GB2178937A - An improved feed race for pigs and other farm animals - Google Patents

Abstract

The race 10 accommodates a single animal at a feeding facility 20 and includes an entrance gate 18 opening outwards within a narrow entrance lobby 16, and a side exit gate 28 opening outwards adjacent the feed facility. Both gates are biased by weights and ropes, the entrance gate to the open position and the exit gate to the shut position. A vertically hinged rigid frame 44 normally obstructs access by an animal to the feed facility. A horizontal arm 42 of this frame above the animal's head is directly linked to the entrance gate so that, as the animal shoulders the frame aside, the gate 16 is pulled shut behind it. When gate 16 is fully closed arm 42 engages a detent 38 on the exit gate to prevent the entrance gate from being opened before the feeding animal has left the race. When the animal pushes open the exit gate, the detent releases the frame and allows the entrance gate to open while the frame again obstructs access to the feed facility. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An improved feed race for pigs and other farm animals This invention is a feed race which is primarily designed for pigs but is also suitable for other farm animals. Pigs tend to pose special problems when they are farmed under conditions of closely controlled feeding. Modern feed dispensing systems can be accurately programmed to suit the dietary regimes of individual animals, so that each animal receives only that measure of food which has been predetermined according to its particular physiology.

The main problem with the automatic feeding of pigs is the intensely competitive way in which sows in a herd will struggle to reach the feeding facility. It is quite common for a more dominant animal to bite a less aggressive one, and some sows can be quite severely lacerated through being attacked by others in a melee at the feeder. This aggressive behaviour often continues while an animal is actually in a race which is designed to accommodate single animals, with the result that some sows are driven out and do not receive their proper ration. They also become frightened to enter the feed race.

It is an object of the present invention to minimise or eliminate the stress and injury which may be attendant on feeding in an automatic feeding system.

A feed race according to the present invention is of a size to accommodate one animal at a time, and has a feeding facility, such as a trough or bowl with a feed hopper above, at one end. At the other end is an outwardly opening entrance gate which is biased, by a spring or a weight or in any other convenient way, to the open position. This entrance gate is coupled to a displaceable element mounted near the feed facility and which has to be displaced by the animal before it can get its food. This displacement pulls the entrance gate shut, and so long as the animal is feeding the entrance gate is held shut because the animal's body prevents the return of the displaceable element to its initial position. Beside the feed facility is an outwardly opening gate which is biased to the closed position.

There is an interlock between the exit gate and the displaceable element, or the coupling between it and the entrance gate, which ensures that the entrance gate cannot be released to the open position until the animal stops feeding and moves out of the race through the exit gate.

By this system of animal-operated mechanism and interlocks the animal is assured of an uninterrupted feeding period. The usual precautions, of course, are taken to prevent other animals on the outside from breaking into the feed race, which is an ever-present hazard when dealing with sows.

Preferably, the displaceable element is a rigid frame pivotally mounted on the structure of the race, and the interlock consists of a detent integral with or secured to the exit gate and of a size, and in a position, for physical engagement by the frame when displaced by the feeding animal and so long as the exit gate remains shut.

Advantageously. the displaceable element is a rigid gate-like frame hinged vertically on one side wall of the race and free to swing between an inoperative position to which it is biased by the entrance gate, and in which it obstructs free access by the animal to the feed facility, and an operative position to which it is displaced against the bias by the animal's shoulder or flank as it pushes towards the feed facility.

Conveniently, the gate-like frame has an integral generally horizontal arm at a height above that of the tallest animal to be admitted to the race and whose outer end moves in the arc of a circle which intersects the detent on the exit gate when closed; and the arm is connected by an inextensible member to the entrance gate at a similar height.

Ideally, the inextensible member is a rigid link pinned at its inner end to the horizontal arm and engageable at its outer end with the entrance gate by a resiliently loaded lost motion connection adapted to deflect the gate-like frame into the path of the incoming animal by an amount sufficient to ensure that the outer end of the horizontal arm can swing clear of the detent on the exit gate before it closes.

