Derek Kelly Establishes Kelly Turkeys

In 1971, Derek and Mollie Kelly established the family business that became Kelly Turkeys and FarmGate Hatcheries. Derek had already built considerable experience in the developing commercial poultry industry, working with chicken and turkey breeding businesses and advising producers in Europe. When his employer, the American company River Rest, ceased trading in the UK, Derek and Mollie acquired its turkey hatchery at Danbury, Essex, and began operating independently. Our beginnings were modest. The business started with the hatchery at Danbury and a plot bought by Derek's father following his retirement, followed by a smallholding at Maldon. Alongside hatching poults for other farmers, Derek and Mollie reared their own turkeys for the Christmas market. During these early years, their breeding work concentrated primarily on white turkeys selected for flavour and eating quality. The two sides of the original operation-breeding and hatching through FarmGate Hatcheries and producing Christmas turkeys through Kelly Turkeys-provided the foundations of the family business. The KellyBronze breed and brand came later, following the family's move into bronze turkey breeding in the 1980s.