Turkey for Christmas?

As we have another outbreak of bird flu in East Anglia - doesn't it make you mad
when the farmers are upset at having to kill all their birds - boohoo!

The fact is they are crying for their profits going down the drain (yes, I can sympathise with that) but most of the birds were going to be slaughtered in a couple of weeks anyway.

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Jjordie,

I agree with you there, rather duplicious aren't they! By the way, copied ya turkey to my pics folder - cheeky but thanks for that :D

 

I think i would be upset if I lost a lot of money. Farmers are very worried at present, it seems to be one thing after another - Foot and Mouth, Blue Tongue and now bird flu again. If it spreads then the whole poultry industry is up the spout.
The turkeys that were affected were , I understand, free range.
I would rather have the poultry that I eat reared in this country using decent standards of husbandry such as free range. A lot of poultry products are imported half way across the world and goodness knows what the welfare and hygiene standards are like.
Its not easy being a farmer at the moment.

 

well done geoffhandley if it wasn't for the farmers up at the crack of down downing there thing we would be eating Eu junk

 

Of course farmers are upset with bird flu ruining their profits at this time of the year, its their buisness.
One big reason why I could never be a farmer, I'd hate killing the animals that I raised, I think its something you have to be used to from an early age.

Something that I do find hard to understand about OUR farmers is, that these diseases all come from other countries that APPEAR to live with most of them all the time, unyet as soon as they reach the UK panic seems to break out, and mass slaughter begins.

Is it because we are an island and feel we can cut ourselves off from these problems?

Its a pity more action wasn't taken over BSE and the **** they feed the animals on.

 

Yes I do agree with that Geoff as it must be extremely worrying for the farmers - but it's the way it is said the turkeys will be slaughtered. Maybe it's the media getting the most sensationalism out of the situation.

 

I do eat turkey from time to time and I simply trust the shop which hopefully is responsible enough to sell only food which is not dangerous for the health.
Regarding the standards...well well...I think that the panicking standard are well above the husbandry standards

 

our farmers have really been hit hard these past few years, its a shame really as they rely on the animals as their bread and butter, whether it be a cow, sheep or turkey

 

Nicely put mira

 

Funny somebody should mention BSE. Cause we started that and then exported it to other countries. That was because we were shoving sheep offal into cattle feed and then some idiots allowed the regulations to be changed so that the feed companies did not have to spend as much on fuel in heating up the mix, so the disease from sheep jumped the species barrier. Damn near finished off our beef industry. Then the same government messed up the egg industry over salmonella. Strange how those responsible got away without any lasting blame and farmers were going bankrupt, committing suicide...
I think you have to accept that if you eat meat or drink milk etc then you are responsible for the process. If we did not eat the animals then they would not exist and our countryside would not look like it is at present. However I do think that those animals should be reared in an ethical manner.
I cannot understand why this outbreak should put people off eating turkey for Christmas. The turkeys affected were slaughtered. The rest of the country's turkey are no more likely to get bird flu than all the hens, ducks, geese etc. To catch the flu you have to have close contact with the living and affected birds, cooking kills the disease. The main risk of bird flu is that it spreads through the poultry industry wiping out millions of birds.
Foot and Mouth is endemic in many countries and I don't think is fatal. Cattle can be innoculated. I think the present policy of mass slaughter is so that some sections of the industry, probably with influence, can still export live beef to the USA. I don't think the USA would allow it if we had mass innoculation. Blue tongue is causing major rpoblems on the continent. It is such a shame the mosqito carriers were able to get across the barrier of the Channel.

 

The turkeys were doomed anyway at least they are killed more humanely with defra, some of the stories that came out of the B M farms are horrendous I new someone that worked there it's sickening, if you remember bird flu started on his farm last time with stuff he imported from abroad, they are now trying to blame it on migrating birds "poppycock" you wouldn't fly anywhere if you had flu never mind migrate huge distances and over the sea,some farmers treat there charges with respect but a lot don't like elsewhere it's all about profit.

 

this is a huge subject.

my 2 pennyworth is:-

i think all animals should be treated humanely. (i actually don't enjoy meat that much but i'm not a vegitarian).

if i could i would only eat anything that could be from a ordinary, outside, no additive farm. i say farm because i suppose i mean any meat, veg etc.

things like baked beans are ok.

i can't afford to eat organic. this is one of the things that really annoys me about this country (government really). one day it says something, the next another & ordinary Joes like me don't know what to do.

you are dead right walnut - we think we are eating 'british', ****! i heard when the last outbreak was on about how a cow born in scotland, then reared somewhere else, could still be called 'scottish', which some people buy/eat because it is scottish (or supposed to be). Actually it may have been that the cow was not scottish, but raised in scotland! can't remember now but there are loads of scams going on.

we (britain) get banned so easily from other countries but don't seem to do anything ourselves. i feel for farmers cos i can imagine that it's very hard work.

sorry to rant on - just to say, when we can we get our eggs from someone that has his own allotment nearby, so they are freerange!

cheers all.
sandra

 

I am with you on that borrowers. I think a lot of people would agree but how do you tell which animals are being reared humanely? Did you remember the TV programme about the farms that were supposed to be abiding by the RSPCA code of practise and the conditions were disgusting?
I have seen adverts from firms asking for farmers to look after organic chickens for egg production. The firm would ship them in by the thousands, provide the feed and take away the eggs and then kill all the hens after a set period. The eggs would be labelled as free range organic. But with the size of the flocks most of the hens won't bother to leave the house, cause the flock size is so unnatural.
If I could I would only buy meat or eggs from where i knew the origin. In some towns they are doing that but not here. It also annoys me that meat can be brought in from abroad and they can hide the origin and they can rear the animals under conditions that are not allowed here.
And why are we importing milk? Its madness, no one can produce milk as good as Shropshire or Cheshire. In many continental countries the cows don't even get let out to eat green grass.

 

Actually I've been a vegetarian for years, andI have some wonderful veg recipes for festive fare!

 

Don't worry about the Christmas turkey peeps. As soon as it stops sneezing, it's cooked.

Nik