Day 019 - 27 Jul 94 - Page 70
1 A. Do you mean stunned instantaneously, because if you
hold 120 milliamps on for three to four seconds, our
2 experience, based on laboratory experiments, you will stun
all birds.
3
Q. But instantaneously?
4 A. I would have to go back to the figures. I would be
giving a guesstimate. You will find the majority of birds
5 will be instantaneously stunned, but there will be a
proportion which will not be.
6
MR. JUSTICE BELL: That proportion varies between something
7 less than instantaneous and something just before the end
of four seconds?
8 A. That is right, yes, as you prolong the current
application, the prevalence of the stunning goes up.
9
MS. STEEL: At a hundred milliamps is it right that less than
10 80 per cent are likely to be instantaneously stunned?
A. I honestly would be guessing to give you the answers.
11 We have the information. It is tabulated back in the
laboratory. I do not carry the information up in my
12 head. I am sorry.
13 Q. When the birds are in the water bath, roughly how long are
they in the water bath?
14 A. This may not be given in the report. It was mentioned
-- sorry, it was measured. The usual duration in poultry
15 plants is around four seconds. To my recollection, Sun
Valley was not unusual.
16
Q. I think there was some mention yesterday about uneven
17 current in the bath, was there? Was there some mention
yesterday about uneven current in the bath?
18 A. Was there? No.
19 Q. If not, it may be -- do you know whether the current was
even throughout the bath?
20 A. A lot depends as to the design of the water bath
stunner, as to whether you get an even distribution of
21 current along its length. At the bottom of the water bath
you have a metal plate and the current is going to take
22 the line of least resistance. The birds, as they enter
the water bath, if that metal plate does not extend to the
23 whole length of the bath, if it does not, then they will
get increasing current as they are drawn nearer to the
24 plate, then it will decrease again as they are drawn away
from the plate.
25
So there can be uneven distribution of current along,
26 according to the length of the bath. Now, at Sun Valley,
during the visit in April, they had a metal plate which
27 extended the whole length of the bath. This was a
purposeful design feature.
28
Q. What about in February?
29 A. I cannot recollect. Please ask Mark Pattison.
30 Q. If we look at your report --
A. What number, letter?
