Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 17


     
     1        is big.  They produce billions of chickens a year.  You are
     2        asking a specific question about Tysons.  My opinion, they
     3        are about the best in the world, at everything they do,
     4        what they do.
     5
     6   Q.   So have you seen debeaking at other firms?
     7        A.  Other firms?
     8
     9   Q.   Yes, other companies?
    10        A.  Yes, I have.
    11
    12   Q.   Did they debeak 1/64th of an inch as well?
    13        A.  Pretty close.
    14
    15   Q.   Or was it more?
    16        A.  Pretty close.
    17
    18   Q.   So, as far as you are aware, it is standard in the
    19        industry?
    20        A.  There are no standards in any industry.  Practices and
    21        management practices change throughout the world.
    22        We have a very diverse world.  When you speak about an
    23        industry so wide, it so much a wide range.  There is a lot
    24        of people do not debeak at all.
    25
    26   Q.   Right.  Those that debeak, would you say that the vast
    27        majority in the USA are using the same technique of
    28        debeaking as Tysons are?
    29        A.  I would say that, yes.
    30
    31   Q.   Yes.  The same measurements?
    32        A.  About the same, yes.
    33
    34   Q.   Do you know whether that has changed over the past five
    35        years or so?
    36        A.  It probably has not changed.
    37
    38   Q.   You think it ------
    39        A.  What has changed is whether or not they debeaked and it
    40        is due to the better nutrition information that now has
    41        been made available to everybody.
    42
    43   Q.   Previously what happened if you did not debeak the
    44        chickens?
    45        A.  Previously, when?
    46
    47   Q.   Before these nutritional changes, what would happen if you
    48        did not debeak the chickens?
    49        A.  You could have problems.  And this goes back to the
    50        farmers that do not have a high level of expertise, you 
    51        could have some cannibalism with the chickens because there 
    52        is a deficiency of calcium or protein. 
    53
    54   Q.   It is affected by boredom as well, is it not?
    55        A.  No, it is not.
    56
    57   Q.   When you say farmers that "do not have a high level of
    58        expertise", are you saying that if Tyson had not debeaked
    59        the chickens they would not have had these problems?
    60        A.  No.  You are totally wrong.  Tyson has a very high

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