About Our Poultry

Herb Fed was started 15 years ago by Edward Wilkinson with a simple aim – to produce "a bird with taste". He was a surveyor in London but, with farming in his blood, he decided to return home to the beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

Fifteen years on, Herb Fed is a full family affair on their farm in Easingwold, north of York. Edward's wife Emma is part of the team, along with their two young daughters – 7-year-old Letty and 5-year-old Martha – who are already showing an interest in following in the family's footsteps.

Herb Fed Chickens

Their Ross breed birds are kept in small flocks, following their natural instinct to roam and forage freely across 50 acres of Yorkshire countryside. Fed on a diet of cereals and fresh herb offcuts, the birds develop a distinctive depth of flavour and a beautiful texture.

A commitment to both time-honoured and regenerative farming further enhances their high-welfare environment, where the birds can grow slowly and mature naturally.

Herb Fed Turkeys

The chosen turkey breed is the domesticated Bronze, named for its attractive plumage. At the six-week mark, the turkeys take to the surrounding fifty acres of fields to bask in the sun, bathe in the dust, and forage to their hearts' content.

Their uniquely varied and nutritious diet of herb offcuts from custom-made hay racks, alongside a cereal diet, produces a bird with a distinctive depth of flavour and a beautiful texture. The turkeys are game hung, dry plucked, and hand finished before being boxed.

They arrive with giblets, cooking instructions, and a packet of fresh herbs for the perfect Christmas stuffing.

Important points about our turkeys

• Bronze breed, reared free range across fifty acres of Yorkshire fields from six weeks old.
• Fed fresh herb offcuts from custom-made hay racks alongside an additive- and hormone-free cereal diet from a local mill.
• Slow grown, so the meat and muscle can mature naturally.
• Game hung, dry plucked and hand finished.
• Boxed with giblets, cooking instructions and fresh herbs for your stuffing.

The Herbs

The birds' fresh herb diet is sourced from a local Yorkshire herb farm – a family relationship the Wilkinsons are very proud of. Herbs Unlimited was founded by Edward's aunt, Alison Dodd, and is now run by Alison's son, Philip.

The herbs are excess trimmings or herbs that have simply gone past their best and would otherwise end up on a compost heap. By using this waste, Herb Fed contributes to the birds' quality of life in a way that is sustainable and environmentally friendly. They are proud to be the country's first and only producers of herb-fed poultry.

The Taste

The herbs are nutrient-rich, and the variety means the birds receive important additional minerals and vitamins alongside their additive- and hormone-free cereal diets, supplied by a local mill. This unique herb diet, coupled with a slow-growing ethos that allows the meat and muscle to develop as they should, creates their trademark taste and texture – surprisingly not herby, but exceptionally full of flavour and meaty.

Their free-range chicken, Christmas roosters, and Bronze turkeys are multi-award-winning, with a haul of 8 Great Taste Awards in just the last 3 years.