THE Shacklocks have got a lot of work to do between now and Christmas – 1,000 pieces of work, to be precise.

Because over Christmas the turkey-farming family will sell that many birds through local butchers and out of their farm shop.

"My father-in-law started breeding turkeys 48 years ago," said Geoff Shacklock. "And I plucked my first turkey when I was 11, and I'm 50 now, which tells you how many years of experience we've got between us."

Feature: Have a thought for those working at Christmas
Jemma Walton meets some of the people working over the Christmas period.
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Geoff's business, Friars Close Farm Turkeys, specialises in Christmas turkeys, and has seen business go from strength to strength, particularly since telly chefs such as Gordon Ramsay started praising locally-grown produce.

"There are a lot of cheaper products on the market, and you can get a chicken for a couple of pounds these days," said Geoff. "But that doesn't seem to have put people off what we offer. People seem to value quality, local produce more than ever, and it's not hard to see why.

"A supermarket might let a turkey mature for 12 weeks, whereas we give ours 40 weeks. And we let ours hang for 10 days to help enrich the flavour, make it really gamey, whereas they would put theirs straight into a plastic bag."

Having said that, the price of raising turkeys has gone up hugely during the past year. A world shortage means that wheat, which the turkeys eat, has gone from up to £80 a tonne to £160 a tonne, meaning bird prices have gone up as well.

All of the Shacklocks muck in, including Geoff's wife Hazel, their 22-year-old Ben, their 20-year-old Harry and their 16-year-old Sophie, who all get involved in every stage of rearing, killing, plucking and preparing the turkeys.

They started on December 6, and will be flat out until December 23, although Geoff has known people bang on his door on Christmas day asking if they had any leftovers, because a man had left the turkey in the garage overnight and it had frozen and couldn't be thawed in time for lunch.

"We used to cook an extra one," said Geoff. "Because the last thing we'd want is for anyone's Christmas to be spoilt by them not having a turkey to have for dinner."

Christmas and spring is a quiet time on the farm, and work will start again in June, when Geoff receives a fresh batch of day-old chicks.

Geoff shook his head when asked if he ever feels sentimental towards the turkeys, but added: "My favourite part of the job is probably looking after them when they're five weeks old or less, we keep them nice and warm next to a gas heater, and they need a lot of love and attention."

Friars Close Farm Turkeys Shop, in Barnwell, just outside Oundle, is open on Sundays, Saturdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 8am and 7pm.

Bronze turkeys cost £10/kg, white turkeys cost £9/kg. For more information, call 01832 274549.

Stockists include J & R G Mould, Nassington 01780 782249 and Seven Wells Family Butcher, Oundle, on 01832 273522.

Tip from the professionals: make sure you pick a fat turkey. If it looks bluey, then it's not fat enough. And make sure you cook it upside down as that keeps all the juices in the breast.