Day 066 - 14 Dec 94 - Page 63


     
     1        another chick that will become their parents.  That is how
     2        they hatch.  They hatch in hatchery.  They will hatch
     3        together, they are all together.  When you do that they
     4        think that is their natural environment.  They have grown
     5        accustomed to that environment.  Those birds who have grown
     6        in that environment will not be significantly under
     7        stress.  On the other hand, a free range chicken when it is
     8        out is subject to the environment, is subject to distress
     9        because they could go hungry, they could not find their
    10        friends or their relatives or what they associate as part
    11        of their family; they are subject to predators; they are
    12        more susceptible to diseases because any bird can carry,
    13        and we talked about salmonella, any bird is a carrier.  Any
    14        animal is a carrier of potentially dangerous bacteria, so
    15        when they re out in the open under uncontrolled conditions
    16        they will suffer physiologically and they will be more
    17        susceptible to diseases.
    18
    19        In terms of, we do not need sunshine as well, people would
    20        like to believe.  We need light, especially for chickens,
    21        laying egg chickens.  Their biological system is tied up to
    22        the amount of daylight they receive.  When they are outside
    23        their biological system is affected by the sunshine.  If it
    24        is dark, if it is bright, they will be affected.  When they
    25        are in a controlled condition, that is controlled, they do
    26        not go through those changes.  Their reproductive cycle is
    27        triggered by the amount of light.  You can go on and on and
    28        make assumptions, but I have not see chickens that are free
    29        range that are healthier, that produce more eggs or that
    30        they are heavier, I have no evidence, I have never seen
    31        evidence to support that fact.
    32
    33   Q.   Thank you for that answer, Dr. Gomez Gonzales.  Two other
    34        things.  The chicken which is kept inside a cage has no
    35        opportunity to fly?
    36        A.  That is correct.
    37
    38   Q.   Do you know to what extent a chicken which is kept outside
    39        or is free to go outside will fly and what the reasons are
    40        why it will fly?
    41        A.  You can go back through the evolutionary change and how
    42        the birds evolve, and I think it would be a fair assumption
    43        to say that through the evolution change that birds are not
    44        designed to fly.  They fly a very short distance with the
    45        objective of, mostly, to get into a tree; mostly to run
    46        away from something, something that will scare them.  If
    47        you do not disturb a chicken it will not fly.  There is no
    48        sense for that bird to fly.  The only reason they fly would
    49        be to climb a tree.  They will climb a tree to protect
    50        themselves from predators.  They will be under stress 
    51        throughout the night because they are thinking "I had 
    52        better not move because I might fall or because there might 
    53        be a predator."  When they are in a cage they have that
    54        security, they are safe, they know they are safe because
    55        they are in their home.
    56
    57   Q.   One other thing, to what extent is pecking or cannibalism a
    58        problem amongst chickens that are kept closely together in
    59        cages?
    60        A.  That will depend on the environment.  There is a

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