Comments on: Koch’s Turkey Farm

By: Cary Store Blog, Whole Foods Market » Blog Archive » Counting Down the Days and Giving Thanks

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:12:11 +0000

[...] gravy, appetizers to pies, we’ve got you covered. As always, we have our fresh turkeys from Koch Farms in the Meat department and these are always a sure hit! Popular for years, many families look [...]

By: william

william — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:30:03 +0000

“they truly do care about how they raise their animals” – wow this is shocking! Where are the scenes of what really does happen to these Turkeys???

By: gina

gina — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:19:10 +0000

I grew up in Tamaqua and moved to North Carolina 6 years ago. I have eaten the turkeys all my life. They also have a store to go and buy other products. Two of my sons actually worked for the Kochs on the farm when they were in school.

This area is so beautiful if you ever get an opportunity to visit there are camp grounds close by. This area is still mostly farming.

Last night when watching the news a commercial came on for Whole Foods and showed that they have Kochs Turkeys. Now that I know that don’t need to bring back from PA. when I go home to visit.

By: Kate Medley

Kate Medley — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:49:25 +0000

As Ed mentioned in his previous posting, the Koch family feeds its turkeys a mixture of corn and roasted soybeans. The birds are never fed animal proteins of any sort. To fortify the corn and soybean diet, the Koch family adds extra vitamins and minerals, such as lysine and methionine (both amino acids), to the feed.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:04:02 +0000

How do you meet the turkey’s amino acid requirements with just roasted soy and corn? Don’t you have a methionine and other protein deficiency in the feed? Usually the animal proteins in a feed ration help make for these amino acids or they are added as supplements to the feed individually. How do you accomplish this?

By: Ed Cifu

Ed Cifu — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:23:17 +0000

Hi Everyone.

I’m Ed Cifu, and I’m the meat coordinator for the South Region of Whole Foods Market. I’ve been to Koch’s farm and seen the entire operation, so hopefully I can answer the questions you’ve posed here.

“Acceptable beak-trimming” is conducted to stop the birds from feather pecking and injuring one another. Only the very tip of the beak can be removed, per Whole Foods Market animal compassion standards, and it is done by laser when the birds are a day or two old.

Our organic turkeys are coming from Plainville Farms in Plainville, New York. They are fed Certified Organic feed – the main difference between the two turkeys we offer.

Soybean meal is a part of their feed because it offers additional protein without using animal by-products, like many conventional poultry farms. The Koch family feeds its turkeys a mixture of locally grown corn and roasted soybeans. Duane Koch says, “All our turkeys are all-vegetarian fed, we don’t use any byproducts of any kind – no cooking meal, bakery byproducts, fish byproducts, pet food byproducts – we don’t use anything but an all-vegetarian corn and soybean meal diet.”

The turkeys do not breed naturally. This is a tough process, especially in large groups, as you might recall from Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle!

Thanks for reading and watching!

By: Dee

Dee — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:52:37 +0000

Here is what their website says about ‘practices’:

These guidelines also take into account the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), practical standards for the proper care of and Treatment of Turkeys. In addition to meeting these guidelines, Koch’s scored a 100% on the Turkey Welfare and Humane practices independent audit by Steritech.

Here is the link to the RSPCA’s standards for Turkeys:

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=welfarestandards&marker=1&articleId=1121442811665

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:29:02 +0000

It’s wonderful to see a good family farm that appears to respect their turkeys. I also want to know if they breed naturally and if their beaks are trimmed (I want to say inhumanely like those PETA chicken videos).

I would be more than happy to spend the extra money for this brand knowing the turkey had a good life.

By: Winnie Hsia

Winnie Hsia — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:59:36 +0000

@Laura in VA: For more information on Koch’s Turkey Farm’s natural breeding practices, you can refer to the ‘Practices’ section of their website: http://www.kochsturkey.com/practices.html.

By: Laura in Va.

Laura in Va. — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:18:13 +0000

Waiting on answers to Gleanna’s questions and additionally, please confirm whether or not these turkeys breed naturally.
Thanksgiving purchase hangs in the balance!