Day 288 - 28 Oct 96 - Page 34
1 MS. STEEL: For the last couple of weeks. I mean, I object to
2 the whole process, but particularly the last couple of
3 weeks.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Why, I know but ----
6
7 MS. STEEL: For the male ones, it is more than the last couple
8 of weeks.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, I appreciate from what you told me
11 before that you -- I could see you were going to say that
12 the males and females have a period when you say they are
13 stocked too densely and then the males have a period later
14 on when they are stocked too densely. But you are saying
15 that is for a couple of weeks, are you, rather than a few
16 days?
17
18 MS. STEEL: Yes. Well, I mean, I say it is for their whole
19 lives, but certainly, bearing in mind the fact that there
20 is 10 days between when the female chickens are taken out
21 and the males are on their own, there is 10 days then, then
22 I mean, certainly the entire -- yes, over three weeks for
23 the males.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But, I mean, that is what you say. I can see
26 your point that for a period up until the females are
27 taken, you say they are stocked very densely. Then I had
28 understood it that the females are taken out, the partition
29 is taken out and so the males then have more room, but they
30 are growing all the time over the next 10 days so that for
31 a period towards the end of their lives you say they are
32 too densely stocked. I know you say the whole business of
33 keeping them in these sheds is awful anyway, but are you
34 really complaining about the stocking density save in the
35 last few days to 42 days and then the last few days to 52
36 days?
37
38 MS. STEEL: Well, I don't know. I mean, really my complaint is
39 about the whole process, not just the end of it anyway. So
40 perhaps it does not really matter.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Dr. Gregory, I have not looked up. He said
43 he would prefer a stocking density which I think was about
44 two-thirds of the present one. I have forgotten the exact
45 numbers now.
46
47 MS. STEEL: I cannot remember.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Anyway, there we are.
50
51 MS. STEEL: There was a reference, Dr. Patteson did say that at
52 the end of the fifth week the average bird weighs about 1.6
53 kilograms, and that was on day 90, page 21, line 55.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Which day again?
56
57 MS. STEEL: Day 90.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Which page?
60
