5 minute interview with Adrian Joy by Essential Surrey Magazine

A copy of the interview published In the June 2018 edition of Elmbridge Lifestyle Magazine / Essential Surrey magazine. essentialsurrey.co.uk

5 minutes with: Adrian Joy, Turkey farmer at Bramble Farm

❝ As a turkey farmer, I eat a lot of turkey. From curries and chilli con carne to burgers and, of course, a good old-fashioned roast, when it comes to cooking, turkey is very versatile. The meat is low in saturated fat and calories, but high in protein, vitamin B and selenium.

Our traditional Bronze turkeys are matured almost twice as long as supermarket birds, so the meat is succulent and flavoursome.

Turkeys are very inquisitive animals. When left to range freely – which ours are – they’ll always be foraging. I do checks on them every morning at 5.30am as well as throughout the day and last thing around 11pm. When they see me they come running. I talk to them and they often ‘talk’ back.

They bring so much life to the farm. June is a very busy month for us. The day-old chicks arrive in July so

we have to make sure the buildings are airtight to keep the heat in – they need it to be very warm for their first five weeks, plus all the equipment (feeders, drinkers, etc) needs to be pristine. We have lots of washing up to do.

Bramble Farm is a third-generation farm so the farming methods I use are a combination of 89 years of

knowledge. My grandfather Frank Joy started poultry farming in 1929, my father Derek took over in the 60s and now it’s me. My dad is still very much a part of the business and my sister Suzie and my fiancée Sarah, are also involved. 

We love to meet our customers, which is why our turkeys can be collected direct from our West Horsley farm.❞

Author Emma Pritchard, Twitter: @craftandcountry www: craftandcountry.com