FR3073709A1 - ANIMAL NUTRITION EXPERIMENTATION AND EVALUATION FACILITY FOR A PRODUCT INTENDED FOR ANIMAL FEEDING - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an installation (1) for experimenting and evaluating a product intended for feeding an animal, comprising: - a first zone (100) comprising means adapted to the storage and manufacture of food containing said product, - a second zone (200) comprising animal housing means (204, 205, 206, 207, 260), the second zone (200) being divided into at least two spaces (201, 202 ), not communicating, separated by a partition (203), each space (201, 202) comprising at least one row (R1 to R14) of at least one animal accommodation means (204, 205, 206, 207, 260), each accommodation means (205) comprising: - a removable floor (210), - uprights (213, 214, 215, 216), - two first walls (211, 212) said principal, vis-à-vis -vis one of the other, each main wall (211) being pivotally mounted between a first upright (214) and a second upright (215), - two second so-called dry walls wavelets (221, 222) facing each other, perpendicular to the first walls (211, 212), each (221) (222) mounted by a slide connection on two uprights (213, 214) (215, 216), each secondary wall (221, 222) having a support (223, 224) on each of its faces for mounting by a slide connection a third so-called tertiary wall (225) between two secondary walls (221, 222). ), two adjacent accommodation means in the same row having a common secondary wall.

Description

The present invention relates to an installation for testing and evaluating in animal nutrition a product intended for feeding an animal, in particular a farm animal.

A product intended for animal feed can be a raw material, an additive, a substance, a compound or a mixture of compounds. The animal nutrition sector is constantly looking for new products, whether natural or not, in particular as an alternative to drugs such as antibiotics.

The additives generally used in animal feed can be:

- technological: for example, preservatives, antioxidants, emulsifiers, stabilizers, pH regulators;

- sensory: aromas, colorings;

- nutritional: vitamins, amino acids;

- zootechnics: compounds having an action on the intestinal flora, on the quality of the meat.

However, in animal nutrition, any product, whether natural or not, must be approved for a given species at a given stage of development. Thus, even the natural alternative solutions, before their placing on the market, must be identified and evaluated, in particular with regard to their safety, their claims, their useful doses, the animal species, the physiological stage of the animal, in order to meet the various laws in force.

The implementation of these evaluations necessarily involves animal experimentation which can consist of zootechnical tests on animals and requires dedicated tools and facilities. However, in addition to the legislation in force on animal feed, concerning in particular premixes, additives, raw materials and dietetic food, and veterinary medicine, there are also laws governing housing conditions and animal testing in the broad sense. In addition, it is necessary to consider the breeding guides published by professionals in the sector and the recommendations emanating from the national authorities in terms of hygiene, food safety, but also ethics and animal welfare. Examples include Directive 2010/63 / EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, as well as the European Convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and experimental purposes. other scientific purposes.

Rules and standards concerning animal welfare are thus put in place both at European and international level.

It is therefore advisable to have tools and facilities that comply with all of these regulations. However, these rules and standards evolve over time by strengthening certain constraints and adding new ones. Another difficulty in following these standards is that they set out accommodation conditions which vary from one animal species to another. For example, the minimum surface area imposed for pigs is not identical to that imposed for chickens even when brought back to live weight.

It can thus be seen that current experimental tools and installations are led to become obsolete or do not make it possible to house different animal species, or even the same species at different physiological stages. In addition, it is necessary to validate a product intended for animal feed by several tests carried out in parallel, on several batches of animals, so as to conclude a statistical significance.

Another drawback of the current animal nutrition testing and evaluation facilities is that they do not easily allow the implementation of all stages of on-site evaluations. Indeed, an evaluation method comprises all of the following stages: the manufacture of the food containing the product to be tested and the raw materials coming from different possible geographical areas, the distribution of the test food to the animals during a period determined, the reproduction of environmental conditions adapted to the animal species considered and at its physiological stage, the control, care and monitoring of animals, the recovery of data from the animal allowing the evaluation. In particular, it can be seen that the current installations do not allow the production, on site, of foods containing the product to be tested and this in the correct quantities necessary for the evaluation, as well as the analysis of the technical characteristics of the raw materials used. in the test food.

In addition, current facilities do not allow experiments and assessments to be carried out on several species or on the same species at different stages of development.

It is in this context that the applicant company worked, so as to offer an animal nutrition experimentation and evaluation facility, which meets the standards and rules in force while respecting and ensuring the well-being of animal, and which is flexible and scalable so as to adapt to changes in these rules and standards without requiring large and costly transformations.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such an installation which allows the implementation of all the stages of the evaluation methods, from the manufacture of the product to be tested to the collection of data from the animal and necessary at appraisal, in particular zootechnical data.

Yet another object of the invention is to allow experimentation and evaluation on several species or on the same species but at different stages of its development.

