Intruders have escaped with four young turkeys and chicken eggs from Dedham Rare Breeds Farm.

Owner Peter Harris thinks the burglars, who may have been responsible for similar raids in the past, knew what they were after.

The birds taken were black Norfolk turkeys as well as Maran chicken eggs.

Police are treating the incident, which happened early yesterday, as burglary and officers are investigating.

Mr Harris, who runs the centre in Dedham with wife Libby, said no damage had been done in the raid.

"It's a nuisance. They took the four best birds from a pen of 13. They left the lights on, shut the doors between the pens and even cleaned up an egg they dropped," he added.

Mr Harris, said the turkeys which have no huge monetary value, have distinct black feathers as adults with fading white parts on the head and around the eyes as young birds.

He believes they could have been stolen by a jealous breeder or possibly to fatten up in time for Christmas.

"These rarer breeds seem to be becoming all the fashion for Christmas apparently," he explained.

Anyone with any information can call Colchester police on 01206 762212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.