Day 092 - 27 Feb 95 - Page 32

     
     1        A.  Well, I probably used the wrong word.
     2
     3   Q.   You certainly could not tell in a battery cage, could you,
     4        when it was confined and it cannot move around?
     5        A.  Tell what, if it is happy?
     6
     7   Q.   Yes.
     8        A.  I do not know how, to be honest, I do not know how to
     9        tell if a chicken is happy.  You can tell if it is healthy,
    10        yes.  "Happy" is probably a human expression.
    11
    12   Q.   As far as you are concerned, they are healthy if they are
    13        continuing to lay eggs?
    14        A.  I think we went through this before quite extensively.
    15        But if they do not lay eggs, obviously, they have a
    16        problem.
    17
    18   Q.   Do you know of any plant at all in history where the
    19        chickens stopped laying eggs because of stress?
    20        A.  Yes, I do.
    21
    22   Q.   You do?
    23        A.  Yes, that was -----
    24
    25   Q.   Can you explain what happened then?
    26        A.  Yes, an incidence in, I believe it was, the winter of
    27        1993, I am pretty sure it was, which was a very severe
    28        winter in the United States and it snowed very heavily and
    29        affected areas where we have farms that normally does not
    30        snow.  So, the highways were blocked and the farms run out
    31        of food.  So, obviously, the animals stop producing.
    32
    33   Q.   Right, because they did not have anything to eat?
    34        A.  Yes.
    35
    36   Q.   So, apart from animals that are going hungry, do you know
    37        of any examples?
    38        A.  Animals that are sick, obviously, will not produce for
    39        a number of species.
    40
    Q.   Presumably, that is something that a noticeable sickness,
    42        something that is quite obvious?
    43        A.  I do not know what "quite obvious"; you can see it and
    44        you can detect it, yes.
    45
    46   Q.   A severe illness?
    47        A.  It could be a mild illness, can detect it.
    48
    49   Q.   How many birds are there to an average -----
    50        A.  Cage? 
    51 
    52   Q.   Start with cage, if you want. 
    53        A.  Oh, sorry.  It depends on the conditions and the
    54        farmer.  If it is in the summer they have less birds per
    55        cage so they can use one or two -----
    56
    57   Q.   You gave a figure of four before?
    58        A.  Yes.  It depends -- you do not let me finish.  If it is
    59        winter and the environment in which it is controlled, and
    60        it is lot easier to control the winter than it is the