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?

Prev Next Index