Bred to be Wild!

Welcome to Stock Talk hosted by Kirsten Williams. On today’s episode Kirsten is joined by Turkey Farmer Paul Kelly. In 1971, Paul’s parents started the family business, known today as ‘Kelly Turkeys’ and ‘Farmgate Hatcheries’. The cycle starts with eggs going into incubators in April for 28 days. When they hatch, they go into brooding sheds, then by 5 weeks of age they are ready to go to the woodland where they roam freely. At Kelly Turkeys they have complete control over the whole production cycle, making them very unique in the industry and one of a kind in the UK. The business has developed resilience to deal with issues like Brexit, labour, marketing and work by the motto ‘change is the name of the game’.

Episode Timestamps

00.31 Introducing Paul and the turkey cycle

02.41 Inseminating vs running with stags

03.24 Genetics and breeding lines

09.43 Hatchery business: 1.8 million chicks a year

12.48 Kelly turkeys: 100,000 turkeys reared through to Christmas

18.38 Split between whole turkeys, crowns and butterflies

27.36 Bringing resilience into the business

33.32 Avian influenza (bird flu)

37.44 Markets, trends and online sales

39.09 Weighing turkeys, sources of protein (acorns!) and organic

44.36 Succession