Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 50


     
     1   Q.   So, on a hot day they would be travelling along and it
     2        would be open to the air?
     3        A.  Yes.
     4
     5   Q.   I take it these cages are not solid?
     6        A.  That is right.  We do find it an advantage to keep the
     7        sides open so that the air can circulate as the lorry goes
     8        along.
     9
    10   Q.   What is the furthest distance any of these chickens has to
    11        travel from a growing shed to the plant?
    12        A.  From the growing shed to the plant is about 70 miles,
    13        I think, is our furthest farm.
    14
    15   Q.   What is the average distance?
    16        A.  The average distance is about 25 to 30, I believe.
    17
    18   Q.   I will ask you a question in a moment about the incidence
    19        of birds dead on arrival, but have you been able to judge
    20        whether or not the length of the journey has an effect on
    21        the mortality rate on arrival?
    22        A.  We have done work on that in the past, and when we had
    23        a processing factory at Brackley in Northamptonshire the
    24        birds did have a longer journey and they had a longer
    25        waiting time, and there is no doubt that there is a
    26        correlation, particularly, if the weather conditions are
    27        not ideal.
    28
    29   Q.   Does extreme cold have the same adverse effect on birds as
    30        extreme heat?
    31        A.  It does not.  We never find we have any problems from
    32        chilling.  The system that we have seems to conserve body
    33        heat pretty well if we need to, and as long as we use
    34        sheeting to stop the birds getting wet, then that is very
    35        important.
    36
    37   Q.   Can chickens get hypothermia?
    38        A.  Yes, they can.  They are like any animal, they can do.
    39
    40   Q.   But this is not a problem in practice?
    41        A.  But it is not a problem in transporting these birds.
    42
    43   Q.   What is the percentage of birds which are found to be dead
    44        on arrival at the plant?
    45        A.  The average level for our plant is .15 to .17 per cent.
    46
    47   Q.   How many chickens in a day are transported from growing
    48        sheds to the plant overall?
    49        A.  In a day it would be about 170,000 birds.
    50 
    51   Q.   When they get to the plant how is the unloading achieved? 
    52        A.  The lorry drives into what we call an arrival area 
    53        which is the equivalent of a lairage, and the modules are
    54        unloaded using the same type of forklift trucks and the
    55        modules are stacked in rows in the arrival area, and they
    56        are laid out in rows so that we can actually position them
    57        so that fans blow air between the rows of modules
    58        and  ------
    59
    60   MR. MORRIS:  Can we just ask for one minute?  Can we have a

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