Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 30


     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Mr. Rampton, you did not deal with the
     2        killing of slaughter weight chickens or those at some
     3        intermediate stage ---
     4
     5   MR. RAMPTON:  It might be convenient to do it now.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  -- at Sun Valley.  As you have gone on to
     8        transport, maybe you were going to come to it later.
     9
    10   MR. RAMPTON:  I was trying to do the chronology in the bird's
    11        life.  My Lord, I make no objection.  (To the witness):
    12        What about birds that have to be -----
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am sorry, yes, by all means go on.  You are
    15        talking about transport to the growing shed.  It is a
    16        complete lapse on my part.  I thought you were talking
    17        about transport away.  Just carry on in the chronological
    18        order.
    19
    20   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I will interpose it there because I shall
    21        not then have to come back to it.
    22        (To the witness):  How are the birds that are at any
    23        further stage in the process needed to be culled and
    24        disposed of, how are they killed?
    25        A.  Birds on the farm are culled by neck dislocation which
    26        again is a standard procedure which people are taught how
    27        to do.
    28
    29   Q.   That we saw also in the MAFF guideline as being appropriate
    30        in the case of small numbers of birds?
    31        A.  That is correct.
    32
    33   Q.   Is it a difficult thing to do?
    34        A.  No, it is not difficult.
    35
    36   Q.   So far as you know, is it effective?
    37        A.  It is very effective.
    38
    39   Q.   While we are on it, just so we can close it down, as it
    40        were, what are the sorts of reasons why a decision will be
    41        taken to cull and kill a bird in a shed?
    42        A.  It is part of ordinary stockmanship that if there are
    43        birds which for some reason are not growing, they are very
    44        small, or maybe the bird got its leg caught in a feeder so
    45        it has gone lame, it is some sort of accident like that,
    46        the bird would normally be culled humanely just as part of
    47        the management procedure.
    48
    49   Q.   I do not how you prefer to express this; are you able to do
    50        a percentage in a 42 or 50 day period of the birds which 
    51        have to be culled like this? 
    52        A.  The normal mortality would be, say, if we are taking 
    53        the birds to 52 days, the average mortality is around six
    54        to 6.5 per cent.  A proportion of those birds would be
    55        culled, perhaps one per cent.
    56
    57   Q.   What about the mortality up to 42 days?
    58        A.  Mortality to 42 days is normally about four per cent.
    59
    60   Q.   Does the same sort of proportion apply between culling and

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