To this end, the subject of the invention is an experimental nutrition evaluation facility comprising:

- a first zone comprising means suitable for the storage and manufacture of food containing said product,

a second zone comprising means for accommodating the animals, the second zone being divided into at least two non-communicating spaces, separated by a partition, each space comprising at least one row of at least one means of accommodating the animals , each accommodation comprising:

- a removable floor,

- amounts,

- two first so-called main walls, facing each other, each main wall being pivotally mounted between a first upright and a second upright,

- two second so-called secondary walls opposite one another, perpendicular to the first walls, each mounted by a sliding link on two uprights, each secondary wall having a support on each of its faces for mounting by a slide link a third wall, called tertiary wall, between two secondary walls, two adjacent accommodation means in a same row having a common secondary wall.

Thus, the installation according to the invention makes it possible to achieve all of the goals mentioned above. In particular, the means of accommodation for animals are perfectly flexible in terms of size. In fact, each secondary wall making up each accommodation means includes supports for installing an additional wall therein, known as a tertiary wall, thus making it possible to divide the accommodation means into two parts. This may be necessary depending on the species and size of the animals housed. Similarly, the secondary wall separating two adjacent accommodation means can be removed very easily so that these two accommodation means make only one and thus offer a larger interior space. The installation is therefore flexible and scalable so as to adapt to animals, depending on the species and its stage of development. It also makes it possible to anticipate changes in terms of accommodation size, rules and standards to be observed.

The installation according to the invention also allows all the stages of the evaluation to be carried out in a single place, from the manufacture of the food which incorporates the product to be tested, in quantities just necessary for the study, up to 'to the analysis of data collected on animals.

Advantageously, each slide connection is composed of a means for guiding in translation which is presented by each upright and each support and which is able to cooperate with a corresponding means which each secondary or tertiary wall has.

In particular, according to one embodiment, each upright and each support have, as means of guiding in translation, a corner which is able to cooperate with a groove arranged along the lateral edges of the secondary and tertiary walls.

Any means allowing the installation by slide connection of an additional wall is of course conceivable.

Advantageously, each support separates the face of the wall which presents it in two symmetrical portions.

Advantageously still, each wall is divided into several sub-parts juxtaposed one above the other.

According to an embodiment of the invention, each main wall and each third wall have supports for mounting by a sliding connection of the so-called quaternary walls between a main wall and a tertiary wall.

It is also possible to divide each accommodation into four parts by inserting other walls, called quaternary walls which can be mounted between a tertiary wall and a main wall.

According to a characteristic of the invention, means for recovering the droppings are provided under each floor of each accommodation means.

According to one embodiment of the invention, each accommodation means comprises removable means for distributing food and removable means for distributing water.

Advantageously, the installation comprises a third zone comprising means for maintaining said installation, in particular a technical room including means for controlling the environmental conditions prevailing in the second zone including the brightness, the temperature, the hygrometry, the speed of air flow, gaseous environment.

Advantageously still, the installation further comprises one or more other zones chosen from an analysis zone of the data collected on the animals, an animal care zone, a laundromat zone.

The characteristics of the invention mentioned above, as well as others, will appear more clearly on reading the following description of an exemplary embodiment, said description being made in relation to the accompanying drawings, among which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation seen from above of an animal nutrition testing and evaluation installation according to an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an animal accommodation area in an animal nutrition testing and evaluation installation according to an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 3 shows means of accommodation for animals according to the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an installation 1 for testing and evaluating animal nutrition of a substance, the substance being intended to be added to the diet of the animal species which is the subject of the evaluation.

The installation 1 comprises a first zone 100 intended, on the one hand, for the storage of the product to be evaluated and of materials allowing the manufacture of food, and on the other hand, for the manufacture of food containing said product. To do this, this zone 100 includes all the equipment necessary for the manufacture of food which will be distributed to the animals throughout the evaluation method. We will thus find, in particular, weighing, chopping devices or devices, grinders, mixers, powder or liquid metering devices, granulation devices such as presses, or any other known means for the preparation of animal feed, especially for farm animals.

The installation 1 comprises a second zone 200 comprising means for accommodating the animals, such as the means 204 and 205, which will be described in detail in the following.

The installation 1 comprises a third zone 300 comprising maintenance means, in particular for controlling the environmental conditions prevailing in the second zone 200. These means make it possible, for example, to adjust the brightness L, the temperature T, the hygrometry H, the air flow speed F and the gaseous environment G of zone 200.

The installation 1 includes a fourth zone 400 for the analyzes of the data collected on the animals. Indeed, throughout the evaluation, physical and physiological data are collected on each animal such as weight, temperature, behavior, excrement. In particular, animal droppings are easily recovered according to the needs of the test. The installation 1 includes any means allowing the manipulation and analysis of this data.

The installation 1 also includes a fifth zone 500 for caring for animals, such as an infirmary, and a sixth zone 600 for laundering any equipment used in the installation.

