Day 092 - 27 Feb 95 - Page 70
1
2 Q. Chickens indoors that are kept in intensively reared
3 systems suffer from more leg problems, do they not, than
4 chickens reared outdoors?
5 A. That could be. Again, it depends on what is more
6 intensive. That could be the case, but you have to look at
7 the entire picture, the entire physical condition of the
8 bird and say, OK, which birds have more problems,
9 physiological problems, if you want to, on the indoor or
10 outdoors. Those on the outdoors are more susceptible to
11 less physical conditions than those that are indoors.
12
13 Q. Those that are indoors have more leg problems than the ones
14 that are outdoors, do they not? That is a fact, is it not?
15 A. They could.
16
17 Q. They do?
18 A. They could, yes. It depends on the ----
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just answer Ms. Steel's question. Maybe you
21 accept what she is putting to you. Maybe you disagree with
22 it. Maybe you do not know, but what you are being asked is
23 do chicken broilers which are raised indoors suffer more
24 leg problems than those who are reared outdoors?
25 A. OK.
26
27 Q. First of all. Then you may be asked why it is and you may
28 say the ones outdoors suffer other things, but answer that
29 question first of all.
30 A. In general you could make that assumption.
31
32 Q. If I want a few hens to scratch around my farmyard
33 somewhere in the mid-west, could I get hold of the same
34 breed as Tysons and Cargill use for broilers or are they
35 pretty exclusive to them?
36 A. No. You probably get something else. Those breeds are
37 designed for the conditions in which they are going to be
38 raised.
39
40 MR. MORRIS: The chickens that are in broiler sheds I believe,
41 and I may be countered by Mr. Rampton I am sure if I have
42 made a mistake, Mr. Pattison agreed that the leg problems
43 would get worse the longer they lived and the heavier they
44 got?
45 A. That is correct.
46
47 Q. Yes. So, if you decided that, for example, in the
48 interests of animal welfare you felt it was fairer to let
49 the birds live a longer time than six to seven weeks when
50 they have hardly really started, could you with this
51 particular breed that you are using let those birds live
52 to, say, a year old?
53 A. Yes, you can.
54
55 Q. Could you do that?
56 A. Yes.
57
58 Q. But when would the leg problems get really acute? It has
59 already had something like one per cent being killed for
60 leg problems. Would that increase?
