Our "Kelly-Family" Turkeys

Our farms raise KellyBronze®-turkeys exclusively. This “genetic old-timer” breed was developed by Derek und Paul Kelly in England during the early 1970s.

In an effort to counterbalance the qualities of generic turkeys the breeding benchmarks for Kelley poultry were clearly defined:

• Robust and undemanding
• Slow to mature
• No use of hormones, antibiotics and feed additives
• Free range
• Meat of outstanding quality and improved flavour

We have extended this list by raising the animals in accordance with the EU-Eco-Regulations and the guidelines of the associated producers and are fully committed to all of these aims.

Chicks do not have their breaks cropped or treated in any way. They are allowed to pick and scratch in the yard and take sand baths to their heart’s content, exhibiting typical and natural social behaviour. The difference is immediately obvious. These black-feathered birds with a bronze sheen reflecting in the sunshine are significantly different than their more common white-feathered counterparts.

Hens and roosters are raised separately since this tends to keep the flocks more quiet. Roosters need approximately 25 weeks to reach a weight of up to 18 kg. Hens reach a weight of around 9 kg after around 20 weeks. In that time a rooster will have eaten around 60 kg of feed while the hens consume about 30 kg each. When purchasing pieces of meat with skin, the consumer can recognise the meat’s origin by the occasional black pigmentation marks which are like a “genetic fingerprint” of this breed.