Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 54


     
     1        upside-down by both legs, is it not?
     2        A.  Yes, it is.
     3
     4   Q.   Does that, in your view, cause it distress?
     5        A.  Well, again the bird is being subjected to something
     6        which it has never been subjected to before, so, obviously,
     7        it must cause a short period of distress.
     8
     9   Q.   The time, I would like to ask you about, between shackling
    10        and reaching the stun bath, what, on average, do you think
    11        that is for Sun Valley?
    12        A.  It is a fairly short time; it would be no more than two
    13        minutes normally.
    14
    15   Q.   In the course of that journey how are the signs of distress
    16        in a bird assessed?
    17        A.  Well, the birds are upside-down.  There is a piece of
    18        plastic which is called a breast comforter which the birds,
    19        as the line is moving along, the birds actually move
    20        against this comforter.  This tends to stop them flapping
    21        their wings.  The lights are subdued at this point so they
    22        are not being stimulated by bright lights.
    23
    24   Q.   What about noise?
    25        A.  There is some noise from the machinery but I would not
    26        say it is particularly excessive and the birds -----
    27
    28   Q.   Are the chickens sensitive to loud noise?
    29        A.  They are sensitive to loud noise but particularly so to
    30        bright lights.
    31
    32   Q.   More bright lights than noise, you say?
    33        A.  Yes.
    34
    35   Q.   So the lights are dim, there is a breast comforter.  How
    36        much flapping is there?  Assuming flapping to be a sign of
    37        distress, I assume that was inherent in your answer?
    38        A.  Yes.
    39
    40   Q.   How much flapping is there?
    41        A.  Well, most birds do not flap, occasional ones do flap
    42        for a short period and the numbers that flap is probably, I
    43        do not know one, in 40 perhaps.
    44
    45   Q.   Leaving aside the flapping may be thought a sign of
    46        distress, do you have any evidence that flapping at that
    47        stage carries with it a risk of injury to the birds?
    48        A.  I think it is very unlikely.  It may possibly damage
    49        the wing but we do not see very much sign of that, so I do
    50        not think it is a problem. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Whose idea was it to introduce two separate lines of 
    53        shackling?
    54        A.  I suppose it was a joint decision of the senior
    55        management of the company when we wanted to update and
    56        improve the whole factory, and it has become a need because
    57        growing males and females separately is now part of
    58        standard management practice, whereas a few years ago it
    59        was not.
    60

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