Day 096 - 03 Mar 95 - Page 36
1 MS. STEEL: Until they are weaned?
2 A. Until they are weaned -- about eight per cent.
3
4 Q. What would be the mortality rate for the weaners between
5 three weeks and either 30 or 40 kilograms?
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What, until they go into the finishing.
8
9 MS. STEEL: Yes.
10 A. Under half a per cent.
11
12 MS. STEEL: Under half a per cent. Is that the same for the
13 ones at 30 and 40 kilograms or is there a difference
14 between them?
15 A. They are basically the same.
16
17 MR. MORRIS: When you say "under half a per cent" -- this
18 happened with the other witnesses -- do you mean just under
19 half a per cent because, obviously, .003 is under half a
20 per cent.
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I appreciate that, but I would be very
23 surprised if it comes up like a metronome, month after
24 month. So can you do better than under half a per cent?
25 A. We have, obviously, points that our managers have to
26 achieve, they have targets and that, and it is on the
27 weaners it is .7 that we give them a target and they beat
28 it very easily.
29
30 MR. MORRIS: So it is around half a per cent or just under?
31 A. No, no they beat it easily.
32
33 Q. .7 is the target; you beat it easily, so something like .3,
34 .4 is the average?
35 A. Somewhere around there.
36
37 MS. STEEL: What is the mortality rate on the finishing units?
38 A. Again, very similar to the weaners.
39
40 Q. Is it pretty rare that pigs actually die from respiratory
41 illness?
42 A. That is one of the more common reasons they die.
43
44 Q. But in terms of the numbers that get respiratory illnesses,
45 do most of them die or most of them live?
46 A. No, we give them penicillin so we have a good recovery
47 rate when you have a problem -- under vets' guidance.
48
49 Q. So where you have got a percentage dying of respiratory
50 illnesses, there are going to be quite a lot more that are
51 suffering respiratory illnesses but are not dying from
52 them?
53 A. That is basically -- we make no secret of it. At the
54 moment we have a pig flu problem in one herd. It goes
55 through the herd just like it does human beings. It is,
56 unfortunately, a natural happening that is difficult to
57 control sometimes.
58
59 Q. What about problems with heart problems, things like that?
60 How prevalent is that kind of problem?
