Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 71
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2 MR. MORRIS: It is in the first page, there is a note from a
3 small shed in Watton.
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5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is where I got it from, from a small
6 shed in Watton?
7 A. That is a little misleading, sir, because in actual
8 fact that is where we started our slaughtering process;
9 that is what that is referring to, because it says, "Bowes
10 have progressed to their own modern factory at the present
11 site".
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13 Q. Very well. The question I am going to ask you is pointless
14 then.
15 A. Why we refer to it as an old shed is because, in actual
16 fact, it was the old ministry slaughterhouse that was used
17 in the wartime that was originally dog kennels.
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19 Q. What I was trying to get to is that one is, or has been,
20 acquainted with the small farmer who has, maybe, one or two
21 sows; they all seem to have first names, or did do, and
22 they certainly kept them for more than three or four
23 years. What sort of age might the small farmer who had a
24 sow or two in addition to his other endeavours, 30 or 40 or
25 more years ago, what sort of age would they be kept to? Is
26 it possible to give any indication?
27 A. Yes, I can do so very easily, sir. My grandfather
28 would not keep a sow -- and it seemed quite remarkable we
29 should still live out there -- beyond eight litters.
30 Whatever the case, he would sell it, and that is talking
31 about getting attached to people; getting attached to sows
32 and pigs we do have the problem now that some of our
33 managers will become attached to a sow and leave it a
34 little longer than sometimes they should do because it has
35 an unusual black ear, or something like this.
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37 MS. STEEL: I cannot remember whether I asked this: A typical
38 dry sow store would be about 2.1 metres by .6 of a metre?
39 I think that is what Dr. Gregory said?
40 A. Yes, but us not having experience of stalls I could not
41 say whether Dr. Gregory is exactly correct on that.
42 I would not think, him being the expert, he would be too
43 far out either.
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45 Q. They would not normally have any bedding in them?
46 A. No. I commented on that earlier.
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48 Q. The nose rings, are they just used on the outdoor pigs?
49 A. Only outdoor pigs have nose rings.
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51 Q. What percentage of outdoor pigs are nose rings used for?
52 A. It is left entirely to the discretion of the pig
53 manager of each unit.
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55 Q. So, some farmers might use nose rings on all their pigs and
56 others might not use them on any?
57 A. I think my previous answer answers that question also.
58
59 Q. Yes?
60 A. No, that is left entirely to the discretion of each
