Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 22


     
     1        breeding stock which we buy as day old chicks from the
     2        primary breeding company which in our case is Ross or the
     3        Cobb breeding company in the UK.  The broiler breed itself
     4        was derived, it is a hybrid derived from a number of
     5        original breeds such as the New Hampshire, the Plymouth
     6        Rock, the Rhode Island Red.  Those are the three basic
     7        breeds that have gone into make up the modern hybrid.
     8
     9   Q.   The modern hybrid is, therefore, an American; is that
    10        right?
    11        A.  He is mostly American.
    12
    13   Q.   He or she is bred, the modern hybrid, for meat?
    14        A.  Yes, they are bred for their meat.
    15
    16   Q.   For their yield?
    17        A.  Yes.
    18
    19   Q.   In meat, not eggs?
    20        A.  They are bred for their meat, but also you have to
    21        remember that breeding stock do have to lay eggs, so they
    22        have male lines which are selected for meat production and
    23        female lines which are selected for egg production.
    24
    25   Q.   It was suggested recently -- I cannot remember to whom or
    26        in what circumstances in this court -- that the breeding
    27        parents are kept in a state of, well, I call it deprivation
    28        so far as food supply is concerned; is that right?
    29        A.  The food did not, the amount of food given to Broiler
    30        breeders is rationed at certain times of their development
    31        simply to stop them putting on too much weight.
    32
    33   Q.   Why should they not put on too much weight?
    34        A.  Because they are of a broiler strain, they do have the
    35        potential for putting on weight and also for getting fat.
    36
    37   Q.   Why does that matter?
    38        A.  It matters because egg production ultimately is
    39        affected if a bird is too fat.
    40
    41   Q.   Does this reduced diet -- can we call it that?
    42        A.  Yes.
    43
    44   Q.   -- does this reduced diet have, in your opinion, any
    45        welfare implications so far as the breeding parents are
    46        concerned?
    47        A.  I believe it does not.  I think we are actually, it is
    48        equally cruel to overfeed an animal if it has the potential
    49        to get fat.  If you look at these birds, they are fit,
    50        active, they have nice, glossy feathers, bright eye, they 
    51        usually have very low mortality.  All these, I think, are 
    52        indications that their welfare is being catered for. 
    53
    54   Q.   I am going to come to legs in a moment, but is it right
    55        that at present one consequence of breeding birds for
    56        weight is that it may induce leg problems at some later
    57        stage in their life?
    58        A.  This is correct, and it is something that the breeding
    59        companies do have to work very hard at to avoid the
    60        increase in genetically induced leg abnormalities.

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