Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 56


     
     1        infected dose, does it not?
     2        A.  I really am not qualified to comment on that.
     3
     4   Q.   You do not know.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  How are we doing with the time?  Are you
     7        going to complete Dr. Pattison in a day at the end of the
     8        week after next?
     9
    10   MS. STEEL:  I do not know.  Obviously, there is still transport
    11        and slaughter to do.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You have got transport and slaughter,
    14        I appreciate that.  What else have you got, until the
    15        chickens are caught, before they are caught?
    16
    17   MS. STEEL:  There are a couple more things.  Maybe we should do
    18        them.
    19
    20   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  See if you can complete those this evening.
    21
    22   MS. STEEL:  Prior to the introduction of the new heat stress
    23        procedure, how many incidents did you have in which birds
    24        suffered heat stress?
    25        A.  It is difficult to say how many.  Certainly, if we had
    26        any, if we had hot weather in any particular year prior to
    27        introducing that procedure, we would have probably two or
    28        three episodes each summer where there would be mortality
    29        of varying degrees.
    30
    31   Q.   Affecting all the sheds?
    32        A.  No, it was usually just occasional.  It was odd farms
    33        usually with sheds of birds which were ready to come into
    34        slaughter.  So, in the last day or two prior to slaughter.
    35
    36   Q.   If there was an incident, would the whole shed die?
    37        A.  No, not usually.  Usually, a proportion would die which
    38        could vary according to the circumstances.
    39
    40   Q.   Vary from what to what?
    41        A.  I suppose what we would regard as a typical incident
    42        might involve, say, 5 per cent of the birds in the shed
    43        dying.
    44
    45   Q.   That would be above the normal mortality rate then?
    46        A.  Yes, that is over and above the normal.
    47
    48   Q.   It would not only be the ones that died that were affected?
    49        A.  Well, no, the others obviously would be affected by the
    50        heat. 
    51 
    52   Q.   It would cause them a good deal of stress, that is why it 
    53        is called "heat stress", presumably?
    54        A.  Yes, I think it would certainly cause them stress.
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Is that to some extent self-correcting and
    57        some birds die, the heat drops, or is that an insignificant
    58        factor?
    59        A.  No, I do not think that is really significant.  I think
    60        it usually, the way that you saw it was it was normally

Prev Next Index