Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 29


     
     1        I am aware, he was satisfied with C02 as an agent for
     2        dealing with day-old chicks.
     3
     4   Q.   So as to save time later on, I think it is probably best if
     5        I try to find the passage in question.  There was so much
     6        on chickens.
     7        A.  Well, if I could -- his thesis is that for killing
     8        slaughter weight chickens that you should have a mixture of
     9        carbon dioxide and an inert gas, such as argon, and in that
    10        way the job is done more quickly and he believes more
    11        humanely, but this has never been a recommendation for day
    12        old chicks.
    13
    14   Q.   Do you have any feeling, whatever Dr. Gregory might have
    15        said, and I cannot find it and I will not bother with it
    16        now, that you ought to be changing your method in this
    17        respect?
    18        A.  I do not feel any reason -- there is no reason for
    19        changing this method which has worked satisfactorily for a
    20        number of years.
    21
    22   Q.   Is this the sort of thing, I do not know, that you would be
    23        inclined to keep under review in the course of your
    24        responsibilities?
    25        A.  We, obviously, have to keep an open mind and we do
    26        review all our practices and procedures from time to time,
    27        and if something is developed which is an improvement we
    28        try to adopt it.
    29
    30   Q.   Do you read scientific papers and agricultural magazines?
    31        A.  Yes, I read very extensively.
    32
    33   Q.   Can you look back then, please, at page 11, paragraph 56,
    34        of the MAFF document which you should have in front of
    35        you?  You have dealt with the first sentence.  Looking at
    36        the next two sentences about the carbon dioxide and the
    37        ADAS publication, does your method or does it not comply
    38        with that recommendation?
    39        A.  Yes, it does.
    40
    41   Q.   When the chicks have been hatched they must be transported,
    42        I think, to the growing sheds, must they not?
    43        A.  They are, yes.
    44
    45   Q.   What is the furthest distance that the chicks have to
    46        travel from the hatchery to the growing shed?
    47        A.  In our case, about 50 miles.
    48
    49   Q.   In what sort of conveyance -- a terrible word -- in what
    50        sort of vehicle are they transported? 
    51        A.  It is a vehicle specifically designed for the purpose 
    52        which has heating and ventilation controls in it which can 
    53        be monitored from the driver's cab.
    54
    55   Q.   Are the drivers trained to alter the conditions according
    56        to the weather?
    57        A.  The drivers, yes, they are trained to do this, and it
    58        is part of their job to make sure the environment is as it
    59        should be.
    60

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