In 1959, a young Philip Crozier took his savings of £5.00 and bought himself a pair of hen turkeys and a "gobbler" (male turkey) with the intention of breeding them. In 2015, Crozier’s Turkeys was taken over by the Smith family; Kyle, Monique and their two young daughters, Isla and Ruby. Kyle has many years’ experience in the management of turkey farming. Crozier’s has been a trusted truly free range brand for over 50 years.
Crozier’s Turkeys is New Zealand’s only 100 percent truly free range turkey farm, situated at Dromore, only fifteen minutes from Ashburton on the plains of Mid-Canterbury in New Zealand. Each flock enjoys a three-acre paddock, where the birds are completely free to roam. They have shelter sheds fitted with roosts, so they can sleep as they would in the wild, as well as shelter from adverse weather. Grass seed is used as bedding in the sheds and for the birds to dust bathe in. To keep the truly free range reputation, Crozier’s Turkeys only produces birds over the warmer months. Otherwise, for animal welfare reasons, the birds would end up spending most of their lives locked in a shed, due to cold and wet weather conditions over the winter months.
Crozier’s Turkeys controls the whole process, from breeding and hatching to growing and processing, even preparing their own feed, free from unnecessary antibiotics and hormones. As the business is a small operation, they can keep a close check on the health and well-being of their turkeys. Crozier’s turkeys are non-intensively farmed, so disease risks are lower, and there are no welfare issues common to intensive farming practices. The birds are processed through their small Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) approved processing plant. The processing is done by hand to ensure excellent quality control.
Many large commercial operations use techniques such as chlorine washing and injecting oil into the bird to improve the appearance and cooking performance of their turkeys. These can have a detrimental effect on turkey flavour. Crozier’s Turkeys do not use any of these techniques and their turkeys perform exceptionally well when cooked. With Crozier’s organic methods and only 100 percent turkey, the taste is second to none!
