Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 51
1 quick one minute break?
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause a moment.
4
5 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I do not mind. It is unconventional.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: I was missing what was being said and wanted to say
8 something to Helen. Sorry.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, thank you.
11
12 MR. RAMPTON (To the witness): At what stage then is it that the
13 numbers of the birds that are dead on arrival can be
14 identified?
15 A. The birds -- when the modules are unloaded the trays
16 containing the birds go along a line to people that we
17 call, who are called "hangers-on". They actually hang the
18 chickens on to the line. At that point any birds that are
19 dead are removed.
20
21 Q. Are those birds which are removed or, at any rate, a
22 proportion of them autopsied to find out what the causes of
23 death might be?
24 A. Sometimes we do this. The official veterinary surgeon
25 in the plant will do this sometimes, or we ourselves will
26 do it. Certainly, if there are excessive numbers we will
27 always do it to see what the particular problem is.
28
29 Q. That would be something untoward then, would it not?
30 A. That would be an unusual occurrence.
31
32 Q. But taking the ordinary percentage, you say of .15 to .17
33 per cent, of all birds transported, over the years have you
34 been able to identify what you believe to be the principal
35 causes of death in transit?
36 A. The principal causes mostly relate to disease.
37
38 Q. Disease?
39 A. To disease. We see a number of birds that die of what
40 we call ascites.
41
42 Q. What is that?
43 A. That is collection of fluid in the body cavity.
44
45 Q. It is not a respiratory thing as such?
46 A. No, it is not, but if birds have excessive fluid in the
47 body cavity, it usually means that they have a heart which
48 is not pumping correctly and so they have a heart attack
49 during the transport.
50
51 Q. Whereas it may be exacerbated by transport, it is not,
52 I take it from what you have said, something that is caused
53 by the transport?
54 A. No, it is a condition which is present before the
55 transport.
56
57 Q. Is there any way of preventing or curing ascites if it is
58 found in a flock?
59 A. There are ways of preventing. It there are management
60 practices which we use to try to minimise the condition
