Day 102 - 13 Mar 95 - Page 18

     
     1        houses, number of farms, that still have earth floors.
     2
     3   Q.   Sorry, I completely misheard.  Yes, thank you.
     4
     5   MS. STEEL:  It is not possible to thoroughly clean sheds with
     6        earth floors, is it?
     7        A.  It is much more difficult and certainly to get complete
     8        disinfection on earth floors is very difficult indeed.
     9
    10   Q.   Bacteria like salmonella, campylobacter and listeria are
    11        going to survive more readily on an earth floor?
    12        A.  They may survive the disinfection process.
    13
    14   Q.   Cannibalism does occur at Sun Valley, does it not, at some
    15        of the farms?
    16        A.  I am not sure.  I think if you mean that birds will
    17        peck at another bird that is dead on the floor, that can
    18        certainly happen, but it will be pecking rather than
    19        consuming the carcass.
    20
    Q.   That is not a rare sight, though?
    22        A.  It happens from time to time.
    23
    24   Q.   At any stage of the process at Sun Valley, either with the
    25        breeders or the other chickens, do you do debeaking or beak
    26        tipping?
    27        A.  The broilers are not beaked.  The breeders are beaked
    28        at the tip.
    29
    30   Q.   Why is that?
    31        A.  The normal practice is to remove the tip of the beaks
    32        of breeders in the first few days of life; the cockerels,
    33        just to remove the hook on the end of the beak.
    34
    35   Q.   So it is just the cockerels, is it?
    36        A.  No, the pullets are done as well, but it is only just
    37        the very tip of the beak that is removed.
    38
    39   Q.   Right.  What is the purpose of doing that?
    40        A.  The purpose is simply to stop birds -- it seems to
         prevent birds pecking each other, particularly during the
    42        rearing stages.
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Does removing the hook of a cockerel's beak
    45        involve taking more off than the tip of a pullet's beak?
    46        A.  No.  It is about the same operation is done with both.
    47
    48   MS. STEEL:   But you do not need to do this for the broiler
    49        sheds; is that correct?
    50        A.  We do not do it for broilers, no. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Why do you not have to do it for the broilers? 
    53        A.  We do not find any need for it in broilers, so there is
    54        no need to do it.
    55
    56   Q.   Why should you need to do it for the breeders but not the
    57        broilers?
    58        A.  The breeders, obviously, we are keeping them for much
    59        longer and I am sure it is as much age related and
    60        behaviour related that the breeders are generally more