Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 53
1
2 Q. They are they not restrained in any way?
3 A. No way.
4
5 Q. Has that always been the case?
6 A. Yes, with plenty of straw so they do not slip.
7
8 Q. How many breeding units are there? First of the outdoor
9 type?
10 A. Seven.
11
12 Q. Seven?
13 A. Seven.
14
15 Q. How many sows would there be in each of those?
16 A. It varies.
17
18 Q. Between what and what?
19 A. 350 to 1,000.
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21 Q. The indoor breeding units, how many of those were there?
22 A. Three.
23
24 Q. Three? How many sows would there be in each of those?
25 A. From again 350 to 1,100. May I say at this point, sir,
26 that if my figures do not quite concur with my original
27 statement, we have continued to progress. I am talking
28 about my written statement.
29
30 Q. So have the numbers gone up or down?
31 A. They have gone up.
32
33 Q. They have gone up?
34 A. Yes, over the years.
35
36 Q. For both indoor and outdoor?
37 A. Not indoor, only by 100, that is all, and outdoor, yes
38 we have gone up.
39
40 Q. So the indoor breeding units, they are divided into rooms,
41 are they?
42 A. I will try and explain to you what we classify as "a
43 unit". A unit is the enclosed area and I will take one of
44 say where my brother lives where there are 450 sows. That
45 is on old traditional farm building which has been used for
46 production of sows with a farm around it, farm land around
47 it, and that unit is totally enclosed from the rest of the
48 farm and then there would be the sows, the farrowing house,
49 and the dry sow house, and the wheat strawed weaner pens,
50 and that is what we call "a unit", that is a weaner
51 production unit.
52 Then we have a "finishing unit" where the weaners go to.
53 Again that would be on a farm in traditional Suffolk
54 buildings or barns, and those pigs will be in straw
55 finished units there, again with ample land for the
56 disposal of the muck.
57
58 Q. When you say traditional units, traditional farm buildings,
59 you are not talking about a pig sty and a run, you are not
60 talking about that kind of tradition, you are talking about
