Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 53
1
2 Q. Yes. Finally -- it may not be the end of the list, I do
3 not know; if it is not, you please add to it -- do you find
4 on occasion that suffocation is diagnosed as a cause of
5 death?
6 A. It can be, but it is not usual and I would say that
7 would be very, very rare that that could happen.
8
9 Q. Are there any other causes of death in transit which you
10 have been able to identify that we have not mentioned?
11 A. No, I think those are the principal ones.
12
13 Q. They have arrived at the factory; they have been unloaded.
14 It is at the point you have just told us where the
15 unloading person, whatever he be, takes the bird out of the
16 crate and hangs it on the line and he will, naturally
17 enough, see whether it is dead or alive?
18 A. Yes.
19
20 Q. He is hung or she, the bird, on the line by means of a
21 shackle?
22 A. Yes.
23
24 Q. You now have a different shackling line for males and
25 females?
26 A. We do.
27
28 Q. Is the size of the shackle on those lines the same or
29 different?
30 A. The size is different -- slightly larger ones for
31 males.
32
33 Q. So are birds, like humans, the men tend to be larger than
34 the female?
35 A. Yes.
36
37 Q. Is that a function of genes or is it just that they get
38 more to eat?
39 A. It is a function of genetics and the fact that they
40 grow faster.
41
42 Q. Was there a time when there was a single size of shackle?
43 A. Yes, there was.
44
45 Q. When did it change from one size to two?
46 A. When we started to make changes to our factory which
47 was in early 1993.
48
49 Q. I think when Dr. Gregory came, he saw the dual line, the
50 different lines?
51 A. He did, that is correct.
52
53 Q. Before that dual facility was started, was the size of the
54 shackle adequate to accommodate the leg of the male birds
55 or not?
56 A. Yes, it was but, obviously, it is much better to have a
57 shackle that is specifically designed for a specific weight
58 of bird.
59
60 Q. Does the business of shackling a bird -- it is shackled
