Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 15
1 grooming behaviour) and eat together"?
2 A. They like to eat together, yes.
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do they like to dust-bathe, because that is a
5 specific topic which is being asked?
6 A. I do not know if they like it. They do it for a
7 reason, to get rid of some parasites.
8
9 MS. STEEL: It is fairly natural behaviour for a chicken in a
10 farmyard?
11 A. It is a protective behaviour, yes -- just like we do
12 with scratching, when we feel the need to scratch.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: May I just ask one matter about that? Some
15 protective behaviour in animals is purely instinctive?
16 A. Yes.
17
18 Q. In other words, they will do it even though in their
19 particular environment there is no need to do it for their
20 own protection. Do you have a view or any knowledge on
21 whether chickens like to dust-bathe because it is part of
22 their instinct because of the threat of parasites, whether
23 or not they are suffering from parasites themselves?
24 A. No, I do not.
25
26 Q. It is possible that they would like to dust-bathe just
27 because it is part of them, even if they did not have
28 parasites, is it not?
29 A. It is possible, yes.
30
31 MS. STEEL: Would you accept: "Chickens communicate with each
32 other through visual displays and calls"?
33 A. Yes, they do.
34
35 Q. And: "The baby chick begins communicating whilst still
36 inside the egg, responding with positive chirps to the
37 mother's purring as she incubates the egg"?
38 A. Yes, they do.
39
40 Q. And that: "Once hatched, the chick 'imprints' on the
41 mother hen, maintaining a permanent, close relationship
42 with the hen as he/she matures"?
43 A. With the hen, if the hen happens to be there, and it
44 happens to be the parent of that chick, yes.
45
46 Q. Would you accept: "Nesting is extremely important to
47 laying hens"?
48 A. Yes.
49
50 Q. "They prefer to lay their eggs in a private nest, and they
51 perform an elaborate sequence of behaviours while searching
52 for a nest site, building the nest, and laying eggs"?
53 A. That depends on the conditions in which they are
54 raised.
55
56 Q. So if they were out in a farmyard with barns, I do not
57 know, hen houses, whatever, then they do that kind of
58 thing?
59 A. Yes.
60
