon as they\u2019re cut open, bacteria can get in. So you want to eat them as soon as possible after that.\u201d The rest of the turkeys will live until early December, ready to be plucked and gutted. Terrance has made the ultimate sacrifice and left the farm earlier, in time for Thanksgiving, so I can deliver this piece. I don\u2019t know whether to feel ashamed or hungry.
\nBack home, I follow Giannandrea\u2019s tips for how to cook the perfect turkey. Terrance is a big lad (10kg), so he\u2019ll take nearly three and a half hours at 180C. As he roasts away, I can\u2019t help but think of the happy hours we\u2019ve spent together. It\u2019s easy to forget our meat was once alive, especially when it arrives wrapped from the supermarket. Terrance was a friend whom I serenaded, watched the footie with and grew to love. Probably best that I didn\u2019t see Giannandrea scooping out his innards. I let him rest under some foil and a tea towel for an hour before digging in. I\u2019d like to pretend that I had some reservations about eating my friend. But I\u2019m starving, and I feel content devouring him, knowing that he lived a happy life. Turns out he\u2019s delicious; far juicer than any turkey I\u2019ve ever had before. I charge my glass to say a few words: To Terrance. It was lovely knowing you and I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll make a delicious turkey pie tomorrow (and the day after, and the day after). I\u2019m glad you ended up starring in the Guardian and not as a Bernard Matthews turkey roll.<\/p>\n

This data comes from MediaIntel.Asia's Media Intelligence and Media Monitoring Platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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