Hurd Farm has birds available for Thanksgiving

By Max Sullivan

Hampton Union, November 20, 2015

[The following article is courtesy of the Hampton Union and Seacoast Online.]

Steven Hurd said his turkeys are not only healthier to eat than those bought in the grocery store, but they are moister, too. [Max Sullivan photo]

HAMPTON — Families still seeking an all natural, free-range turkey to eat this Thanksgiving can find one this weekend at the Hurd Farm in Hampton.

The Farm, located at 11 Old Stage Road, still has 100 broad breasted white turkeys left to sell. The turkeys cost $4.89 per pound, their sizes ranging from 15 to 30 pounds. Saturday is the last day to buy a turkey. Customers can pick them up Sunday.

Farm owner Steven Hurd, who sold at least 300 turkeys this year, said the turkeys are given no additives or growth hormones, making them healthier to eat than the ones sold in grocery stores.

“We feel they’re healthier just because there’s nothing added to it,” Hurd said. “They get conventional grain, but there are no antibiotics or hormones in it.”

The turkeys are also given approximately two acres of fencing to move freely. Customers have told Hurd they appreciate knowing their Thanksgiving turkey is treated humanely while alive.

“They feel better about the animal being outside,” Hurd said. “They just don’t like that the modern operations confine them.”

On top of being healthier and given open space, Hurd said the turkeys actually taste better. His customers have told him the turkeys taste moister than the ones in the grocery stores.

“A lot of people say it’s the best turkey they’ve ever had,” Hurd said. “It’s nice and moist, and I’ve heard a lot people at the farmers' market, saying ‘When are you going to get the turkeys again?’”

Plus, Hurd said, buying turkeys from New Hampshire farmers benefits the local economy.

The Hurd family has owned the farm since his grandparents bought it in 1923. It was a dairy farm until 2009, when the cost of milk plummeted, Hurd said. The next year, the Hurds shifted towards meat and poultry, selling beef, chicken, pork and, for the Thanksgiving season, turkeys.

The first year they started with 50 turkeys, and they sold out. The Hurds added more each year, this fall jumping from 350 to 400. The farm gets the word out by going to local farmers’ markets.

All turkeys, including those not sold, are processed the weekend before Thanksgiving. The ones leftover are frozen and sold in December for Christmas dinners. Any turkeys left over after that are sold as ground turkey.

To buy a turkey, contact the Hurd Farm at (603)944-6869, or go to their website at www.hurdfarm.com.

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