Day 289 - 29 Oct 96 - Page 13
1 well as their normal daily food. That the birds could have
2 access to direct sunlight and they could stretch out in the
3 sun, which often provoked dust bathing behaviour, which is
4 obviously like a normal pattern of behaviour for a
5 chicken.
6
7 He said they were all examples of what happened at this
8 company in Northern Ireland. He said that there are
9 additional facilities which can be provided to enhance the
10 repertoire of birds. That was on top of the facilities
11 that were being provided by the chicken rearing system in
12 Northern Ireland that he was quoting as an example. That
13 was all on day 19, page 17, line 12.
14
15 There was a contrast shown between this company in Northern
16 Ireland and the Sun Valley methods of rearing where he said
17 there were a number of behaviour, natural behaviour,
18 patterns which were restricted because of the rearing
19 methods used. For example, perching -- the reference to
20 that is day 19, page 20, line 4 to 11 -- sunbathing and
21 scratching in the earth. Reference 19, 22, 19 to 26. And
22 also any kind of family structure, contact, between the
23 chicks and their mothers. The reference to that was 19,
24 22, 30. Obviously, I went through the evidence yesterday
25 of Mark Pattison relating to that, the fact that the chicks
26 are hatched out in trays in the hatchery and never see
27 their mothers.
28
29 Another example of where normal behaviour patterns were
30 restricted by the conditions that birds were kept under at
31 Sun Valley was given on day 18, page 10, line 20.
32 Dr. Gregory said that keeping the lights down is a
33 procedure which is used to limit the activity of the bird,
34 but by doing that you are imposing a deprivation on the
35 bird. It is so dark that the bird does not have much to do
36 other than feed, drink, sit down, it is not an
37 encouragement to forage or undertake normal behaviour
38 patterns in the bird.
39
40 These five freedoms were accepted by even Dr. Pattison --
41 or even McDonald's as well, I think, accepted them -- that
42 they are the minimum freedoms that the birds should have,
43 or that animals should have in general. Obviously,
44 Sun Valley and McDonald's argue, or do not want to
45 interpret, the five freedoms literally. I think it was on
46 day 89, page 11, line 43 that Dr. Pattison said that he
47 thought the five freedoms were acceptable.
48
49 We say that if they are acceptable, and they should be
50 acceptable, they should be the minimum. That all of those
51 things should be implemented now; that there is no reason
52 for birds to be kept in the conditions that they are being
53 kept in now where they do not have freedom from thirst and
54 hunger, where they do not have appropriate comfort and
55 shelter, where they do not have prevention or rapid
56 diagnosis and treatment of injury, disease, or infestation
57 and where they do not have freedom from fear, and where
58 they do not have freedom to display most normal patterns of
59 behaviour. The only reason why those five basic needs are
60 not implemented now is because it would come in the way of
