Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 40
1 able to, is sufficient to support that stocking density.
2 The MAFF recommendation is based on an average of
3 facilities that are available up and down the country. And
4 also our stocking densities would vary according to winter
5 and summer, so we would reduce that stocking density in the
6 summer because we want to ensure that we do not have losses
7 from heat stress.
8
9 Q. When the chicks arrive, of course, they have bags of space
10 because they are only little things, are they not, like
11 that?
12 A. Yes, yes.
13
14 Q. Having just come out of an egg, they would have to be quite
15 small. But take maximum density, when you have 42 day old
16 females and males all in the same shed, what sort of room
17 for manoeuvre do they actually have?
18 A. Well, for most of their lives as they are growing they
19 have plenty of room to run around and do what they wish.
20 The only time when their movement is somewhat restricted is
21 towards the end of their lives, in the last three or four
22 days. They can still get up, walk around, eat and drink,
23 but they are not able to cover large distances.
24
25 Q. From observation, does this appear to cause them any
26 distress?
27 A. As far as I can tell, it does not cause them any
28 distress whatsoever.
29
30 Q. In the period before they attain maximum weight or nearly
31 maximum weight, when they are smaller and when there is
32 more space, how much flying do they do?
33 A. They do not fly at all.
34
35 Q. What is your understanding of the reason why that is so?
36 A. I think different birds have different requirements for
37 flying. There are some birds that would much rather walk
38 or run than fly. You see this in the wild as well.
39
40 Q. Have you ever seen wild chickens?
41 A. I have certainly -- well, I have seen extensively kept
42 chickens in countries like Thailand and so on where you
43 just see them in farmyards and so on. They are not truly
44 wild, though.
45
46 Q. If they did decide to take a leap into the air into the
47 unknown, is there somewhere where they could land without
48 hitting their other chums?
49 A. It is not something that you really ever see.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Does the wish to fly vary even between the
52 same species?
53 A. I think it can vary enormously. I mean, I think with
54 chickens, the lighter strains of chickens, the egg laying
55 strains, would probably have a greater tendency to fly than
56 the heavy meat types, and it is something I observed with
57 turkeys. Turkeys, actually, although they are quite big
58 birds, they can fly quite a bit which surprises me. Other
59 birds, you know, some birds in the wild prefer to fly, some
60 prefer to walk.
