Dogs round up turkeys in time for Christmas

Two Norfolk sheepdogs have swapped their title for "turkey dogs" to begin their seasonal job at rounding up free-range turkeys.

Nine-year-old Flo and six-year-old Meg round up the birds from the fields of the family-run farm. The 9000 free-range turkeys are then prepared and sold to meet the Christmas demand from both butchers and private customers.

Owner Steve Childerhouse said his dogs make the festive job much easier.

“The collies have that instinct to round things up,” he said. “It is just in their nature, and they would never hurt anything.

"When we walk the turkeys down the yard to be slaughtered, the dogs treat them like sheep. It is quite funny. They do it with the geese too, and after Christmas they don’t know what to do with themselves."

Mr Childerhouse said he brings the birds down in groups of 150 or 200, and having the dogs is like having an extra two people.

"It is probably a two or three-person job, but with the dogs I can do it on my own, so it does save on labour. I don’t know anyone else who uses collies like this, but they are really good for the job," he added.

The farm’s poultry is raised outdoors - “the traditional way” comments Mr Childerhouse - and grown to full maturity before the birds are processed and packed with the help of a 40-strong team of workers.

The workers are due to arrive saturday, so Flo and Meg, who are both trained for sheep, are in full swing of their busy period.