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News focus: Spare a thought for the turkey
A turkey is not just for Christmas – more than 20million are eaten across Britain every year and most of them meet their death after suffering a dreadful existence in battery houses. At time when we are being encouraged to think about where our food comes from, reporter JESSICA FORSTER looks takes a closer look at the centre-piece of a traditional Christmas dinner.
Christmas is not a great time of year if you are a turkey – but for birds reared on intensive farms death can be a welcome release.
A report by UK charity Animal Aid claims the majority of birds spend their short lives in cramped conditions wallowing in their own filth and riddled with disease.
Farms which produce cheap birds, for low-cost products in supermarkets, genetically select birds to produce more meat and fatten as quickly as possible.
Production techniques grow the birds to unnatural sizes, sometimes weighing as much as 60 pounds, which leads to leg deformities and means birds can not breed naturally.
Legs bow under the excess weight and Animal Aid says ulcerated feet from continual contact with litter contaminated by urine and faeces are widespread.
Kate Fowler-Reeves, head of campaigns for the charity, said: "If people buy low-cost turkeys, there is every chance they were reared in terrible conditions.
"There is no other way to produce cheap meat than to cut corners, and when you cut corners it's always animals which suffer."
Animal Aid says the turkeys spend their entire lives in near darkness to discourage aggression and many have their beaks clipped, to stop them from pecking other birds to death in their frustration.
Growth hormones force them to grow at incredible speeds, putting their bones and hearts under pressure, so the death rate is high.
The charity says some animals grow so fast they can be slaughtered at eight weeks old, a process which takes six months in free-range conditions.
When they are ready to be killed, the birds face the stress of capture, transportation and factory- line slaughter.
Birds are typically grabbed by the feet, thrust into crates and loaded on to lorries. Some die from the panic-induced crush caused each time the catching gang enters the sheds.
They are removed from their crates and suspended upside down by their legs on metal shackles which hang from a conveyer belt.
The track takes the birds' heads through an electrically charged water bath, with the current designed to stun and leave them insensible to pain when their throats are cut.
The main blood vessels are severed by an automatic knife, with a slaughter man employed as a back-up to slit the throat of any birds missed by the machine.
Kate said: "It is like a mass-produced factory churning out products, but these are living, breathing animals and the suffering is immense."
Farm where birds are happy and healthy
Judith and Martin Dryden have been rearing free-range turkeys and geese at Murton Moor Farm, County Durham, for eight years.
The poults are brought to the 650-acre farm when they are one day old and kept in a heated barn called the nursery for five weeks.
By that time they are strong enough to brave the elements and are moved to a bigger barn with access to fields where they are free to roam.
At night they are locked in the straw-filled barn for security, but there is still plenty of room to wander and smaller birds are under no threat from bigger fowl.
Judith said: "I couldn't do intensive farming, not after the stories I have heard. I love looking after animals, and the birds we have here are happy."
The farm is home to 100 geese and 550 Kelly Bronze turkeys, a special breed of bird which originated in the North East, known for its great flavour.
The birds feed in the fields and eat grass, herbs and nettles which grow there naturally, not grain laced with growth hormones.
They develop slowly and get fat naturally, which adds to their flavour and means the meat stays moist when it is cooked.
Judith said: "As humans, if we have exercise, fresh air and a varied diet we tend to be happier and that's exactly what my birds have got.
"People these days are more interested in where their food comes from and how it is produced. When the public phone up they ask how they are kept, what they eat and how they are killed."
Slaughter is an inevitable part of the process, but birds at Murton Moor are killed on site by the people who handle them daily.
The Drydens take every measure to reduce the stress of the slaughtering process for the birds, removing them to be stunned and slaughtered one at a time, out of the sight of the group.
Village butcher believes free range is best
Gordon's high-class butcher's and fine foods, East Boldon, will stock free-range turkeys and a handful of the Kelly Bronzes from Murton Moor Farm.
There are no birds in the shop just yet – they are still running around the farm. To make sure they are as fresh as possible, they will not be brought in until the Friday before Christmas.
Gordon Robson, a butcher of 20 years, who owns the store, sells local produce wherever possible and strongly believes free range is best.
He said: "The extra money people pay is for the quality. A few quid more gets you a far superior turkey and you can really taste the difference. They are moist and full of flavour."
His top tip for cooking the perfect Christmas turkey is to put the bird in the roasting dish upside down.
He said: "With the breast down you get all the juices from the darker meat flowing down through the breast, adding to the flavour and keeping it moist.
"Half-way through, turn the bird the right way around, with your rashes of bacon on the top to finish it off.
"I don't think you should stuff the bird either, but cook the stuffing separately. That way I think you get a much better result."
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