Day 102 - 13 Mar 95 - Page 56


     
     1        the sterilization tank and one being used by the person
     2        doing the killing.
     3
     4   Q.   It says at No. 5:  "Rotating knives.  This must be done at
     5        least every half an hour".
     6        A.  Well, that is to ensure that they are kept sharp and
     7        this is why they would rotate them in the -- they would
     8        have several in the sterilizer which are sharpened usually
     9        by another worker, and they are rotated so that they are
    10        kept -- so that they are always using a very sharp knife.
    11
    12   Q.   Would that be standard for them to change about every half
    13        an hour?
    14        A.  Yes, it would, yes, very important.
    15
    16   Q.   So in terms of hygiene the same knife would be being used
    17        on about two and a quarter thousand birds?
    18        A.  Yes, except that they are not having to manually kill
    19        that many in each -----
    20
    21   Q.   This is the defeathering section, they would all be being
    22        defeathered would they not?
    23        A.  Well they go -- after the neck cutter and after being
    24        bled they go into the scald tank and from the scald tank
    25        they go through the defeathering area.  It is all in the
    26        same room.
    27
    28   Q.   What are the knives used for in the defeathering area
    29        though?
    30        A.  They would only be used, as far as I know, for neck
    31        cutting.  As I say, it is all in the same room, so the
    32        sterilizer, this is just one knife sterilizer for that one
    33        area.
    34
    35   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  These are for the manual neck cutting?
    36        A.  Yes, that is correct.
    37
    38   Q.   The fall-back?
    39        A.  Yes.
    40
    41   Q.   How is the defeathering done in fact?
    42        A.  The bird after the scald -- the aim the scald tank is
    43        to soften the feathers and then the carcasses go through
    44        rotating drums which have rubber fingers on them.  The
    45        rubber fingers actually rub the feathers off the carcass
    46        and there are several banks of these drums set in different
    47        ways, so that they can get the feathers off the body, the
    48        wings and the legs.
    49
    50   MS. STEEL:  Is there a procedure after that that takes place in 
    51        the same room where parts of the body are removed? 
    52        A.  No.  The complete carcass then goes through into 
    53        another area which is where the evisceration equipment is,
    54        so that is a completely separate room.
    55
    56   Q.   When were the breast comforters introduced at Sun Valley?
    57        A.  A long time ago.  I am not sure exactly when, but
    58        several years ago.
    59
    60   Q.   Around 1990?

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