大象传媒

Meet the real Toby Fairbrother….

Steve Childerhouse is hosting this year’s Goose Producer Walk in Norfolk. He shares his story - and a few top tips for the Fairbrothers, who've popped along to find out what it's all about…

What’s happening at the Farm Walk that you’re hosting?:

We’ll be doing a farm walk around the turkeys and geese, seeing them in their natural environment and also taking a look at our processing set up where we do everything involved in this end of the operation.

How did you start out?:

I was brought up on a family farm and was always poking around there at weekends and in school holidays. I used to raise a few ducks when I was at school and when ready we used to pluck them, selling them to family members.

I hatched 4 geese one year, rearing them on our farm meadow and put a painted sign at the end of our drive saying 'Plucked geese' and sold them quickly. The next year I raised 8 geese and 20 turkeys and sold them at the farmgate also.

From there I increased year on year, along with cold-calling on butchers as well- while doing this I worked as a shepherd on a local farm to get money to invest in the business, doing this for 8 years.

I got the numbers up to around 2000 Christmas birds, and decided to start rearing free-range chickens all the year round, to help with cash flow, and left my job to focus on the chicken business.

This business was built up to 500 chickens per week, processing them all on site and supplying butchers and farm shops. However, changes in rules and regulations and lack of volume through some of the shops I made the decision to completely stop rearing chickens all the year round and focus back onto Christmas again. It was the best decision I could have made looking back, as it’s now a nice business and we have a very good reputation in the trade. Did I know it would be a success- like anything effort, passion drive and a bit of vision to where you want to get to all go a long way.

Can anyone get into it?

I guess, but you have to be passionate about it and not mind hard work, both mental and physical at times.

Handy/ time saving tips:

1. Use twin wheel wheel barrows for strawing down - stops the turkeys from knocking them over.

2. 5 foot fencing with electric shock on top and bottom- to stop foxes, as we leave our birds outside 24/7.

3. Fence lights that are clearly visible so you know that the fence is on.

4. Straw D100 size, so you can stack them in the turkey buildings and place enough in for 2 weeks supply- seriously saves time.

Tips on Processing:

1. Buy a pair of quality air secateurs- saves your hands.

2. A Stock Control system

3. Refrigeration definitely needed for correct storage.

Met any real-life Rex and Tobys along the way?

I know all sorts of characters in this business and have a young lad coming to the walk who I met at a turkey meeting last week. He’s new to it but full of energy. For me I'd absolutely be more of a Toby than a Rex. I’ve taken some risks along the way and, as for everyone, some pay off and some don't.

What about the future?

I think we have a great future as long as we raise a quality bird, which is mature and when processed has been game hung- not cutting any corners and rearing them in a traditional way.

What are the similarities and differences between geese and turkeys?

They’re not similar birds at all. The turkeys are very inquisitive, always seeming to want to know what's going on.

The geese are really destructive birds and will vandalise everything they can get their beaks around. They love to splash in the water troughs and play in the muddy water, eating plenty of fresh grass in the process. They can be bullies, amongst themselves. I think they’re much more intelligent than turkeys. They are, however, similar on overhead cover - they do like trees and hedges to take protection from birds of prey and even aeroplanes.

Laura Stearman manages public affairs at the …

There are some new faces coming today. I spoke to someone recently who, like the Fairbrothers when they started, is considering going from a few geese to a few hundred. I’ve been speaking with her about slaughtering and what permits she may or may not need. I encouraged her to come along to the walk, see if she wants to become a member, and offered to chat with her on the day - along with other producers. I’ve worked in the industry as a technical manager on farms. I used to work for one of our goose members before I worked for the . He also kept turkeys and ducks for Christmas and bred game birds as the main business. So, I've done the rounding up of geese (which is not easy), plucking, prepping and packing myself. BGP is a sector group of the BPC so they pay a membership fee and subscription based on the number of geese. Part of what we do is to help to organise this walk each year with a different member hosting. A member of the team at BPC always attends and I have taken on the BGP as part of my role.

"There are some new faces coming today..."

Today I’ll be there to support our host and also to provide an update during the day. My update will be explaining new legislation for Slaughter that will affect members – one of Toby and Rex’s responsibilities will be to demonstrate their competence. I’ll also place a lot of emphasis on avian influenza which is one of the biggest threats to the poultry industry at the moment. This is where the importance of biosecurity comes in and to be observant for any signs of disease. I’ll also then encourage everyone to register for an avian influenza 'roadshow' in their region. We, as part of the poultry health and welfare group are organising 10 meetings across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. So, I'll be advising Rex and Toby to attend – we’ll be covering what avian influenza is and how to detect, teh Animal and Plant Health Authority ( ) will be explaining how to report, how they confirm, the restrictions placed on premises in the zones, compensation, possible mandatory housing orders (this has implications for 'free range' products), and we’ll have a case study so someone who has been through an outbreak and then also someone from the industry who will advise on how to develop a business continuity/contingency plan. So - this is a key event for their diary and anyone else keeping poultry!

We expect up to 100 farmers from all across the UK will attend. There’s a real variety - some are larger scale like the host, Steve Childerhouse at Great Grove - some less than 100 birds. Some people who only keep a few will come along and talk to other producers about how they could expand and what to expect.

Producers will talk about prices for the year.

We’ll also have a marketing update as we’ve recently changed the website which includes recipes, lists the producers, details of the members so that people can order their geese for Christmas.

They’ll also be given the new members handbook which includes tips on how to use social media and websites as tools to sell their products and promote themselves.

The book also has a note from me at BPC on the benefits of being a member and also some key good practice principles with a focus on biosecurity again.