One practical embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure I is a plan view of a feed race with both gates open; Figure 2 is an elevation, seen from the entrance, of the displaceable element; Figure 3 is a side elevation on the arrow lli in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a plan view of the feed race of Figure 1 with both gates shut; Figure 4A is an enlarged view of a detail of the coupling between the entrance gate and the displaceable element, and Figure 5 is an elevation on the arrow V in Figure 4.

The feed race, which is generally indicated at 10, consists of a pen having side walls 12, 14 which diverge slightly from an entrance lobby or antechamber 16, within which swings an entrance gate 18, to a feed facility 20, which may be a proprietary design of automatic feed hopper and trough. The lobby 16 is just wide enough to allow a single animal to pass through, and is long enough for the entrance gate to swing wide open wholly within its confines. This provides extra protection for an animal entering the feed race.

The entrance gate 18 is biased to the open position by a spring or, if preferred, by a rope or chain 22 passing through a pipe bend or throat 24 at the top of an upright tube 26 in which slides a weight (not shown).

At one side of the feed facility 20 is an exit gate 28 hinged on the side wall 14 at the edge further from the feed facility. A chain or rope 30 is anchored to the gate and passes through a pipe bend or throat 32 at the top of a weight tube 34 in an arrangement similar to that illustrated for the entrance gate 18 except that in the case of the exit gate 28 the weight pulls the gate shut.

A triangular detent plate 36 on the top of the exit gate 28 has one edge 38 facing the opening edge of the gate and extending into the race 10 at right angles to the plane of the gate. The detent plate 36 is located on the gate 28 in a position such that the edge 38 can engage the tip 40 of a rigid, generally horizontal bar 42 of a rigid frame 44 which is basically cruciform in plan and is pivoted vertically at 46 on the side 12 of the race opposite the exit gate 28. The bar 42 lies across the race 10 at a height above that of the tallest animal to be fed. The outer end of the pivot limb of the cruciform frame carries a vertical shoulder bar 48 which, in the open state of the race (Figure 1) obstructs the incoming animal's access to the feed facility 20.The horizontal bar 42 is extended to form the fourth limb of the cruciform frame 44 and terminates in a shortened upright stop bar 50 which is designed to engage the side wall 1 2 of the race so as to limit the angular displacement of the frame 44 when the animal pushes aside the shoulder bar 48 in order to reach the feed facility 20. This is the position shown in Figure 4, where it will be seen that the latch tip 40 of the horizontal bar 42 is engaged by the edge 38 of the detent plate, because after feeding, each animal leaves the race by pushing open the exit gate 28 against the bias of the tension in the weight-supporting rope 30.

The horizontal arm 42 is coupled to the entrance gate 18 by a drag link (or rope or chain) 52 pinned at its inner end to the arm and at its outer end to a bracket 54 on the entrance gate. Although constantly under tension from the weight or spring which biases the entrance gate 18 to the open position, a rope or chain is probably less practical than the link 52 because of sag which could lead to uncertainty of opening of the entrance gate. The drag link 52 is connected to the bracket 54 by a spring-loaded lost motion connector 56, shown enlarged in Figure 4A.

This comprises a pin 58 on the bracket 54 projecting through a slot 60 in the end of the drag link 52. A tension spring 62 connects the pin 58 to a peg 64 on the link so as to tend to keep the pin at the forward end of the slot 60. The purpose of this arrangement is that, when an animal displaces the shoulder bar 48, the entrance gate 18 can be pulled shut slightly before the latch tip 40 engages the detent edge 38. When an animal leaves the feed race, pressure is removed from the shoulder bar 48 and the entrance gate should swing open, but if it is blocked by one or more animals, the exit gate 28 could swing shut before the cruciform frame 44 has moved, so that the detent edge 38 of the plate 36 could re-engage the latch tip 40.

The feed race is then locked up and permanently inaccessible to animals. By virtue of the lost motion connection 56, however, this cannot occur, because as soon as the animal's pressure is taken off the shoulder bar 48, the spring 60 pulls the drag link 52 back far enough for the latch tip 40 to move clear of the detent edge 38, allowing the entrance gate 18 to swing open as soon as all obstruction has been removed from the lobby 16.

