Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 59
1 Q. Together?
2 A. They tend to look after one or two sheds each, and they
3 would all walk the farm as part of their normal duties.
4 There would only be one man walking a shed at a time.
5
6 Q. I see. So, they do not all three do it together, they take
7 it in turns to do the walk over the sheds?
8 A. They walk the sheds separately, individually.
9
10 Q. How long does it take to do a walk round the shed of 25,000
11 birds?
12 A. I suppose it takes three quarters of an hour, something
13 like that.
14
15 MS. STEEL: Would they be doing other things at the same time as
16 that? Are they checking the water and the feed?
17 A. They are checking drinker levels, making sure there are
18 not any drinkers blocked, making sure there are no drinkers
19 over flowing, checking the height of feeders checking
20 whether the fans are working -- all these sorts of the
21 things are done as part of that walk.
22
23 Q. They would be making adjustments if there were any
24 problems?
25 A. That is right.
26
27 Q. How many feeders are there in a shed with 25,000 birds?
28 A. If it is a track feeder like the one you showed in this
29 photograph, it is a continuous feeder. If it is an
30 individual pan feeder, they are spaced at intervals up the
31 house, approximately one every 10 feet.
32
33 Q. Roughly, how many would that be?
34 A. I suppose there would be 200 feeders in a shed,
35 something like that.
36
37 Q. Then what about the water with the old system of the bell
38 drinkers, how many would there be of those in a shed?
39 A. Well, I think it depends on the design of the bell
40 drinker and how big or small it is. I think the
41 arrangement is they allow one drinker to 150 birds,
42 something like that.
43
44 Q. How many ventilation outlets would there be for them to
45 check?
46 A. The fan, there are normally something like 24 fans in a
47 shed.
48
49 Q. So there are actually quite a lot of things for them to
50 check ---
51 A. Yes, there are.
52
53 Q. -- In this three quarters of an hour?
54 A. Yes.
55
56 Q. As well as checking the birds at the same time?
57 A. Yes.
58
59 Q. They cannot really look into the health and welfare of
60 individual birds, can they, unless it is something that is
