A man who adopted, visited and then ate a turkey said he did feel conflicted about the situation.

Guardian journalist Rich Pelley  wanted to focus on the positive aspects of free-range turkeys.

He adopted Terrance the turkey and visited him on a regular basis for six months at a farm in the English county of Surrey.

He told Moncrieff he learned some interesting things.

"The farmer said that people try to adopt turkeys and then keep them from being Christmas dinners," he said.

"I was the only one [adopting a turkey], it was definitely a strange request.

"I certainly was emotionally torn, but I think what I really wanted to do was to just see for myself how turkeys lived when they're given their best life.

"They do genuinely recognise human faces - when the farmer went in, they all went nuts.

"They'd all follow him around like he was their mum, he'd walk through the garden and they'd all follow him.

"Turkeys apparently like music; I tried playing some music - I brought a guitar down, speakers down.

"They weren't that impressed with my guitar playing, but when we brought the speakers down to play some '90s dance music they did sort of bop their heads and come and look at the speakers."

A free-range turkey on a farm, 27-11-19. Image: Graham Turner / Alamy

Mr Pelley said Terrance resembled a "mini velociraptor" by the time he was three-months-old.

"By the time he was a fully grown adult I was trying to make sure I didn't upset him," he said.

"The farmer, who was obviously a lot more comfortable, he was picking them up and stroking them - almost like a lapdog.

"I didn't quite get friendly with my turkey".

Terrance's final hours

Rich said he and the farmer arranged a date for Terrance's final journey but he wasn't there to see it.

"I wasn't there to witness Terrance's final hours," he said.

"I thought that would be a bit too upsetting, and probably there's some health and safety issues.

"I was conflicted because it was a turkey that I'd known and played the guitar to.

"I think the point is there's an animal and there's an ingredient.

"When you're picking up chicken breast and turkey legs wrapped in cellophane from the supermarket it's difficult to remember that that was once an animal."

Mr Pelley's final thoughts on the subject were that Terrance was delicious.

Main image: Bronze Free-range turkeys on a farm in November 2015. Image: Geoff du Feu / Alamy