Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 51
1 then they obviously have been developing the condition on
2 the farm.
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Put simply, that breed of bird is too big for
5 its lung size, is it?
6 A. That is put-- yes, that is correct.
7
8 MR. MORRIS: How long can the bird have that disease for before
9 it dies, normally?
10 A. It is very difficult to know because the condition
11 develops gradually and I suppose it takes four or five days
12 for the condition to develop to a point where the bird may
13 actually die. It may be a little bit longer than that,
14 I am not sure.
15
16 MS. STEEL: Is there a problem with fatty liver and kidney
17 syndrome at Sun Valley Poultry?
18 A. No, we do not have a problem with it. We always do see
19 ----- a small number of birds will normally die from the
20 condition around 18 days of age, but it is only a few
21 and -----
22
23 Q. A few, what, per shed or what?
24 A. Just a few in a shed, yes.
25
26 Q. A few is a bit difficult; people have different views. How
27 many are you saying?
28 A. Well, say, you have a 20,000 bird shed at 18 to 20 days
29 which is the time you would see fatty liver kidney
30 syndrome, you might lose 15 in a house in a single day, and
31 the condition may be lasts for a couple of days and then it
32 disappears.
33
34 Q. Is that connected to the diet and the breed of chickens
35 that are used in broiler houses?
36 A. It is very difficult to know exactly what the
37 connection is. There is certainly dietary relationships to
38 fatty liver kidney syndrome and it may be a marginal, it
39 has been shown to related to a biotin deficiency. There
40 may be a marginal biotin deficiency just over that period.
41
42 Q. What about acute death syndrome?
43 A. This is just something where it is well-recognised in
44 birds, that they can have a heart attack and die, and that
45 is really about it. You cannot really make any more
46 comments than that.
47
48 Q. Is that fairly common?
49 A. You will always see some birds dying from that in any
50 broiler shed.
51
52 Q. Including Sun Valley?
53 A. Anywhere in the world.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is that something particularly related to
56 broilers or birds of all species?
57 A. No, I think it is related to broiler birds, my Lord.
58
59 MS. STEEL: Is that connected to stress?
60 A. Well, we do not really know, we do not really know.
