Day 092 - 27 Feb 95 - Page 07
1 A. Usually, it is more a rectangle than it is a square, so
2 the length is longer than the width.
3
4 Q. So it will be less than two metres wide?
5 A. I am telling you, I do not know exactly. I cannot give
6 you a generalisation, if this is exactly, an exact
7 measurement of all the practices in the United States. If
8 you knew the industry, you will know that it is so
9 different and so wide, it is hard to make a generalisation.
10
11 Q. But the length varies between one-and-half metres and two
12 metres long?
13 A. It could be even longer, depending on the conditions
14 and installations and facilities -- it could be even wider.
15
16 Q. It could be shorter then?
17 A. It could be, yes.
18
19 Q. The piglets that are born, how old are they when they are
20 taken away from their mother?
21 A. OK, you are talking again about a wide range of
22 practices. Normally, they stayed with their mother, if
23 you can make a generalisation, 40, 45 days, depending again
24 on the breed, the conditions, the type of farmers, the
25 farmers that do that for a hobby, the farmers that have a
26 little farm, they have to have to have a few hogs -- it
27 depends.
28
29 Q. In this country it is fairly standard to wean the pigs,
30 piglets, at anything around three, four to eight weeks. Is
31 that something that is likely in the USA as well? Is that
32 something that happens in the USA?
33 A. It could happen. Again, it depends on the practices
34 and it depends on the condition. If the animals are in
35 cold weather they usually have to keep them a little bit
36 longer. It depends on the needs of the farmer and if they
37 have availability for to move those animals. It depends on
38 the offer and demand on the market. There are a lot of
39 variations, but that would be close, I guess.
40
41 Q. The average in this country is three to four weeks, so is
42 that similar to the USA?
43 A. Yes, it could be. It could be very similar, but I
44 could not tell you for sure.
45
46 Q. In this country there are a number of ways of rearing the
47 weaned pigs. There is cage rearing which is where the
48 piglets are kept in tiers of cages, each cage holding
49 approximately 10 pigs of similar ages in two or three
50 tiers. Is that a system that is in use in the USA?
51 A. They use it mostly in pens when they change them.
52
53 Q. Pens?
54 A. Pens.
55
56 Q. So are cages used or not?
57 A. I have not seen cages.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You are just, as I understand it, being asked
60 about how pigs generally may be raised in the United States
