Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 13
1 dealt with.
2
3 Q. What percentage now of the chicks would be likely to be
4 involved?
5 A. I think it would be very, very low indeed, and I just
6 could not give you a number because it would be extremely
7 low.
8
9 Q. You said it is a rare condition now; was it more of a
10 problem five or 10 years ago?
11 A. No, I do not think so. It has always been something
12 that has been well recognised by hatchery managers that can
13 occur if the hatch for any reason is delayed and you get
14 some chicks hatching out well in advance of their hatch
15 mates, and adjustment to the equipment can very soon sort
16 that problem out.
17
18 Q. How does it sort that out?
19 A. What you aim to do is to have all -- try to have all
20 your chicks hatching within a given period and, usually, if
21 you get a spread of hatch it is because for some reason you
22 have got different temperatures in different parts of the
23 individual hatcher. So, there might be a degree or two
24 difference, say, between the top and the bottom and this
25 would advance the chicks in one part compared with the
26 other.
27
28 Q. What is the given period that you aim to have them hatching
29 within?
30 A. We aim to hatch them all within a 24 hour period.
31
32 Q. Do you usually succeed with that?
33 A. Yes, we do.
34
35 Q. How long has that been the case?
36 A. It has always been the case.
37
38 Q. So there has been no difference in the equipment that has
39 been used; it has not become more efficient over the years?
40 A. The equipment has been changed and modified over the
41 years, and so improvements have occurred and we actually
42 opened a new hatchery in May of this year with brand new
43 hatching equipment so that we could update all our
44 equipment at the same time.
45
46 Q. What improvements has that made?
47 A. The improvements mean that we get a better quality of
48 chick, in other words, a more vigorous, lively chick. We
49 have improved our hatchability standard, but one of the
50 principal benefits of having the new hatchery is that we
51 have improved hygiene standards where the equipment,
52 because it is more modern, is much easier to clean and keep
53 tidy.
54
55 Q. When was this introduced, just recently?
56 A. May of this (sic) year.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I thought you said you opened a new hatchery?
59 A. Yes, we did.
60
