Day 102 - 13 Mar 95 - Page 49
1 A. In the arrival area, the modules are taken off the back
2 of the lorry and they are placed in rows in the arrival
3 area.
4
5 Q. Is that a yard?
6 A. It is a covered yard.
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Was that what we actually saw in part of the
9 film, very high stacks of them?
10 A. Yes, you saw a snap-shot of the outside of the arrival
11 area, yes.
12
13 Q. But they were being piled up quite high in one place by a
14 forklift truck?
15 A. In our case they are only one module high in rows.
16
17 MS. STEEL: How long would they remain in the yard?
18 A. They stay there up to three hours.
19
20 Q. Then what happens?
21 A. The individual modules are picked up with a forklift
22 and they are put on to a belt which is an unloading
23 machine, and an arm comes across and pushes drawers on to a
24 line so that the drawers are in line. They proceed down
25 the belt towards the men who hang the chickens on to the
26 line.
27
28 Q. How many men are hanging chickens on the line?
29 A. It is usually about six or seven in that area.
30
31 Q. It is the hangers-on on job to identify the
32 dead-on-arrival, is it?
33 A. Yes, it is.
34
35 Q. The Farm Animal Welfare Council report or the advice to
36 Ministers on the handling and transport of poultry says:
37 "Research into broken bones indicated that removing hens
38 from the transport crates and hanging them on shackles
39 resulted in a sharp increase in the incidence of broken
40 bones". Would you agree with that?
41 A. I think that was probably referring to hens and not
42 broilers because I do not think it is a problem with
43 broilers.
44
45 Q. So that is a particular problem with battery chickens, is
46 it?
47 A. I believe so, yes.
48
49 Q. Do you know why that is?
50 A. Well, it could possibly be because osteoporosis ----
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is this the calcium point again?
53 A. Yes, the calcium, exactly. Osteoporosis occurs through
54 poor calcium metabolism and is a specific thing that can be
55 seen in laying hens but not in broiler chickens.
56
57 MS. STEEL: So what percentage of birds are affected by broken
58 bones on shackling with broiler chickens?
59 A. Well, we do not specifically identify it. At the
60 hanging on stage, they are not aware usually of broken
