Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 14


     
     1        extremity I know.  Now we are arguing about what the
     2        article says or does not say.  It is ridiculous, I say with
     3        the greatest possible respect.
     4
     5   MS. STEEL:   The only reason I have pursued that is because it
     6        seems that Dr. Gonzalez thinks that he can attribute
     7        behaviour to chickens but nobody else is allowed to
     8        attribute the reasons for that behaviour.
     9
    10   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I will listen as attentively to any witness
    11        you call, as I have done to Dr. Gomez.  I think maybe at
    12        the end of the day I am entitled to take my own experience
    13        about foul of various kinds going high at night.  A fox
    14        walks underneath them rather than over them.
    15
    16   MS. STEEL:  It is not that I particularly want to dispute it.
    17        It is just the point he is attributing -----
    18
    19   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Try not to get bogged down into the article,
    20        if I might suggest.  Put your contention ---
    21
    22   MS. STEEL (To the witness):  Would you accept ---
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  -- to Dr. Gomez.
    25
    26   MS. STEEL:   --"chickens are inquisitive animals and will
    27        closely investigate anything new in their environment"?
    28        A.  It goes back again by instinct or by the species
    29        itself, they do not know what feed is.  They go pick into
    30        everything.  They do not know what food is.
    31
    32   Q.   So you would agree with that?
    33        A.  I agree with what is there, not the frame in which you
    34        put it.
    35
    36   Q.   Would you agree:  "Hens like to work for their food.  Even
    37        if food is readily available, hens choose to spend a large
    38        part of their day exploring for food and scratching and
    39        pecking at the ground"?
    40        A.  No, I do not agree with that.
    41
    42   Q.   Why not?
    43        A.  Because chickens do not -- I have never seen a chicken
    44        that like to work for their food.  If you give them a good
    45        food on one place, they pick on it and they stay there.  If
    46        that food does not satisfy the feed, they look for
    47        something else.
    48
    49   Q.   Earlier on you said:  "I do not know what their feed is,
    50        they peck around for it in lots of different places"? 
    51        A.  Yes, but once they find it, they stay with it.  If you 
    52        ever seen a growing house, you will see that chickens once 
    53        they find their feed they will stay there for it and eat
    54        every single day.
    55
    56   Q.   Would you accept:  "Chickens are very social animals and
    57        form tight social groups"?
    58        A.  Yes, I do.
    59
    60   Q.   Would you accept:  "Groups of birds tend to dust-bathe (a

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