Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 20
1 years ago.
2
3 Q. 10 years ago?
4 A. Yes.
5
6 Q. The shed that Dr. Gregory visited was stocked with roughly
7 twice as many male birds as female?
8 A. Yes.
9
10 Q. Is that the standard practice?
11 A. The standard practice, as I said yesterday, is we have
12 a partition in the house which is probably about one-third
13 of the way down the house and the females are on the
14 smaller side, the males on the larger side, again in
15 proportion to the number of birds in the house. Then the
16 females are taken out at 42 days and the males get the
17 whole space.
18
19 Q. Roughly, what are the proportions of male and females birds
20 that go in the sheds?
21 A. As a general rule, it is two-thirds to one-third.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: So Dr. Gregory, what he observed was pretty
24 typical, was it?
25 A. That is correct.
26
27 Q. Is there a system for moving the partition up or down the
28 shed?
29 A. No, the partition stays in the same place all the
30 time.
31
32 MS. STEEL: An average female, you said, goes to slaughter at
33 the weight of two kilograms; is that right?
34 A. That is correct.
35
36 Q. And the average male at three kilograms?
37 A. That is correct.
38
39 Q. How much on average do the males weigh at 42 days?
40 A. At 42 days they weigh just over two kilos.
41
42 Q. Right.
43 A. Probably about 2.2 kilos.
44
45 Q. Are they round about the same weight as the female ones?
46 A. No, they are a little bit heavier.
47
48 Q. In their last 10 days then the males put on, what, between
49 .8 of a kilogram and a kilogram?
50 A. I should think it is about .7 of a kilo, .8 of a kilo.
51
52 Q. So at 52 days the stocking density is going to be more or
53 less the same as at 42 days?
54 A. It will be nearly as much, probably not quite as much.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Shall we take a five-minute break?
57
58 (Short Adjournment)
59
60 MS. STEEL: Towards the end of their lives the chickens in your
