THE organic turkey people eat from the Rhug Farm this Christmas will have been sung to by the local choir to ensure it tastes delicious!

Each year, turkeys at the Corwen farm listen to Classic FM on the radio every day to ensure a stress-free life, but when the staff discovered they can turn the radio down themselves, the local choir was brought in to sing to the birds.

It is well known that the less stressed the animal on the farm, the tastier the meat is on the plate.

The scientific basis for the phenomenon is well established and the key ingredient is lactic acid.

In an unstressed animal, after death, muscle glycogen is converted into lactic acid, which helps keep meat tender, pink, and full of flavour.

Adrenaline released by stress before slaughter uses up glycogen, which means there's not enough lactic acid produced.

This affects different kinds of meat in different ways, but in general it'll be tough, tasteless and will go bad quicker than unstressed meat.

Rhug Farm manager Gareth Jones is also the chairman of Bro Glyndwr Male Voice Choir.

He said: “I was asked by the owner of Rhug Estate, Lord Newborough, if the choir would come and sing to the rafter of 1,000 turkeys.

"Naturally, I thought he was joking until he asked a second, and then a third time!

"We try to induce as little stress as possible on the animals, so I could see the logic of having the choir sing to the birds – eventually!

"I have to admit I think it did help to keep the birds nice and calm and they seemed to be singing along with us.”

The choir, of which Lord Newborough is the president, is made up of local residents, including some members of staff from Rhug.

Every Christmas the choir performs in Rhug Chapel and Rhug Estate bistro for locals to go along and hear them sing.

One choir member admitted that singing to the turkeys had to be one of the strangest things he had ever been asked to do!

Rhug Estate organic turkeys and geese enjoy almost seven months of living free range on the farm near Corwen.

Once they have settled in their lodges, they can venture out every day onto clover-rich organic pasture, feed on organic oats grown on the farm and enjoy a stress-free life listening to classical music.

Michelin-starred restaurants, including Four Seasons and The Rosewood, in London, feature Rhug organic turkey on their festive menu.

Rhug organic turkey and goose meat are also served in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau.

Rhug Estate owner Lord Newborough said: “Like all animals on the farm, eliminating stress is an all-important factor.

"Stress free animals produce the highest quality meat.

"Rhug staff are able to watch the turkeys grow up through their office window.”

As well as the singing, Rhug farm has a few other strange methods it uses on its turkeys.

Head poultry farmer Gareth Williams actually herds the rafter of turkeys into their shed every night using a sheep dog... and they don’t seem to mind at all!

The Rhug Estate has more than 1,000 turkeys, 300 geese, Aberdeen Angus cattle, Bison, Japanese Sika Deer and over 3,000 sheep.