DE2840395A1 - Floor for pig rearing structure - is made from cast plates with holes to suit size of feet of sows on piglets - Google Patents

Abstract

The floor consists of different elements for the sections housing the sows from the elements for the sections for the piglets. These element have openings to allow excrement etc. to pass through but shaped so as not to injure the feet of the different sizes of animal. One type of element contains slots and another type has round holes. The width of the slots is between 3 and 30 mm., and is about 24 mm in the compartments for sows, and between 6 and 9 mm in the compartments for piglets. The slots can have rounded ends. The elements can be cast plates of aluminium, iron, shaped to match the support members underneath.

Description

The invention relates to slatted floors as a floor for stable systems and specifically to a slatted grate for floors in boxes for suckling sows, into which the sow can already be introduced for farrowing.

In the case of stall floors for suckling sows, it is necessary that the living room for the piglets and the part of the stall near the end of the sow placed have openings of different widths for the faeces and urine to be removed. The tread area of the floor may only be interrupted by the passages to such an extent that the animals' feet are prevented from being trapped. This leads to small widths in the piglets' living room; on the other hand, further passages are required in the part of the box near the end of the sow, because there larger amounts of feces and urine accumulate and have to be removed.

Boxes for suckling sows have already been equipped with a slatted floor with a slatted floor that is common for piglets in the part of the box with the piglets' living area. In the end area of the box, where the sow's faeces and urine accumulate, a special grate has been installed with a larger passage floor. Since the grate, which is made up of longitudinal parts, has to be supported at both ends, this means that in addition to the longitudinal structural elements at the ends of the boxes, a third longitudinal structural element must be present for the transition from the slatted floor to the grate, especially in the case of rows of boxes. This does not only mean additional work, but requires further attention in connection with the underground discharge of the accumulating excrement and urine. It is customary, especially in rows of boxes, to convey the manure and urine to the lowered underfloor part below a separating passage between the rows of boxes and to collect them there. The third longitudinal structural element also interrupts this flow.

The invention is based on the object of providing means for a simplified creation of floors in boxes for suckling sows. In addition to improving the economic structure, the slatted floor should be better adapted to the living conditions of the two animal age groups. Finally, the removal of the feces and urine that accumulates should be improved.

In this sense, according to the invention, the slatted grate should be created as a component for the floors in boxes for suckling sows in box length and have groups with different gap widths for the preferred area of the piglets and the end of the box facing the end of the sow. For the area where the piglets are staying, the gaps are the smaller that is common for piglets, while the other gaps in the end part of the box benefit the increased accumulation of feces and urine, which the sow can more easily step through the slatted floor.

In further development of the basic idea,
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Feces and urine accumulate, but the gap width also guarantees safe movement of the piglets there. Arranging different column widths across the width of the

Slatted grating is possible.

The cover required for a partition between rows of boxes can be part of the slatted grating as an extension. If half the aisle width is molded on, the two longitudinal structural elements that are otherwise required are then present; In this case, one type of slatted grating is sufficient for the overall structure. If the entire width of the aisle is formed, then with the slatted gratings on one side of the aisle or alternately offset in the longitudinal direction of the barn on both sides. In the first case, a further saving of a longitudinal structural element is possible; in the second case, a gap in the middle of the aisle is avoided. In both cases, two types of slatted gratings are required for the overall structure.

If the slatted grating is designed as a concrete component, it can have built-in parts for electrical heating.

If the slatted grating is made as a cast steel part, the passages can also have a perforated shape. The group formation can then be achieved in that there are either groups of holes with an increasingly larger diameter of the holes or with an increasingly larger number of holes. This means that you are less tied to a fixed pattern of the hole pattern than you can let the holes scatter as you wish.

Such a slatted steel cast part can be equipped with pipe side members that can be connected to a heating circuit. This means that heating is practically independent of the shape of the bottom of the slatted grating, so that the passages can be arranged even more freely.

To further illustrate the subject matter of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

Show it:

Fig. 1 a slatted grating with groups of columns of different widths arranged in the length of the box as a concrete component,

Fig. 2 shows a similar slatted grating as a cast steel part with pipe longitudinal members and

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a stable with two rows of stalls and a partition.

Figure 1 shows a slatted grating according to the invention as a concrete component. In the concrete body 1, which can have a length of approximately 2 m, the rearmost part in Figure 1 is equipped with gaps 2 of the smallest gap width. This is followed by one or more groups of columns 3, which can have the same width as columns 2, but are shown here with a slightly enlarged width of the columns to explain the first development. For example, the gaps 2 can have a width of 6 mm, the gaps 3 a width of 9 mm; both are widths that are common for piglets. The front part of the concrete body 1 is equipped with groups of gaps 4 with widths, as are usual for pregnant sows.

When building a stable according to the schematic representation of Figure 3, the slatted gratings 1 are placed side by side in the longitudinal direction of the stable on the longitudinal structural elements 5 and 6 and divided into boxes as usual. In Figure 3, the slatted gratings to illustrate a further development of the invention are shown with extensions 7, which cover the passage between the two rows of boxes. Possible modifications are already described above.

The width of the gaps 4 should deliberately be made larger than the initial area of the gap widths for heavy sows; the width can be, for example, 24 mm. This leads to the fact that newly born piglets are even better protected against entrapment and can free themselves until they are used to self-deterrence to avoid this part of the box as much as possible.

The gaps can be angular or rounded at the ends and do not have to have parallel longitudinal walls. Instead of gaps, a slatted grating according to the invention can also be designed in the manner of a perforated plate, as is shown in FIG. With such a design, it is even easier, compared to arranging columns, to abandon arranging the passages in regular or straight rows. In Figure 2, instead of gaps, holes 9 are provided, which are combined over the length of the grate construction element to form groups with an increasingly larger diameter of the holes or with an increasingly larger number of holes. This also means that the total area of the passages at the end of the grate facing away from the preferred area for the piglets is enlarged. It is also possible to modify the grouping for the passages across the width of the grate.

The possible installation of parts of an electric heater in an embodiment as a concrete component 1 is not shown. In the case of an embodiment as a cast steel component according to Figure 2, the grate 8 can be supported with pipe longitudinal members 10, which can be connected in any way to a heating circuit.

Claims (6)

1) Slatted grate for floors in boxes for suckling sows with an enlarged passage floor portion for the passage of faeces and urine at the end of the sow set, characterized in that the slatted grating (1) as a building element in box length has groups with different gap widths (2, 3, 4) for the preferred area of the piglets and the end of the box near the end of the sow. 2) Slatted grate according to claim 1, characterized in that the grate portion in the preferred area of the piglets is equipped with groups of different slit widths (2, 3). 3) slatted grate according to claim 1, characterized by extensions (7) for covering a partition for rows of boxes. 4) slatted grate according to claim 1, characterized in that it has built-in parts for electrical heating as a concrete component (1). 5) slatted grate according to claim 1, characterized in that it is designed as a cast steel part (8) with passages in the form of holes (9) in groups with increasingly larger diameter of the holes or with an increasingly larger number of holes. 6) slatted grate according to claim 5, characterized in that the cast steel part is equipped with pipe longitudinal members (10) which can be connected to a heating circuit.