Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 48


     
     1        in the factory will have a small mark of some sort on the
     2        hock and that is a normal, quite a regular feature.
     3
     4   MS. STEEL:   That is the current figures, is it?
     5        A.  That would be our current figures.
     6
     7   Q.   So, prior to the changing of the water system, what would
     8        it have been, 30 per cent or something like that?
     9        A.  We perhaps have had more of that in the past, maybe 20
    10        per cent.
    11
    12   Q.   20 per cent?
    13        A.  But these are small pin point lesions.  These are not
    14        big, gross, black ulcerated lesions.
    15
    16   Q.   What about previously, though?
    17        A.  Well, I am saying about 20 per cent.
    18
    19   Q.   Some of those would have included larger Hock Burns?
    20        A.  You get all degrees, varying degrees, but the larger
    21        ulcerated lesions are much, much rarer than the small pin
    22        point black marks which are more the feature now.
    23
    24   Q.   That is at Sun Valley?
    25        A.  Yes.
    26
    27   Q.   Did you used to have more involvement with the day-to-day
    28        running of individual broiler houses or have you always
    29        been, kind of, overseeing?
    30        A.  The trouble with so many houses is that I cannot
    31        honestly say that I have ever had day-to-day contact.  My
    32        involvement with farms is usually when they have a specific
    33        problem that they want to get sorted out.  So, routine
    34        day-to-day management I do not regard as my normal
    35        responsibility.
    36
    37   Q.   Has it ever been?
    38        A.  No.
    39
    40   Q.   Have the managers ever mentioned the frequency of incidence
    41        of the environment/index.html">litter becoming capped?
    42        A.  Yes.  It is a constant -- I mean, it is a very
    43        important part of management responsibility to ensure that
    44        the environment/index.html">litter remains in good condition.  It would be
    45        something that you would routinely check and discuss with
    46        the manager on a site visit.  If there is anything common
    47         -- like a few years ago, for example, when we recognised
    48        that too much animal fat in the diet could cause greasy
    49        environment/index.html">litter; over a number of units, if you start to see greasy
    50        environment/index.html">litter, you realise that there must be a common cause.  So, 
    51        you go back to the cause which, in fact, in this case was 
    52        the diet, and you make changes.  So, it a constant review 
    53        process.
    54
    55   Q.   That situation was what you found a few years ago before
    56        the diet was changed?
    57        A.  Yes, that is correct.
    58
    59   Q.   How long was it before you found out what the source of the
    60        problem was?  Did it take long to investigate that?

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