We have finally managed to start sowing our home grown spring cereals this year. It has felt like ground hog day over the past two months as we have been unable to start sowing due to the poor weather.
On our farm we grow premium barley for malting and we also feed this fine grain to our turkeys. We also grow oats and wheat. We are the only producer in the country that makes their turkey feed from the cereals that we grow on our farm.
We will harvest the crops in August and September this year and use the cereals to make a feed mix. We literally harvest our crop, tip it in our shed and then make a blend of wheat, premium malting barley, oats and minerals to feed to our turkeys. The diet ensures that the birds grow really slowly. The slower they grow, the greater the depth in flavor. We do not like to use the pelleted feed as this is sprayed in vegetable fat to accelerate maturity. We believe in giving our birds the time to naturally mature.
The finishing diet of our turkeys has a really high oat content. Oats are full of antioxidants which improves the gut health of the turkey. Oats enhance the flavour while giving the carcass a creamy coloured finish.
All of this is a lot more effort and time than simply feeding them premade pelleted feed. But to me, as a food fanatic, I believe that this gives you an all-round superior flavour and texture.
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