As you tuck into your turkey on Christmas Day, spare a thought for Herbie and Freddie. The two border collies have been acting as nightwatchmen, guarding Paul Kelly's 1,500 strong flock of woodland-raised turkeys since early summer. They will remain on duty until early December, and so successful have they been at deterring foxes, badgers and human thieves that they'll be back out there in 2008 and for the foreseeable future.
Meeting this inquisitive band of birds in early autumn under the trailing blackberry hedges and oak trees of rural Essex, it's not hard to see why the KellyBronze is the Rolls Royce among turkeys. The flock has been out here in an eight-acre wood and field since early summer. They have the choice of a large open paddock or some nice sheltering trees. They have hoppers filled with non-GM and additive-free grain and fresh water troughs. Above all, they have huge amounts of space.
They also have a much longer growing cycle than cheaper, mass-produced birds: these slow-growers are over six months old when they're killed, and certainly when we meet them in September they're about the same size as the collie puppies. By December they've developed a wonderful plump breast covered with a layer of fat that keeps it moist during cooking and reduces oven time - two hours is plenty, so there's none of that early Christmas morning panic to get the turkey under way.
Unlike chickens, which scatter when you approach, these turkeys are very nosey and march up to you. They move as a large unit because when Paul first put them into the field at seven weeks old he unloaded them all together so they bonded as one huge flock and move around like a dark, rippling army. Next year, he says, he'll drop them off in small gangs and see what happens, but there definitely is a pecking order. And they've fully adapted to being outdoor birds - their plumage dense from living outdoors for so long. At first during the wet summer months they looked bedraggled, but their feathers soon oiled up so now the water simply runs off. And when a plane goes over they scoot under the trees for cover because they think it's a hawk.
Many years ago all turkeys in this country were bronzes (it refers to their dark sheeny feathers) but as the popularity and affordability of turkeys at Christmas grew, the public complained about the dark shafts left in the skin and white-feathered ones became more popular. In 1971 Paul's father Derek, a dairy farmer who had subsequently worked for Bernard Matthews, realised there was room in the market for a proper, old-fashioned turkey. He started buying the few remaining bronze stocks left in this country (only about 450) from as far afield as north Wales, Aberdeen and Lancashire and set up a carefully researched genetic breeding programme that has led to their trademark product and a highly respected gene base. The Kelly family have been strict with their trademark. A KellyBronze turkey has been bred, fed, reared and prepared under optimum healthy and ethical conditions. It has either been raised on one of the Kellys' Essex farms or at one of their approved and monitored franchises.
Paul Kelly wanted to be an accountant, but when the family turkey business started to take off he went to agricultural college and applied his business acumen to the KellyBronze product. He has been married to Marisa for 16 years (they have three children) and at the beginning she was the breadwinner, commuting to London for her job as manager for the fashion designer, Nicole Farhi. Marisa now runs a chic boutique in the next village.
At their pretty farm in Danbury, Essex, the Kelly family not only raise and sell their own KellyBronze range (only available at Christmas); they also have a huge hatchery and supply turkey pullets to other farmers (although these will not be sold as KellyBronzes). During the summer months they hatch 120,000 chicks a week (1.3 million in total) from the temperature-controlled hatcheries where the eggs are kept at 90 degrees and mechanically turned every hour.
When we visit in the autumn, hatching is in full swing and the biggest shock is the noise from the next door shed where the newly hatched chicks are sorted according to sex. The cheeping is deafening.
Sexing a chick is difficult. Workers sit at tables; they pick up a chick, look for its (extremely) small willy and sort them into boxes. There must be some degree of job satisfaction. Geoff Potton, who at 83 is the oldest of the turkey sexers, has been doing this job since he was 20; his daughter Jenny has worked there for 37 years. It is, says Paul, a relatively quiet time of year with just the 35 full-time staff, which will swell to between 60-100 part-time leading up to the Christmas rush. The whole family pitches in; Paul's mother Mollie was driving a delivery truck up until comparatively recently when she became ill.
Across the way are the sheds where the KellyBronze flocks are killed, plucked and then hung for several weeks in the cool to enhance their texture and flavour (the collagen breaks down in the muscle). The turkeys aren't washed. 'As soon as you put water on anything the bugs will live in it,' says Paul. Hanging in the shed on this autumn day is a large and delicious looking ham from his friend and neighbour, TV pig farmer, Jimmy Doherty.
One of the great advantages of a KellyBronze turkey is its fast cooking time. And to prove it, Paul put a 3kg turkey in the oven before we set out on our tour of the farm and, sure enough, on our return it's cooked, ready to eat, and delicious. It's what I ate last year and will certainly be on my table this Christmas.
KellyBronze, 01245 223581, kellybronze.co.uk
Many butchers stock them or you can buy at the farm gate. Paul Kelly is taking orders up to 18 December
Cooking the perfect turkey
Don't stuff the turkey - it prolongs cooking time and makes it harder to check whether the turkey is cooked thoroughly. An onion or a couple of halves of lemon and a handful of fresh herbs will be just as tasty. Cook your stuffing separately, pressed into a baking tin or rolled into balls.
Cook upside down - put the turkey upside down in the tin so the fat deposits on the back percolate through to the breast. Turn it over to brown the breast 30 minutes before the end of cooking time.
Don't cover it - tinfoil will result in a steamed rather than a crispy skin.
