Other types of poultry farming can involve chiller rental from a specialist chiller hire company too, but the most profitable time of the year is around Christmas, when turkey is undoubtedly the produce most in demand. According to the British Turkey Information Service around 10 million units of turkey were sold last Christmas (2010) and for 87% of people in the UK, "Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a traditional roast turkey."

In the weeks preceding the festive season, it is not hard to imagine the panic that would ensue at a turkey farm if their fixed refrigeration system suffered a fault or a complete breakdown occurred. The turkey stock would inevitably become spoiled, unsalable and could lead to lost revenues amounting to millions of pounds.

The solution to ensuring this catastrophe never occurs is for a turkey (or other kind of poultry) farmer to formulate a contingency plan with a chiller hire expert well before the run up to Christmas.

Turkey farming explained in brief

More than 20 million turkeys are produced for meat in the UK each year that will earn their producers £375 million. Easter also sees a huge nationwide requirement for poultry (chicken, duck, geese, pheasant…). Although turkey is not really synonymous with Easter, sales can still be considerable.

There has been a raft of much-publicised information on poultry farming and the conditions in which the birds are reared. However regardless of the farming techniques employed, once the birds have been slaughtered and processed (usually between 12 and 21 weeks) the carcasses left for a period of 1-2 weeks to tenderise. They are then kept in a cold store before distribution.

It is during the tenderising and cold storage stages of production that chiller hire may be necessary, in the event of a fixed chiller system breakdown at a farm.

More about contingency plans

The key to avoiding a chiller breakdown disaster at a turkey farm is to have a thorough contingency plan in place – one formulated with the help of a specialist chiller hire company that has provided rented chiller solutions to poultry farms in the past.

Specialist portable chiller hire companies are experienced in formulating contingency plans for poultry farms, both large and small. Site surveys are carried out where plans can be agreed in regards to the delivery and setting-up of portable rented units.

As many poultry farms can be quite remote, having a contingency plan in place here can be more crucial than in other types of food production industries. Ensuring the hire company understands both the exact location and any issues regarding access to the site, are both vital to ensure the hired equipment can be delivered promptly. Understanding the logistics of the site itself and the available power supply are also high on the checklist of any specialist hire company.

A true contingency plan can only be put in place after a site visit. However, once it is agreed, the chiller hire company will always ensure that they have suitable units in the correct volume, if a poultry farmer needs support during a ‘high risk’ emergency such as chiller failure.