10/12/2024 Latest News
Turkeys, geese, chickens and ducks will be up for auction at Keys’ annual Christmas Poultry Sale in Aylsham on Friday 20th December, continuing an unbroken 71 year festive tradition at the firm
The annual sale dates back to 1953, when Geoffrey Key held the first Christmas sale just months after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The auction has taken place at Keys’ Aylsham sale ground every year since then, with not even avian flu and Covid deterring the firm’s auctioneers from taking to the rostrum.
“Our Christmas Poultry Sale is a wonderful Christmas tradition, which brings together local producers and local consumers,” said Tim Blyth, director at Keys, who is the grandson of founder Geoffrey Key.
“2024 has seen people really return to the salerooms in numbers for the first time since the pandemic to take part in in-person bidding, so we are expecting our Christmas Poultry Sale to be a busy, sociable and festive occasion.”
Traditionally the Keys Christmas Poultry Sale attracts hundreds of people – mostly private individuals there to buy the main attraction for their Christmas lunch.
The majority of the birds, which include Norfolk Black and Bronze turkeys, and free-range geese and ducks, have been raised by small-scale local farmers.
Keys started out in 1953 as a small livestock market selling mainly poultry, and by the end of the 1950s had become one of the largest of their type in the country. A young Bernard Matthews purchased his first turkeys from the firm.
The Keys annual Christmas Poultry Sale takes place on Friday 20th December from 11am. Viewing of the birds on offer starts at 9am on the morning of the sale.