Day 288 - 28 Oct 96 - Page 43
1 the system shown in the photograph was that birds could get
2 into it which he described as basically unhygenic because
3 if they drop their droppings in it it contaminates the feed
4 for the rest of the birds, which could result in the spread
5 of disease.
6
7 On the point that I was on just a few minutes ago about the
8 use of enzymes in the feed and the improvements that that
9 led to in the quality of the environment/index.html">litter on the floor of the
10 sheds, Dr. Patteson said on day 90, page 43, line 43, that
11 the use of enzymes started about four years ago. On day
12 90, page 42, I was asking questions about what was in the
13 feed for the poultry, and we were going through a list of
14 the ingredients and referring to growth promoters. Dr.
15 Patteson says that the growth promoters normally used in
16 the Sun Valley poultry feed were zinc, bacitracin, then
17 Virginia Mycin.
18
19 MR JUSTICE BELL: Say them again. Give them to me slowly.
20
21 MS. STEEL: Zinc, Bacitracin, then Virginia Mycin, and then the
22 third one is Avo Parcin; and he said that they are the same
23 ones that have been used for a number of years and that
24 they were antibiotic compounds, in that they were derived
25 originally from microbial organisms. He said: "Their
26 purpose is as growth promoters, and they also help to
27 improve digestion. That is part of the way that they
28 actually work."
29
30 He said also, on day 90, page 43, at the top of the
31 page: "The birds would be fed them from arrival until five
32 days before slaughter when the birds are put on to a
33 withdrawal diet which does not contain any Coccidiostat or
34 growth promoters" -- which was a compound to prevent the
35 development of Cocciliosis.
36
37 Shortly after this, at line 21, I asked him: "The use of
38 these growth promoters it is thought may contribute to leg
39 problems by increasing the rate of growth; that is right,
40 is it not?" He said that he could not ascribe it directly
41 to the use of growth promoters. However, he then went on
42 to say: "I think it would be correct to say that there is
43 a greater chance of leg problems with the faster the
44 chickens grow."
45
46 So, effectively, if they are using the growth promoters to
47 get the chickens to grow faster, they are encouraging
48 greater risk of leg problems; not to mention the fact that
49 we consider that they are highly undesirable things to have
50 in the food chain.
51
52 He said that it was correct to say that one consequence of
53 breeding birds for their weight is that it may induce leg
54 problems at some later stage in their life. That was on
55 day 89, page 22, line 54.
56
57 Obviously, we argue that that is another example of the way
58 profits are put before welfare considerations.
59
60 In terms of the welfare considerations -- sorry. I am
