Day 115 - 06 Apr 95 - Page 42
1 it and some of the modern sheds would be a little bit
2 better.
3
4 Q. So was there a particular problem with the older sheds
5 then?
6 A. The older sheds had a greater problem because of the,
7 as they would say, it is to do with the air conditioning,
8 self-venting and they said or they would say they cannot
9 get the sawdust dried out so quick, and the older sheds had
10 soil based floors, not concrete floors, where in soil base
11 it was always wet because it never ever dried out.
12
13 Q. Was the environment/index.html">litter or parts of it ever flooded?
14 A. Yes, with the drinkers that broke or the chickens had
15 flapped or spooked and knocked the drinkers over, and there
16 would be floods in the shed, new and old.
17
18 Q. How often did that occur? How often did you see that?
19 A. On numerous of occasions, at least twice or three times
20 a week.
21
22 Q. Usually, did that affect the whole of the shed or was it
23 just part of the shed?
24 A. It is part of the shed. If there was a what we would
25 call a massive flood, it would sort of cover a quarter of
26 the shed and out into your tracks where you wanted to go.
27
28 Q. But that would be rarer, would it?
29 A. It would, yes. The sheds was always wet and while I
30 was there they had this problem with Gumboro which made
31 conditions more difficult of keeping sheds cleaner and
32 drier.
33
34 Q. Did the conditions in the shed improve during the time that
35 you were working for Sun Valley?
36 A. To the latter end of my days at Sun Valley, yes, it did
37 get better because they was building new sheds and the old
38 sheds they were trying to do away with. I would say that
39 there was more bad sheds than there was good sheds.
40
41 Q. I am not sure if I have missed anything out. Apart from
42 the conditions of the environment/index.html">litter, was there anything that you
43 remember about the conditions that the birds were in that
44 it is important to say, if there is not, then do not
45 worry.
46 A. It is just the way it was kept, really, because some of
47 the sheds at the latter end of my days were good and some
48 of the sheds should never have been allowed to be keeping
49 chickens in any way.
50
51 I can remember one place, in particular, called Thomas and
52 Monkland(?) where the fibre glass was hanging in the shed,
53 water running continuously. Whenever they was approached
54 about this farm, "Oh, yes, we will get it sorted". That
55 went on for four years and it was never ever sorted until
56 the day I left there.
57
58 Q. When you started at Sun Valley were you given any training
59 in how to catch and handle the birds?
60 A. None whatsoever. You went for your interview. If you
