Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 12
1 the left-hand column under "Study 3": "Prevalence of leg
2 weakness in four breeds of broilers". Do you see in the
3 middle of that it says: ^^"The fourth D was a control line
4 from the same original stock as one of the UK commercial
5 breeds but randomly breed for 11 generations"?
6 A. Yes.
7
8 Q. We were asking yesterday about whether you can ask for
9 chickens that suffered from less leg problems. Do you not
10 think, reading that, that it would be possible to do that?
11 A. That breed is obviously not available in commercial
12 numbers. It would take several years to multiply up that
13 breed to a point where you could supply substantial
14 numbers.
15
16 I think what you have to remember is that they are looking
17 at only one characteristic, and it might well be that that
18 breed could suffer more from other genetically determined
19 diseases than the current breeds. The fact is it has a
20 lower instance of leg problems, that is fine, but there are
21 lots of other factors to consider.
22
23 Q. You say it would take a considerable length of time. Have
24 you asked the breeders to do that? As we said yesterday,
25 you were the second largest poultry producer in the
26 country, so you do have some clout if you make a demand?
27 A. Yes, we do, but we have not asked for that.
28
29 Q. While we have this open, on page 193, if you can just read
30 the right-hand column, the third paragraph down, starting
31 with "The degree of gait deformity"?
32 A. Yes.
33
34 Q. If you could just read the whole of that paragraph?
35 A. Yes.
36
37 Q. Would you accept that the point at which a bird's welfare
38 is compromised unduly lies between gait scores 2 and 3
39 which it states there?
40 A. I would not accept that. In the first sentences they
41 actually do say that "the classification of these birds
42 into categories is very much dependent on the viewpoint and
43 judgment of the person doing the gait scoring". I think
44 the only thing that I would be happy with is classifying
45 birds with a gait score of 4 or 5 as being in some pain or
46 discomfort. Therefore, as we said yesterday, they should
47 be culled.
48
49 The gait scores of 1, 2 and 3 are very much more subjective
50 and I have carried out this procedure myself and I know how
51 difficult it is sometimes to distinguish these categories.
52
53 Q. It says that the gait score of 3 was indicative of pain.
54 You would disagree with that, would you?
55 A. The judgment of whether any bird that would be in pain
56 or discomfort, in my view, should be classified as a 4 or a
57 5.
58
59 Q. The classifications are given on page 191 in the right-hand
60 column. Perhaps you would like to read them?
