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  

46.50 Marketing and celebrity chefs! 

FAS Resources 

Poultry | Helping farmers in Scotland 

Other Resources    

Kelly Bronze Turkeys   

Farmgate Hatcheries 

New GB avian influenza wildlife interactive map and data dashboard launched | SRUC 

Avian influenza (bird flu): how to spot and report the disease - gov.scot  

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Facebook: @FASScot 

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