Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 25
1 time would definitely be a maximum of two hours, mostly
2 under one hour.
3
4 Q. Can I just leap ahead for a moment to get it out of the
5 way? You buy in pigs finished by other people as well?
6 A. For the factory?
7
8 Q. Yes.
9 A. Yes, that is correct, sir.
10
11 Q. What is the maximum distance travelled, what is the maximum
12 travelling time that any of those pigs have to make, do you
13 know?
14 A. Well, last week or the week before last, Tesco's
15 announced that eight hours travelling time would be
16 maximum. That is very easy for us, very easy. Our maximum
17 would be six hours and I am exaggerating a bit, I believe.
18
19 Q. Actually how many journeys of six hours do your suppliers
20 make?
21 A. Very, very few.
22
23 Q. What do you think is the average travelling time for pigs
24 delivered to you?
25 A. Coming into the factory, a maximum of two hours again.
26
27 Q. Do all suppliers have these hydraulically equipped lorries
28 or not?
29 A. Unfortunately not, but I must say it is increasing. As
30 the lorries are being changed, everyone is changing to the
31 rise and fall lifts.
32
33 Q. Going on with your outdoor pigs for the moment, when they
34 get into the finishing unit they are grown on to, I think,
35 about 90 kilos before they are slaughtered; is that
36 correct?
37 A. That is correct.
38
39 Q. How far are the finishing units from the slaughterhouse?
40 A. Again all under two hours.
41
42 Q. How long does it take to grow a pig on from 40 to 90 kilos?
43 A. From 40 to 90 kilos, about 10 or 11 weeks, something of
44 that nature.
45
46 Q. Ten or eleven weeks?
47 A. Yes.
48
49 Q. So, we have gone from 12, so they would be about 23, 24
50 weeks ---
51 A. 22 or 23 weeks.
52
53 Q. -- 22 or 23 weeks by the time they are killed?
54 A. Yes.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Plus just, it is a quibble really, but you
57 have three weeks or so before the 12 weeks plus the 10 or
58 11, so you have 25 or 26 weeks old, the ones which go
59 outside when weaned. Does that sound right or have the
60 sums gone wrong somewhere?
