Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 20


     
     1
     2   Q.   Chickens, in nature, do not lay eggs all year round, do
     3        they?
     4        A.  No, no chicken that I know of lays eggs all year round.
     5
     6   Q.   In the battery units how do they get them to continue to
     7        lay eggs?
     8        A.  They do not.  They do not eat -- they do not lay eggs
     9        continuously every single day of the year.
    10
    11   Q.   No, but in nature, say, they stop laying eggs for about
    12        three months of year or something like that, would they
    13        not?
    14        A.  It changes.  They are light sensitive.  That is what
    15        triggers their reproductive system.  It depends with the
    16        amount and the intensity of the light.  It is just
    17        different.  If you look at the curves, the natural curve,
    18        of egg production, it is higher towards the end, towards
    19        the end of the summer, and what we do with the laying hens
    20        is start at the beginning because it is a curve.  It
    21        depends on the light.
    22
    23   Q.   So you control the egg laying by the amount of light?
    24        A.  That is correct.
    25
    26   Q.   The level of lighting in the shed?
    27        A.  That is correct.
    28
    29   Q.   How long was it that the chickens lived for before they
    30        were slaughtered, the egg laying chickens, that is?
    31        A.  It depends on the farmers, and there is a level of
    32        vertical integration that will play a factor.  They can go,
    33        it depends, 12 to 15 months, depending on the needs and the
    34        production and the health of the animals.
    35
    36   Q.   During that time if the chicken stops laying eggs for --
    37        I am not just talking about one day or something like that
    38         -- for some period of time, there are techniques to get
    39        them to start laying eggs again, are there not?
    40        A.  Can you be more specific?  I do not know.
    41
    42   Q.   False molting?
    43        A.  Yes.
    44
    45   Q.   That is a technique used by Tysons and Cargill?
    46        A.  No.  You are wrong.  We do not use.
    47
    48   Q.   You do not?
    49        A.  No.
    50 
    51   Q.   When did you stop using it? 
    52        A.  I do not know.  I have never seen it done in the last 
    53        four years.
    54
    55   Q.   Have you asked whether it is done?
    56        A.  Yes, I have.
    57
    58   Q.   They have told you:  "No, it is not"?
    59        A.  Right.
    60

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