Day 108 - 27 Mar 95 - Page 15

     
     1        broilers since about 1984; is that right?
     2        A.  Yes, that is right.
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Before we see it, can you tell me in advance
     5        are there particular matters I should concentrate on as
     6        they arise, or is it just a question of watching the whole
     7        film?
     8
     9   MS. STEEL:   The thing is it is not all about chickens but the
    10        only thing is that if you only the chicken parts it will be
    11        hard to follow what is said.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Let us see the film then.
    14
    15              (A video tape was then shown to the court)
    16
    17   MS. STEEL:  The shots that were shown of chickens in there, does
    18        that accord with your own experiences?
    19        A.  The battery cages, you mean?
    20
    Q.   Yes.
    22        A.  Yes, I thought it was -----
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Pick one or two examples, or ask Mrs. Druce
    25        to ----
    26
    27   MS. STEEL:  For example, there were ----
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  -- where her own experience accords, if it
    30        does, with what was shown there?
    31
    32   MS. STEEL:  Right.  There were some shots of the chickens after
    33        they had been taken from the battery unit stumbling about?
    34        A.  Yes, that is very typical.  There is always an air of
    35        great surprise and some alarm, and very often their legs
    36        are weak.  This, of course, is due to the enormous
    37        percentage of, or degree of, osteoporosis, brittle bones,
    38        which is absolutely accepted and has been for several
    39        decades as part of the battery hen's typical bodily make-up
    40        after several months in cages.  This is largely due to the
         inactivity, but also due to the great calcium demand from
    42        having such a high output of eggs, which is typical of the
    43        modern laying hen.
    44
    45   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The stumbling, you say, is the osteoporosis
    46        rather than inexperience in balancing in certain
    47        situations, or is it both?
    48        A.  I think it would be a mixture of both, possibly more
    49        the lack of ever having put really one foot in front of the
    50        other meaningfully for several months or even years. 
    51 
    52   MS. STEEL: That is something that you have witnessed with the 
    53        chickens that you have brought?
    54        A.  Yes.
    55
    56   Q.   What about the desire to nest, what experience did you
    57        have?
    58        A.  Well, we had a very notable experience of this once.
    59        We bought some hens whose history we knew.  We bought them
    60        from a battery unit.  They had gone to a small slaughter