Waitrose speciality poultry

Our speciality poultry is reared to the highest standards of quality and welfare.

Goose

Our free range geese have dark, close-textured, richly-flavoured meat. With natural fat for basting, they’re always succulent and moist, and are ideal for a big family get-together, or a festive meal.

Where does Waitrose goose come from?
All our geese are reared to traditional free-range standards. The birds are reared on one farm in East Anglia, where they spend their first few weeks in warm, comfortable houses, and then roam naturally in grassy paddocks with access to maize paddocks in October after harvest.

How do you protect animal welfare?
Our goose farm is Farm Assured, which means it’s regularly independently audited to ensure high standards of animal husbandry and welfare. The birds are transported well below the legal standards on journey times, welfare and safety. On arrival, they’re inspected and rested in small familiar groups.

Buying Waitrose goose
We sell whole geese from the chiller cabinet, from early October through to December.

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Free range guinea fowl

Guinea fowl have tender, creamy-white, slightly dry flesh, with a slightly gamey flavour. They’re lower in fat than chicken.

Where do Waitrose guinea fowl come from?
Our guinea fowl are reared naturally in France’s Loire Valley, and come from a carefully chosen supplier with years of experience. They roam and forage in a natural environment, and are fed a healthy, coarse-grained cereal-based diet.

How do you protect animal welfare?
The birds are reared to the strict European Poultry Meat Free Range Standards, ensuring a high standard of animal husbandry and welfare.

Buying Waitrose guinea fowl
Whole guinea fowl are available from the chiller cabinet, all year round.

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Quail

We also sell quail as whole birds, or part-boned and stuffed. They’re reared on selected farms and processed in the UK.

Waitrose game birds

Game is naturally low in fat, and an increasingly popular alternative to other birds. All Waitrose game is easy to cook and comes with full cooking instructions.

What types of game does Waitrose sell?
We sell four different game birds:

• Wild mallard duck
• Pheasant
• Partridge
• Wood pigeon

Wild mallard duck
Wild mallard has a stronger flavour and leaner flesh than domesticated duck. It’s available as whole birds, which feed 2-3 people, from 1 September to 31 January.

Pheasant
Pheasant has pale, lean flesh with a subtle game flavour. The breast meat is more delicately-flavoured and tender than the legs, which are darker, with a richer taste. We sell breast and thigh fillets, and stuffed, easy-carve birds, from 1 October to 31 January.

Partridge
These small birds have pale flesh, similar to chicken but with a delicate, slightly gamey flavour. We sell stuffed, easy-carve birds from September 1 to January 31

Wood pigeon
Wood pigeon has rich, dark meat and a distinctive gamey flavour. We sell it as breast fillets, from September 1 to January 31.

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Where do Waitrose game birds come from?

Our game birds come from a small number of English country estates. Born in spring, they’re reared on a corn-based diet, in grass pens, large enough to allow normal foraging behaviour, with access to shelter. In June, they’re released into managed woodland or cropped areas of maize or kale, where they are free to roam. Carefully-managed shoots begin in September and continue until January. All the birds can be traced back to the estates they came from.

How do you protect animal welfare?
Shoots for Waitrose are audited by experienced professionals from our supplier, the UK Game Company, who have four generations of experience. They ensure high standards of husbandry and gamekeeping.

Buying game birds at Waitrose
Game birds are available in season, prepacked from the chiller cabinet.

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Try these speciality poultry recipes: