Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 69
1
2 Q. You owe something better more to the pig than to the sow
3 than that?
4 A. Absolutely, because in the stalls ----
5
6 Q. Because you think it is physically uncomfortable to the
7 pig?
8 A. In the stalls there is normally not any straw and we
9 believe that straw is a natural element that a pig enjoys
10 whenever it can have the opportunity to play with it, rout
11 in it, rest on it and the stall and tether both deny them
12 that pleasure.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Thank you.
15
16 MS. STEEL: That would also be true of the farrowing crate?
17 A. Yes, for a sow to be -- it is necessary one has to take
18 into account the wellbeing of the young piglet in the
19 farrowing crate, and on our farms all our farrowing crates
20 are strawed; that is what we consider the best welfare for
21 an indoor production unit one can have.
22
23 Q. But you could have all the sows outside in outdoor breeding
24 units, and you would not have that?
25 A. There is the problem of it being, as I have expressed
26 before, a much more expensive system, and there is only a
27 limited market for the sale of that product.
28
29 Q. Right.
30 A. So that is rather restrictive on the practice of
31 outdoor pig production.
32
33 Q. How long after the piglets are taken away from the sow
34 would the sow be mated again?
35 A. How long after she has been weaned?
36
37 Q. Yes.
38 A. Three days she will go to the bore, or three days
39 after, shall I say.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I did misunderstand you this morning because
42 Mr. Rampton put it to you that a sow could farrow then
43 three times or more a year, whereas I had understood you
44 said that yours only farrowed twice a year?
45 A. Yes, sir.
46
47 Q. I had, rightly or wrongly, drawn the inference that there
48 were lay periods -- call them what you will -- when the sow
49 was relieved of conception and farrowing?
50 A. In years gone by it was a practice that when pigs were
51 weaned eight weeks, sometimes 12 weeks, and I said
52 sometimes five weeks, that sometimes the bore would be put
53 to the sow three days after it has peaked, after it has
54 given birth, because again it comes on heat and you can get
55 a sowing pig at that time. So, there were practices years
56 ago that were not quite so considerate as they are today.
57
58 Q. So, in the sow there is no natural conception or element of
59 contraception or element of possible contraception in being
60 suckled?
