How Free Range is your Turkey?

www.keaveyeats.com

Have you ever wondered why intensive free range turkeys all seem to congregate at the door of their huge sheds? I always have. I had assumed it was because they were institutionalised and didn't want to leave the heat of the shed. But today I was over visiting a small scale, genuine free range producer and he told me.

A turkey can only recognise a thousand other turkeys. (And we think they are stupid.......) In that thousand there is a strict pecking order. If the doors of the shed open, only those closest to the door will go out because if a poor chap from the back ventures forth, he risks being bullied and pecked by those into whose territory he has entered. So if you assume there are 7000 turkeys in a shed, yes seven thousand, you can presume only a percentage of those ever get to go out.

Having reared poultry here for years, but not turkeys, I have seen the bullying that goes on when a new bird is introduced. It can take one to three weeks for a new introduction to be accepted. Hens are particularly wicked. But I have observed similar bullying in horses as well.

Small numbers of genuine free range birds who have established a pecking order and all recognise each other will knock you down to get out. When they get out, they get to eat a more varied diet (usually), they get exercise and fresh air and their meat will have a lot more flavour. In addition, they have lived their life as nature intended and haven't spent their entire existance in a few square centimetres inhaling ammonia fumes from turkey wee.

With everything you buy "buyer beware" should apply. Ask where your Christmas/Thanksgiving turkey is from. Ask what it's fed. It is best to go and visit but there are occasions you have to put your trust in your butcher or producer. A genuine producer or butcher will have no problem letting you see where the birds are reared. And a genuine person won't sell you a pig in a poke.

If you care about animal welfare or if you care about what you eat, don't be fooled by a free range label. It's become as meaningless as artisan and all the other clichés bandied about willy nilly.