Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 45


     
     1
     2   MS. STEEL:  Does capping of environment/index.html">litter ever occur at Sun Valley?
     3        A.  Capping of environment/index.html">litter can occur, and it should be dealt
     4        with by putting fresh environment/index.html">litter on the top and forking gently.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What is capping, a hard surface?
     7        A.  Capping is just a hard surface, yes.
     8
     9   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, it is a fairly peaceful afternoon and I
    10        do not want to disrupt that, but if we have left barley and
    11        it is in due course to be suggested by Ms. Steel, or any of
    12        her witnesses, that the use of barley in the feed is
    13        inimical to animal welfare, whether before the advent of
    14        enzyme usage or after, then it needs to be put to
    15        Dr. Pattison.
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I had not understood that it was.
    18
    19   MS. STEEL:  No, it was not being put at all.
    20
    21   MR. RAMPTON:  I do not understand the purpose of the
    22        cross-examination in that case.  We had, I think, ten
    23        minutes on barley.
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I had taken the significance of barley to be
    26        that, since you have been able to give more, you have been
    27        able to improve the quality of the environment/index.html">litter, and that has
    28        been over -- what was it, the last two or three years?
    29        A.  Certainly about four years, yes.
    30
    31   MS. STEEL:  If the environment/index.html">litter becomes capped, it basically becomes
    32        useless as environment/index.html">litter, does it not?  It becomes hard and
    33        greasy?
    34        A.  Yes, that can happen, although it will tend to break
    35        down gradually as well.  There is usually a good reason why
    36        it has become capped.  The cause of the capping has to be
    37        determined and rectified.
    38
    39   Q.   What has been the cause of the capping when that has
    40        happened at Sun Valley then?
    41        A.  Usually a drinker spillage.
    42
    43   Q.   It can also be caused by feeding back the remains of dead
    44        poultry?
    45        A.  Well, greasy droppings would not normally be associated
    46        directly with feeding poultry meal.  Greasy droppings can
    47        occur for a number of reasons, but more commonly it is
    48        through feeding excess saturated animal fats than feeding
    49        poultry meal.
    50 
    51   Q.   Has that been the cause of the problems on some occasions 
    52        at Sun Valley? 
    53        A.  I would say that greasy environment/index.html">litter in the past has been
    54        related to using too much animal fat, saturated fat, the
    55        sort of tallow that you would get from rendering plants,
    56        and there is a very definite finite limit to the amount of
    57        that product that you should use.
    58
    59   Q.   So do your new specifications take that into account?
    60        A.  Yes, they do.

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