When building a feed race according to the present invention primarily for the use of sows, certain details of design ought to be observed. Thus, both the entrance and the exit gates ought to be panelled in sheet steel to prevent sows on the outside from causing damage both to themselves and to the fabric of the race by working their snouts into gaps in the structure of the gates Furthermore, the bottom corners of the exit gate should be squared, and the normal gap beneath it should be sheeted in, as shown at 70 in Figure 1. The entrance gate should be recessed into the structure of the wall 12 on which it is hinged when in the open position. The maximum opening of the exit gate should be limited to that through which a sow who has finished feeding can pass. As shown, such limitation is performed by means of an anchor chain 72.

A different system of the linkages and interlock for holding the entrance gate 18 shut while an animal is feeding can be substituted for the cruciform frame 44, detent 38, and drag link 52 if preferred provided that it preserves the basic principle of the animal shutting the gate 18 by displacement of an element at the feed facility, and keeping it shut so long as the animal is feeding. The interlock action of the detent 38 is not only to avoid flutter or rattle of the entrance gate in synchronism with the movements of the animal's body while feeding, but also to prevent the animal from backing out of the feed race. The mechanical arrangement illustrated has the merit of being simple and robust, but any alternative giving the same result is within the scope of the present invention.Alternatives to the linkage 44, 52 and interlock 38, 40 include electrically, pneumatically or hydraulically operated systems if desired.

Instead of using the free end 40 of the horizontal arm 42 as a latch to engage the detent 36, a formation engageable therewith may be mounted on the forward end of the drag link; and the latter may be drilled at two or three closely spaced points along its axis to provide for adjustment of the position of the shoulder bar 48 relative to the width of the race adjacent the feed facility 20 in order to accommodate different sizes of animal.

Furthermore, the upright stop bar may be provided with a parallel spacer which can be bolted thereto at a distance which can be adjusted to suit various sizes of animal. The adjustment is provided in order to allow any stress in the horizontal arm 42, frame 44, and drag link 52, together with the associated connecting pins, when the entry gate 18 is shut tight to be relieved.

Claims (7)

1. A feed race comprising a pen of a size to accommodate a single animal and having a feed facility at one end and an outwardly opening entrance gate biased to the open position at the other end and coupled to a displaceable element mounted adjacent the feed facility and adapted to be displaced by a feeding animal so as to hold the entrance gate shut so long as the animal is feeding; an outwardly opening exit gate beside the feed facility and biased to the closed position, and an interlock between the exit gate and the displaceable element, or its coupling to the entrance gate, for preventing release of the entrance gate until the exit gate is opened.

2. A feed race according to claim 1 wherein the displaceable element is a rigid frame pivotally mounted on the structure of the race, and the interlock comprises a detent fixed on the exit gate for physical engagement by the frame when displaced by the feeding animal and so long as the exit gate is shut.

3. A feed race according to claim 1 or 2 wherein each side wall of the race is extended outwards beyond the plane of the entrance gate when shut for a distance at least equal to the width of the entrance gate so as to form a rigid-sided "porch" or lobby of a width just sufficient to allow an animal to pass through when the entrance gate is open.

4. A feed race according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the displaceable element is a rigid gate-like frame hinged vertically on one side wall of the race and free to pivot between an inoperative position to which it is biased by the entrance gate and in which it obstructs free access by an animal to the feed facility and an operative position to which it is displaced against the bias by the animal's shoulder or flank.

5. A feed race according to claim 4 wherein the gate-like frame has an integral generally horizontal arm at a height above that of the tallest animal to be admitted to the race and whose outer end moves in the arc of a circle which intersects the detent on the exit gate when closed, and the arm is connected by an inextensible member to the entrance gate at a similar height.

6. A feed race according to claim 5 wherein the inextensible member is a rigid link pinned at its inner end to the horizontal arm and engageable at its outer end with the entrance gate by a resilient lost motion connection adapted to bias the gate-like frame further into the path of the animal approaching the feed facility by an amount sufficient to ensure that the outer end of the horizontal arm can swing clear of the exit gate detent before the exit gate closes.

7. A feed race substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.