Day 019 - 27 Jul 94 - Page 54


     
     1        A.  It is a limitation in the foraging.
 
     2   Q.   What about foot problems?
              A.  In any system where there is wire, there is, there can
     3        be development of foot problems.  So whether the birds are
              loose housed on wire or whether they are kept in cages on
     4        wire, you can get foot damage.  You can get foot damage
              when a bird perches.  You get different types of foot
     5        damage with different types of system.
 
     6   Q.   Are there any particular disease problems that arise out
              of that system, disease problems?
     7        A.  In battery hens?
 
     8   Q.   Battery hens.
              A.  You can get osteopaenia where the bone becomes
     9        excessively vacuolated, so it has a poorer structure; it
              is weak.
    10
         Q.   Similar to the kind of gait problems that we had before,
    11        is it?
              A.  No.  The walking ability of the bird is normal.  They
    12        do not suffer from impoverished walking except under
              extreme situations which are very rare.  It is more they
    13        suffer from weak bones which are prone to fracturing.
 
    14   Q.   Do you happen to know whether the system you saw at
              Oasters would qualify for the RSPCA freedom eggs
    15        specification?
              A.  I have not thought about it in those terms, but I
    16        would be surprised if it did.
 
    17   Q.   Are there any welfare implications about the continual
              impregnation and laying of the hens?  Is it unusual?  The
    18        constant laying of eggs, is it more than would happen in a
              normal bird?
    19        A.  Do you mean the rate of egg laying?
 
    20   Q.   Yes.
              A.  Is it normal in a battery situation -- relative to
    21        what?
 
    22   Q.   Relative to a bird that was basically free or running
              around the yard?
    23        A.  Where trials have been done on this, the egg
              production in terms of number of eggs is usually very
    24        similar between a free range system and a battery cage
              system.
    25
         Q.   Presumably, these birds are genetically bred to lay eggs 
    26        regularly more than, say, other strains which more old 
              fashioned, if you like, strains would have done? 
    27        A.  Yes.
 
    28   Q.   Does that last point have any health implications for the
              birds, as far as you know?
    29        A.  It means that the bird has a very strong demand for
              calcium, for egg shell production.  There is a limit to
    30        how much calcium you can feed a bird, because if it is too
              high in the diet, it will suppress the bird's appetite.

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