Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 32


     
     1
     2   Q.   They were never taken off?
     3        A.  Yes.
     4
     5   Q.   Was the lorry directly outside the shed or what?
     6        A.  It moves, yes, within the farm.
     7
     8   Q.   But, typically, how far away from the shed would it be?
     9        A.  There is no "typical".
    10
    11   Q.   The one you saw, how far away was that parked when it was
    12        being loaded?
    13        A.  There were several houses and it was close to the
    14        house, probably 20 metres.
    15
    16   Q.   How are the chickens loaded into the cages in the middle?
    17        A.  The cages are moved -- let me try to explain this
    18        system again.  On the end of the house there is the people
    19        go in the back and move the chickens towards a funnel.
    20
    21   Q.   Right?
    22        A.  Then they go into a ramp.  The ramp goes -----
    23
    24   Q.   Hold on.  How many people are doing the funneling part?
    25        A.  No -- the funnel is made of, I am not sure if it was
    26        carton or plastic, but it is made into -- it goes from the
    27        back, it goes in, so the people go around and get around
    28        the chickens.  The chickens go there.  At the end of the
    29        tunnel there is a conveyor belt that goes to a ramp.  There
    30        are people there catching these hens, put them in the cages
    31        and put them into the truck -- the ones that are moved.
    32
    33   Q.   What goes on to the conveyor belt?
    34        A.  Oh, the chickens.  It is a wide conveyor belt that is
    35        moving slowly, so the chickens go on there and they move to
    36        a ramp so that there is easy access to the trucks.
    37
    38   Q.   Is there a cage around the conveyor belt?
    39        A.  A what?
    40
    41   Q.   Is there a cage around the conveyor belt?
    42        A.  Around -- no, no.
    43
    44   Q.   So the chickens are just left sitting on the conveyor belt?
    45        A.  They are moving into the conveyor belt.  As they move,
    46        the people who hand pick them, pick them and put them into
    47        the cages.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  How long is the conveyor belt?
    50        A.  Oh, it --- 
    51 
    52   Q.   Or the one you saw? 
    53        A.  -- is small, probably three or four metres maximum, and
    54        about a metre wide.
    55
    56   Q.   So the chickens are picked up twice, in fact?
    57        A.  They move around through the funnel.  They are not
    58        picked in the back, so when they go through the -----
    59
    60   Q.   What, they are sort of herded on to the conveyor, are they?

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