Day 109 - 28 Mar 95 - Page 23
1
2 MS. STEEL: I think you may have gone into this yesterday, but
3 as an alternative way of avoiding leg problems just briefly
4 what would you suggest?
5 A. The things that contribute to it are the diet, too high
6 in protein, lack of exercise, that is over crowding and
7 lack of environmental interest, the genetic strain; all
8 these things contribute to it. Particularly that last
9 one. So I see no answer to the problems, other than going
10 backwards in the genetic selection to get a satisfactory
11 bird, which is not a kind of physical freak of some kind.
12 It has been bred, a bird with inherent problems, and this
13 should be got away from by looking back to the stage where
14 they can get to a bird which is inherently healthy in
15 itself.
16
17 Q. Right. Just going back to the nesting, the desirability of
18 nesting for hens, you made reference to the Marian Stamp
19 Dawkins' book. I thought it might be worth referring to a
20 particular part which I do not think you specifically
21 referred to in respect of nest boxes. Have you a copy of
22 that?
23 A. I have the book.
24
25 Q. It is in the documents that were handed in yesterday; page
26 155.
27 A. Yes.
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29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Were they the ones which went behind -----
30
31 MS. STEEL: Mrs. Druce's statement, yes.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I have it, thank you.
34 A. It is the end of the second -- the first complete
35 paragraph on page 155. This is about laying hens, of
36 course. "Their response to nestboxes was particularly
37 striking during the short period each day when they were
38 just about to lay an egg. They would search frantically for
39 a nestbox, suspending all other behaviour to do so and were
40 very willing to pass through the barrier to get to one. The
41 high priority given to finding a reasonable place to lay
42 suggests that, at least once a day, the millions of hens
43 that are confined to cages without nestboxes experience a
44 strong state of frustration at not being able to find one."
45
46 MS. STEEL: "The barrier" that is referred to, that is described
47 in the paragraph above?
48 A. Yes, yes. It was a small gap which would be unpleasant
49 to pass through, as far as I remember. Yes, it describes
50 it as a cost that she is prepared to pay, that is,
51 squeezing through a narrow gap.
52
53 Q. Just for the -----
54 A. And they would not bother for some rewards but that to
55 find a nest box is the thing that they will behave in an
56 untypical way, and in a way that they would not dare to
57 normally for any other reason, I think.
58
59 Q. The other parts that were referred to are on pages 153 and
60 154 that were referred to yesterday, but I do not know that
