Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 29


     
     1        A.  They have access, ad-lib access, to food.
     2        They eat what they want to eat.  They are not forced to eat
     3        anything.  They are not forced to overeat, as you put it.
     4
     5   Q.   But they would eat less if the lights were off at night?
     6        A.  What we have found by switching the lights off is that
     7        birds will just tend to eat more while the lights are on,
     8        and then they do not eat while the lights go off, but the
     9        daily consumption remains the same.
    10
    11   Q.   So you do not think that the chickens in the broiler houses
    12        have a tendency to get fat or a potential to get fat?
    13        A.  They have that potential but because we kill them at
    14        the age that we do, they have not put on excess fat at that
    15        stage.
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  May I just ask a question about that?  The
    18        choice of age when the birds are killed, is that entirely
    19        because the growth rate tends to level off, or is it also
    20        partly because as they continue to grow the meat will get
    21        fattier or the bird will get fatter?
    22        A.  No, it is really limited by what the consumer actually
    23        wants, the size of bird that the consumer wants.  So, most
    24        consumers would be looking for a bird to go to
    25        supermarkets, or whatever, which would weigh in the order
    26        of four or five pounds.  The industry has been developed
    27        really to produce a bird which is the right size for the
    28        consumer.
    29
    30   Q.   But that, obviously, does not apply to meat which is
    31        processed into Nuggets or something of that kind?
    32        A.  No.
    33
    34   Q.   But the Nugget market, or whatever, follows the general
    35        trend of four to five pounds, does it?
    36        A.  Yes.  For deboned meat we like to grow the birds for a
    37        bit longer so that they are up to six, six-and-a-half
    38        pounds to 3 kilo level that we talked about.  That seems to
    39        be an ideal age to take the meat off the carcass.  But you
    40        do have to remember that there are other factors, retail
    41        factors which have to be taken into account when
    42        determining that age.
    43
    44        So, for example, if we are taking breast meat off a bird,
    45        the drum sticks will be sold as a package to a supermarket
    46        who require a certain size of drum stick.  That, if you
    47        like, by-product is a very important part of the business
    48        package that we have to take into account.  So, we would
    49        not be able to just grow huge birds just because that -----
    50 
    51   Q.   The answer is that the age of killing is not related to 
    52        either a leveling off at the rate of growth or a 
    53        heightening of the element of fat at somewhere around 42
    54        days or 52 to 53 days?
    55        A.  No, those are not, really, the major considerations at
    56        that time.
    57
    58   MS. STEEL:  Sun Valley does not do whole chickens any more, does
    59        it?  It is not in that business?
    60        A.  That is correct.

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