How Christmas Turkeys Turned Into A Business

The beginning of Springfield poultry, as it's known today, all started with Beryl Mee and her Christmas Turkeys.

Christmas is always a special time of year for us at Springfield Poultry, as it's when our business was born. Springfield founders Rod & Beryl Mee first produced their Christmas Turkeys in 1959, when young Rodney was only 23. The Turkeys were produced as Christmas presents initially as Rod and Beryl had little or no money to buy anything. So instead they put their farming knowledge to good use and decided to rear presents instead. Beryl only had 6 Turkeys to begin with, all housed in a lean to shed by their kitchen. For months Beryl lovingly hand reared the Turkeys ready for Christmas. In this time the Turkeys were walked and given perches to keep them exercising and stop them getting bored. When Beryl started rearing her Turkey poults she had no intention to start a business, it was merely a way to provide a useful present for family members and friends. However once the Turkeys were handed out and gobbled up at Christmas the positive feedback and word of mouth flooded in. So much so that it seemed impossible for Beryl and Rod to turn down the orders for the following year. At this point Springfield didn't exist and Beryl's turkey business had no name. After the yearly demand grew Beryl and Rod needed to give their business a name - which is how Springfield Poultry surfaced. Whilst the Turkeys and beginnings of Springfield started with Beryl, the agricultural work and husbandry was passed over to Rod and his sons when the business started to grow. Aged 80 now, Rodney and his sons Nigel & Stewart collectively have been rearing Christmas Turkeys for nearly 60 years. All our Organic and Free Range Turkey and Cockerels are hand reared on the fields of our Herefordshire farm. Like the other poultry we produce, our Turkeys are also reared to Soil Association standards. Arriving in the summer, our Turkeys are given a minimum of 20 weeks to grow. Allowing them to naturally reach maturity living in the highest quality conditions. After the initial brooding stage, our Organic and Free Range Turkeys have full day time access to the outdoors. Whereby they are given plenty of space, a natural diet and never any hormones to make them grow quicker.

Don't just take our word for it

Pre-order your Christmas turkey now & see what all the fuss is about. Pre-order your Organic whole Christmas turkey, here. Pre-order your Free range whole Christmas turkey, here.