Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 19


     
     1   Q.   So if once in a month it fails, we are talking about
     2        something like three per cent of the time of using this
     3        process it has not worked successfully.  For the sake of a
     4        few seconds -- you say it takes 45 seconds or something --
     5        why have you not done something to make sure that the
     6        process works effectively?
     7        A.  The process, I made a guess that once a month the
     8        process may not be, may still allow some chicks to be
     9        showing movement.  That is only a guess.  The obvious thing
    10        is to gas chicks in small batches which I said should be no
    11        more than 100, and that the process can very easily be,
    12        very quickly be repeated if it has not been effective.
    13        I mean, it takes no longer, really, whether -- it makes no
    14        difference whether the exposure to gas is 45 seconds or two
    15        minutes.  It really does not make a great deal of
    16        difference.  It is just a matter of taking care and taking
    17        trouble to do the job properly.
    18
    19   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If your figures were right, it is about one
    20        in every 3,000 chicks who showed some sign of movement?
    21        A.  Yes, if the figures are correct.
    22
    23   MR. MORRIS:  You said "some chicks will be showing movement";
    24        you did not say only one chick, but that may indicate that
    25        others may not be dead because movement is obviously one
    26        sign?
    27        A.  It is the only criteria we can really use for small
    28        creatures like that, to indicate whether they are alive or
    29        not.
    30
    31   MS. STEEL:  The trucks that transport the chicks, you said that
    32        they hold 20,000 chicks.  How big are the trays that hold
    33        the chicks?
    34        A.  The trays would measure probably three feet by 18
    35        inches.
    36
    37   Q.   How high are they?
    38        A.  They are about eight inches high.
    39
    40   Q.   So how many of those are there on the lorries,
    41        transporters?
    42        A.  Well, each tray holds about 150 chicks, so you can work
    43        it out from that.
    44
    45   Q.   You do not know?
    46        A.  I have not got a calculator with me.
    47
    48   Q.   It works out as 133 which sounds like an unlikely number of
    49        trays to have on a lorry.
    50        A.  Well, I am just ..... 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It would be about 130, would it not? 
    53        A.  That sounds about right to me.
    54
    55   Q.   133 is .3333.
    56
    57   MS. STEEL:  You said, moving on to the broiler shed themselves,
    58        that farming the birds, the separate sexes separately, was
    59        introduced a few years ago.  When was that?
    60        A.  The sexing procedure became standard practice about 10

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