Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 70
1 A. Sir ----
2
3 Q. The sow can readily conceive while being suckled?
4 A. Yes. Apparently so, sir. We have never ever done it
5 on our farms, I can assure you.
6
7 MS. STEEL: Is it not right that the sow comes into heat,
8 I think, it is three days after the piglets are weaned?
9 A. Yes.
10
11 Q. Rather than three days after they are born?
12 A. There is also a heat period three days after they are
13 born.
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: How long do they last, the heat periods?
16 A. I really do not know because we never tried, sir, so
17 I cannot speak from experience.
18
19 MS. STEEL: At any rate, on your farms, they would be mated
20 three days after the weaning?
21 A. They would be put with the bore three days afterwards.
22 It is very likely that on the 4th or 5th day, yes, they
23 will.
24
25 Q. How old are the company sows when they go for slaughter?
26 A. Normally our sows have on average about 7 litters, but
27 it does vary. You cannot use that as a cast-iron figure.
28 "On average", I said.
29
30 Q. What age would that be then? About three years, or
31 something like that, four years?
32 A. Three to four years, yes.
33
34 Q. Is it right that the normal life-span of a pig is about ten
35 to 12 years?
36 A. I would imagine so.
37
38 Q. Why is it that the sows are slaughtered at about three to
39 four years?
40 A. Because you have to take into the consideration of
41 economics and it does not become economical to maintain and
42 keep that sow after that period on average.
43
44 Q. Why is that?
45 A. Because she does not produce the pigs as she normally
46 does, basically.
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I rather got the picture from your statement
49 that your father, who started the company, farmed pigs in a
50 fairly small way to begin with?
51 A. Yes, sir.
52
53 Q. Is that right or not?
54 A. Yes. But he was still -- because like all livestock
55 industry and agriculture has changed so much, in his day he
56 was considered to be a reasonably sized pig farmer; but by
57 today's standards, yes, he was small when he started.
58
59 Q. I do not know where I got it from. I may have
60 misremembered. It may be in the brochure.
