Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 31
1 light levels sufficient to allow all birds to see and be
2 seen clearly. We consider that a suitable average light
3 intensity is likely to be at least 20 lux throughout the
4 house at bird eye height and the industry should be
5 encouraged to adopt this level of illuminance; the absolute
6 lowest average light intensity which is acceptable to the
7 Council is 10 lux and this minimum should be introduced
8 immediately." Did you agree with this "suitable average
9 light intensity is likely to be at least 20 lux"?
10 A. Yes, I do not have any problem with anything that that
11 paragraph says.
12
13 Q. So why do you not increase the light intensity at Sun
14 Valley?
15 A. Well, when I say the average is probably 10 to 20, we
16 do -- we do not regard the actual lux level as the most
17 important factor. The most important factor is the
18 behaviour of the birds and the way that they feed and drink
19 and carry out their normal activities. I would say at Sun
20 Valley we are working on at least 20 lux already, and I am
21 just saying that I have absolutely no difficulty complying
22 with anything that that paragraph is saying.
23
24 Q. On several occasions you have said between 10 and 20.
25 A. It is not something that we measure. If you remember,
26 in Dr. Gregory's evidence he actually said that when he
27 went into the house at Sun Valley it was a lot lighter than
28 he was used to seeing in the industry as a whole.
29
30 Q. Yes.
31 A. And that would be fairly typical of a Sun Valley
32 house. We did not do anything different there.
33
34 Q. But you have said that the lights can be switched up for
35 inspections?
36 A. They can.
37
38 Q. You have said on several occasions that the lux was between
39 10 and 20. Why do you not have a minimum of 20 in your
40 specifications?
41 A. Well, maybe we could if there was an advantage. There
42 is no particular problem with that.
43
44 Q. It is suggested that it could reduce leg problems, it
45 simulates activities and that would reduce leg problems?
46 A. As I said yesterday, we are doing a great deal of work
47 looking at the relationship of light levels and light
48 patterns to the incidence of leg problems and that work is
49 going on all the time. So, we are looking at different
50 levels, we are looking at different periods of light and
51 dark and we are recording the differences. This is really
52 as a result of research work that has been done in Canada
53 and then subsequently picked up in this report as showing
54 potential benefits.
55
56 Q. There are advantages to using lower light levels, are
57 there?
58 A. There are no advantages to us of using low light levels
59 for broilers.
60
