Poultry

Poultry

Free Range Bronze Turkeys

The poultry enterprise began with 50 white turkeys and 13 geese in 1983 and followed up with 100 chickens for the Easter of 1984. Over the years we have increased our sales and now we are producing over 5000 turkeys, 1850 geese and 350 large table chickens for Christmas.

We have progressed from only rearing White turkeys to now producing more and more Free Range Bronze and now the White turkeys account for only 15% of the total. 85% of the turkeys are Bronze Free Range.

Our Christmas wholesale market is mainly inside the M25 in London and Surrey, we supply from  Thanksgiving onwards and are able to supply the odd bird via The Rare Breed Meat Company vans that deliver to various parts of London on a daily basis. We also sell to companies who provide them as a gifts and our birds are also available at our Blackwells retail farm shop at Coggeshall.

We are very passionate and proud of our product and always encourage butchers and retailers to come and visit and look around our processing and rearing facilities as we feel they can then promote our products to there customers for there benefit as it is important they have knowledge and traceability of the poultry they sell for Christmas. At the 2010 Christmas Turkey Show we were winners of the best bird in the show.

Rare Breed Meat Company Geese

Free Range Geese

Our free range geese graze on the Herons Farm paddocks from four weeks old.  The goose is a seasonal bird with the first egg being laid around Valentine’s Day and the laying period finishing in July.  We collect day old goslings from a family run hatchery in Norfolk in two batches, the first in mid-April and the second batch four weeks later.

We aim to get the first available goslings, which enables our geese to graze free range for the maximum possible time.  The four-week old goslings are released into the paddocks from mid-May when the grass is at its best and will benefit the geese the most.  After the spring flush, the grass begins to lose its value and we introduce wheat grown here on the farm into their diet.

Unlike intensive producers which slaughter geese at 18 weeks old, Blackwells Free Range Geese are slaughtered at 26 to 30 weeks old when the geese are fully mature and full of flavour.  Goose is a flavoursome, high density meat which calls for smaller portions than other types of poultry and best of all, there is little to no waste from a goose – see our cooking tips below.

Free Range Chickens

The birds live in small groups with shelter from the elements, in mobile houses that have no artificial lighting and are naturally ventilated.

The chickens roam freely over 40 acres of Suffolk meadows, where they are free to peck, graze and engage in their natural behaviours.

“We believe that food tastes so much better when it has been grown slowly; the traditional way. It is because these chickens have more exercise, are grown for longer and have a natural, varied diet that they taste so much better.”

FRA Duck

Free Range Aylesbury Ducks

The Aylesbury duck is a breed of domesticated duck, bred mainly for its meat and appearance. It is a large duck with pure white plumage, a pink bill, orange legs and feet, an unusually large keel, and a horizontal stance with its body parallel to the ground.

Accreditation

We belong to several accredited organisations, including Anglican Turkey Association, Goose Producers Association and the Traditional Farm Fresh Turkey Association with the latter carrying a strict code of practice that has to be monitored for welfare, feeding quality and current legislation and that can be looked up on their web site.

Herons Farm
Colne Road
Coggeshall
Colchester
CO6 1TQ


Telephone: 01376 561504
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