Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 61
1
2 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, actually he said six per cent for 52 days
3 and, I think, four per cent for 42 days, to be perfectly
4 accurate.
5
6 MS. STEEL: Was that right?
7 A. Yes, that is correct.
8
9 Q. So the mortality increases as the birds get heavier?
10 A. The mortality increases, that is right.
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is not just the males are less tough
13 than females?
14 A. Well, I think the mortality in the male bird is higher
15 than the female bird, so there is a sex related effect in
16 this.
17
18 Q. That happens in other species ---
19 A. Yes, it does.
20
21 Q. -- one is more familiar with.
22
23 MS. STEEL: That would mean that after the females have gone a
24 further two to two-and-a-half per cent would die in the
25 last 10 days?
26 A. That is correct.
27
28 Q. That is the figure for the broiler sheds; that is not the
29 figure for the hatcheries?
30 A. No.
31
32 Q. What percentage of birds would be suffering from tibial
33 dyschrondroplasia?
34 A. The proportion over the years has reduced and it is now
35 much less than it used to be. It is a cause of angular
36 deformity. So, really, the bulk of angular deformities
37 that you referred to before would be tibial
38 dyschrondroplasia, so really the answer to your question is
39 the same as the one I gave before.
40
41 Q. Right, and that is something that has gone down within the
42 last five years or so?
43 A. It has.
44
45 Q. What about femoral head necrosis?
46 A. That is the most common condition that we see now. It
47 is an infectious origin and it can be caused by bacteria or
48 virus or a combination of the two, and is the major cause
49 of leg deformity in the UK at the moment.
50
51 Q. So of the 20 birds a day, how many of those would be
52 affected by the femoral head narcosis?
53 A. The majority of birds that we would cull for reasons of
54 leg problems would have femoral head necrosis.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: When you have mentioned leg problems as a
57 result of infectious diseases, or any of the other
58 conditions you have mentioned, apart from the angular bone
59 disorders which you have said was generally genetic, to
60 what extent, if at all, can you relate any susceptibility
