Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 43
1 A. Yes, the birds would be fed them from arrival until
2 five days before slaughter when the birds are put on to a
3 withdrawal diet, which does not contain any Coccidiostat or
4 growth promoters.
5
6 Q. What is the one apart from growth promoters?
7 A. Coccidiostat.
8
9 Q. What was that one used for?
10 A. The Coccidiostat is a compound which prevents the
11 development of Cocciliosis.
12
13 Q. So is that an antibiotic?
14 A. They may be antibiotics or they may not be. It
15 depends, there are both chemical compounds and antibiotic
16 compounds that will do the same job.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can you spell that as well?
19 A. The Coccidiostat, C-O-C-C-I-D-I-O-S-T-A-T.
20
21 MS. STEEL: The use of these growth promoters it is thought it
22 may contribute to leg problems by increasing the rate of
23 growth; that is right, is it not?
24 A. I do not think we can say -- we could really say that
25 leg problems we could ascribe directly to the use of growth
26 promoters. I think it would be correct to say that there
27 is a greater chance of leg problems with the faster the
28 chickens grow.
29
30 Q. When did you start to include barley in the feed?
31 A. Barley has always been a minor ingredient in feed for
32 many years.
33
34 Q. Sorry, when you say "minor", what kind of quantity are you
35 talking about?
36 A. The inclusion rate would no higher than five per cent,
37 but with the advent of enzyme technology we have been able
38 to increase the amount of barley used because the enzymes
39 actually aid the digestion of the carbohydrate fraction,
40 which previously was indigestable to a chicken.
41
42 Q. So, when was that increased?
43 A. The use of enzymes started about four years ago.
44
45 Q. What amount of barley is used now; what percentage is that?
46 A. I should think we can probably use up to 10 to 15 per
47 cent barley.
48
49 Q. What advantages has this provided in the broiler houses?
50 A. The advantage to us is that barley is a common cereal
51 grown in Northern Europe, which up to that time had not
52 really been able to be used for chickens. Now that it can
53 be used for chickens, it means that broilers in Northern
54 Europe can be fed for a slightly reduced cost using barley
55 as opposed to wheat.
56
57 Q. I think you said yesterday that the use of enzymes such as
58 barley had made a big improvement in the environment/index.html">litter; is that
59 right?
60 A. That is correct.
