Last Sunday I was very kindly invited by the Carr Family of Millhill Farm, just outside Dumfries, to go along for a wee tour of their family run free range turkey farm! The Carrs are one of the Latest DGWGO Advertisers and as a keen farmer myself, who knows very little about farming turkeys, I jumped at the chance, so I packed my camera and popped along to say hello .
I was given a very warm welcome on my arrival at Millhill by Tom and Sue and their family and 3 dogs too! It’s a lovely Spot, and I don’t think I’ve driven out on the Old Glen road that used to be the main A75 for years!
After we chatted in the wonderful farmhouse kitchen by the Aga for a while, and discovered actually just how many mutual folk we knew ( that’s D&G For you), we headed off down to the sheds and woods where the turkeys roam.
It was fascinating to see just how much work goes into rearing these amazing and large birds, and Tom is totally dedicated to producing the very best Turkey! I was shown the sheds that the turkeys roost in at nights , their feed, and how they eat and drink, then I was taken out into the woods to meet them.
The birds have a huge 8 acres of woods to wander around in very freely. There is a high fence around the woods, not to keep the birds in so much but to keep predators out! This, however, didn’t’t quite work with the squirrels , as we stood in the woods we saw at least 5 red squirrels playing high up in the oak trees above us! Skye (Tom’s Turkey Dog) was very interested in watching the Squirrels too, which was handy because it showed me where to point the camera to try and photograph them! But a Turkey Farmers work is never done at this time of year, so after a couple of hours I had to head off and leave Tom and his family to get on with their Chores !
You can keep up to date with Tom and the family by following them on Facebook
I asked Sue if she could put together a few words to tell us more about family life on the farm and she kindly sent this along.
Sue Carr Writes –
It was a lovely still, chilly November day when we were pleased to have a visit from DGWGO’s very own Robin Baird.
Robin was interested in taking a tour around the farm, in particularly our Christmas Turkey Enterprise!
As a small family group of us entered the barn where the turkeys live, we were greeted by the very loud and traditional ‘gobble gobble’ sound.
Turkeys are very intelligent and curious creatures and they were soon coming over to investigate every buckle on our Wellington boots.
The chicks, or poults as they are called arrive in the summertime, and after spending some time under a heat lamp, if it’s chilly, and then in the barn to acclimatise, they are then allowed outside in the daytime. The wood that they use is full of greenery in late summer so they enjoy picking around, eating grass and plant matter. The trees provide shelter and a natural habitation for the turkeys as they would always live in woods in the wild. This provides much entertainment for Sue and the boys as many an evening is spent by Tom climbing trees to get the turkeys in for the night and they are roosting up in the branches hissing at him!
The turkeys are fed adlib in the barns and bedded on fresh straw every day. Twice a day, Tom walks through the barns topping up feeders, checking progress and health of the birds. He is assisted by our youngest son, Hamish who bags all the feed ready for his dad to lift. We rear a few different breeds of Bronze turkeys, such as Devon Bronze and Norfolk Blacks. They are a slower maturing, some say more gamey in flavour and we also rear some White turkeys for their more delicate flavour.
It is a family team effort towards Christmas, Sue does all the admin and orders, the two boys Charlie and Hamish who are 12 and 10yrs old help with plucking and weighing (hoping that Santa will be good to them) although we did receive an invoice from them both last year!
Tom has a real passion for producing a great Christmas Turkey. Right from how they are reared, fed, killed, plucked and dressed. It is all done in the most traditional, non mechanical, humane way and we are convinced that’s what creates a succulent and tender Christmas Turkey.
Just before collection day, the turkeys are trussed ready for your oven. The giblets are supplied in a separate bag for lovely gravy! You won’t find a fresher bird than that.
Our customers keep coming back years on year and some of them have eaten our turkey since we started 26 years ago.
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If you would like to make your Christmas Dinner more special this year with a locally and traditionally produced turkey, give us a call to order, or take a look at the website, where you can order for collection from the farm, which is handy for Dumfries or book a home Delivery.
www.millhillfreerangeturkeys.co.uk
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