Day 288 - 28 Oct 96 - Page 43


     
     1        the system shown in the photograph was that birds could get
     2        into it which he described as basically unhygenic because
     3        if they drop their droppings in it it contaminates the feed
     4        for the rest of the birds, which could result in the spread
     5        of disease.
     6
     7        On the point that I was on just a few minutes ago about the
     8        use of enzymes in the feed and the improvements that that
     9        led to in the quality of the environment/index.html">litter on the floor of the
    10        sheds, Dr. Patteson said on day 90, page 43, line 43, that
    11        the use of enzymes started about four years ago.  On day
    12        90, page 42, I was asking questions about what was in the
    13        feed for the poultry, and we were going through a list of
    14        the ingredients and referring to growth promoters.  Dr.
    15        Patteson says that the growth promoters normally used in
    16        the Sun Valley poultry feed were zinc, bacitracin, then
    17        Virginia Mycin.
    18
    19   MR JUSTICE BELL:  Say them again.  Give them to me slowly.
    20
    21   MS. STEEL:   Zinc, Bacitracin, then Virginia Mycin, and then the
    22        third one is Avo Parcin; and he said that they are the same
    23        ones that have been used for a number of years and that
    24        they were antibiotic compounds, in that they were derived
    25        originally from microbial organisms.  He said: "Their
    26        purpose is as growth promoters, and they also help to
    27        improve digestion.  That is part of the way that they
    28        actually work."
    29
    30        He said also, on day 90, page 43, at the top of the
    31        page: "The birds would be fed them from arrival until five
    32        days before slaughter when the birds are put on to a
    33        withdrawal diet which does not contain any Coccidiostat or
    34        growth promoters" -- which was a compound to prevent the
    35        development of Cocciliosis.
    36
    37        Shortly after this, at line 21, I asked him: "The use of
    38        these growth promoters it is thought may contribute to leg
    39        problems by increasing the rate of growth; that is right,
    40        is it not?"  He said that he could not ascribe it directly
    41        to the use of growth promoters.  However, he then went on
    42        to say:  "I think it would be correct to say that there is
    43        a greater chance of leg problems with the faster the
    44        chickens grow."
    45
    46        So, effectively, if they are using the growth promoters to
    47        get the chickens to grow faster, they are encouraging
    48        greater risk of leg problems; not to mention the fact that
    49        we consider that they are highly undesirable things to have
    50        in the food chain. 
    51 
    52        He said that it was correct to say that one consequence of 
    53        breeding birds for their weight is that it may induce leg
    54        problems at some later stage in their life.  That was on
    55        day 89, page 22, line 54.
    56
    57        Obviously, we argue that that is another example of the way
    58        profits are put before welfare considerations.
    59
    60        In terms of the welfare considerations -- sorry.  I am

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