Day 096 - 03 Mar 95 - Page 04
1 say, this size?
2 A. Roughly eight or 10, something like that.
3
4 Q. Then how many piglets would be in each kennel?
5 A. There would be roughly 20 in a pen or in a kennel.
6
7 Q. Has the company ever used routine castration of piglets?
8 A. Yes.
9
10 Q. When was that phased out?
11 A. That would have been stopped in the early 70s.
12
13 Q. Some of your suppliers use other systems?
14 A. Yes, they do.
15
16 Q. Which systems are they?
17 A. A variation from outdoor systems to straw based systems
18 where the sows are in large yards altogether with
19 transponders for their control.
20
21 Q. Transponders, what are they?
22 A. A transponder is an electronic piece of equipment that
23 you can use so that the animals can be, you know, when they
24 are fed, so that you know that if an animal has not fed you
25 can then look at it specifically to see if it is ill or has
26 any problems, and it is another way of ensuring good
27 stockmanship.
28
29 Q. The outdoor pigs, why are they put in a finishing unit?
30 A. Why are they put in?
31
32 Q. A finishing unit, why do they not just remain outside?
33 A. We have in the past tried to finish pigs outside, and
34 it has been unsuccessful because in the summer time pigs
35 get sun-burnt. There has been a great deal of publicity
36 about that in the papers at various times. Whilst the sow
37 will wallow, the finish pig will not wallow to the same
38 effect and, after all, when one comes to selling the meat,
39 you have to have meat that is acceptable to the housewife
40 and if it is sun-burnt it is not. So, that is why they
41 come inside to straw finished systems which they enjoy much
42 more.
43
44 Q. Is one of the reasons why they are brought inside so that
45 they are not running around the fields expending a lot of
46 energy?
47 A. No, because I can actually quote figures that to finish
48 them outside you will get the same feed conversion. That
49 is all about the comfort of the animal, to bring it inside.
50
51 Q. So you could quite easily finish them outside in the autumn
52 and winter when they are not likely to get sunburnt?
53 A. You have also a frost. If you were up in Norfolk with
54 me this morning, you will have a snow problem as well with
55 young piglets outside all the time.
56
57 Q. The breeders remain outside, do they not?
58 A. Yes, they do.
59
60 Q. And the weaners, the outdoor weaners?
