Bountiful Birds

Rob Litch is a Vermont farmer whose career took a detour to agriculture. As Rob tells it, "I thought I was going to Wall Street and instead I ended up here on turkey lane and I now thoroughly enjoy what I do."

Rob Litch may have traded dollars for drumsticks but he couldn't be happier. Rob and his uncle, John Palmer, saw the potential in this poultry farm in New Haven, Vermont. The credit goes to John's daughter who raised six turkeys in the family's basement as part of a 4-H project. That tiny group of birds was the inspiration and today Misty Knoll Farm has some 20 thousand turkeys and 75 thousand chickens roaming free on their land.

Rob says, "In our opinion a free-range turkey is one that has access to a field like this and is grown basically outside with adequate shelter, feed and water provided. There are many different versions of that. This is ours."

Rob took us on a tour of his farm in this horse drawn wagon. It's familiar sight at local parades connecting the farm to the community. He points out his birds in the field,"Today we're looking at a flock of about 6 thousand birds. This particular flock of turkeys will be in the 18 to 22 pound range."

Rob believes the secret of raising turkeys is to move your flocks from field to field so they're always on dry grass. Rob contends that it's not so much a science as an art to move them to the right place. Rob and John did a lot of research on breeds and they settled on what is called a Nicholas broad-breasted white turkey. Why? They think it looks a lot better than a bronze turkey. Rob says, "We found this particular breed of turkey as we grow it works well over a variety of size ranges so that when we're done it has a nice breast confirmation and it's easier for us to process."

Rob controls disease in the flocks by keeping the birds and their bedding clean. He isolates flocks from one another and avoids antibiotic treatments. Electric fences keep out predators as well as wild turkeys which might bring disease. The birds are fed an all-grain diet.

Not only are the turkeys grown and nurtured here. but processed and packed as well. Rob says, "We purchased an old dairy operation, a defunct dairy operation and we basically ended up remodeling the whole thing, fitting it with glass board and making it ready for USDA preparation."

Thousands of Rob's chickens and turkeys are delivered to customers in Vermont and all across New England. They're busy year round, but as you get closer to the holidays they move into high gear. "We secure our work crew and all the products that we're going to need to make that happen. And we try to rest up as much as we can on the weekends and then prepare for our long days that sometimes are as much as 14, 16 hours."

Rob and the family say Thanksgiving is an exciting and busy time of the year. And when the last drumstick has been consumed, they're ready for a holiday of their own.

Bird Facts
The wild turkey is native to northern Mexico and the Eastern United States. It's believed that turkeys have been around for some ten million years. Turkeys were brought back to Europe by Spanish Explorers. In the 1700's, Turkeys in England were walked to market in herds. They wore "booties" to protect their feet.