The accommodation area 200 comprises, in this embodiment, two spaces 201, 202 separated by a partition 203. The two spaces 201 and 202 are not in communication with each other. Each of these spaces is intended to house the animals on which an evaluation is carried out. It is thus possible to evaluate the same substance on:

the same animal species but at two different stages of development, respectively housed in a space 201,202, under the same environmental conditions or not, two different animal species, respectively housed in a space 201, 202, under the same environmental conditions or not.

To do this, each space 201, 202 of the accommodation area 200 contains means for accommodating animals which are advantageously arranged in rows, such as the rows RI to R6 in the space 201 and R7 to R12 in the space 202. The rows of each space are mutually parallel and separated from each other by spaces for the movement of people or animals, such as space C1 separating the rows RI and R2.

Each space 201, 202 can host an animal species, for example pigs in space 202 and chickens in space 201.

In connection with FIG. 3 are shown in detail four means of accommodation 204, 205, 206 and 207 of the same row, for example the row RI.

The accommodation means being structurally identical, we will describe in the following the characteristics of the accommodation means 205. This comprises a removable floor 210 which can be a grating, for example made of stainless steel or plastic, or a solid floor , whether or not covered with straw or sawdust. Under the floor 210 is a means for recovering liquid, solid and / or semiliquid excrement (not visible in Fig. 3), such as a tank, accessible from a zone 250 located below the floor 210. The means for recovering the droppings allows transportation for the subsequent analysis of the droppings in the zone 400, or simply allows the emptying.

The accommodation means 205 has two first walls 211 and 212, called main walls, facing one another and four uprights 213, 214, 215, 216. Each main wall, such as the wall 211, is pivotally mounted between a first upright 214 and a second upright 215. The wall 211 can for example be mounted on a hinge on the upright 214 and locked on the upright 215. These walls 211 and 212 thus form doors opening into spaces C1, C2 between two rows, respectively R1 / R2 and R2 / R3 (Fig. 1).

Preferably, each main wall 211, 212 is able to pivot on each of the uprights which supports it. For example, the wall 211 is able to pivot on the upright 214 or on the upright 215 thus allowing opening from the right or from the left. The mounting of the wall 211 between the uprights 214 and 215 according to this embodiment is described in the following.

The upright 215 has a plurality of fittings 217 extending in the direction of the wall 211 and each provided with an opening, the openings all being in the same vertical axis on the ground. The wall 211 has along its two lateral edges slots for receiving the fittings 217. The lateral edge of the wall 211 which faces the upright 215 is also drilled right through along a vertical axis on the ground so as to arrange a housing 220 for a rod 218. The rod 218 is intended to be inserted in the openings of the fittings 217 and in the housing 220 of the wall 211. The latter is then fixed to the upright 215. The wall 211 is mounted on the upright 214 in the same way as mounting on the upright 215. A rod 119 is then provided to secure it to the upright 214.

When the rod 218 is removed and the rod 219 remains in place, the wall 211 can pivot around the axis of the rod 219. When the rod 219 is removed and the rod 218 remains in place, the wall 211 pivots around the axis of the rod 218. Each rod 218, 219 can serve both as a pivot axis or as a locking means.

The mounting of the wall 212 between the uprights 213 and 216 is carried out in an identical manner to what has just been described for the wall 211.

The accommodation means 205 also has two second walls 221 and 222, called secondary walls, arranged opposite one another perpendicular to the main walls 211 and 212. Each of these second walls 221, 222 is mounted by a sliding link on two uprights, respectively 213, 214 and 215, 216. Each sliding link is composed of a guide means in translation presented by each upright 213, 214, 215, 216, which cooperates with a corresponding means that has each secondary wall 221, 222. To do this, each upright 213, 214, 215, 216 has, as means of guiding in translation, a corner, for example 2131, which is able to cooperate with a groove, for example 2211, arranged along the lateral edges of the secondary walls 221, 222.

The same secondary wall 221 separates two adjacent accommodation means 205 and 206. The slide connection makes it possible to install the secondary walls quickly and simply. Its non-fixed nature makes accommodation easily flexible. It is thus possible to remove the secondary wall 222 separating the accommodation means 205 and 206 so as to obtain only one accommodation and therefore a larger space for the animal or animals.

Each secondary wall 221, 222 has supports 223, 224 provided for mounting an additional wall 225, called a tertiary wall, by a sliding link. Two supports 223, 224 are thus presented on each face of a secondary wall 221, 222 by dividing the face into two symmetrical portions. A third wall 225 can therefore be arranged perpendicular to the secondary walls 221, 222 so as to divide the accommodation means 205 into two parts of equal surfaces. This may be necessary depending on the weight of the animals accommodated and the regulations imposing a standard in force relating to the weight of the animal according to an area.

The sliding link is identical to that allowing the installation of the secondary walls 221, 222. In fact, each support 223, 224 has, as a means of guiding in translation, a corner which is able to cooperate with a groove arranged along lateral edges of the tertiary wall.

Each main wall 211, 212, secondary 221, 222 or tertiary 225 is divided into several sub-parts simply juxtaposed one above the other. This allows the height of the walls to be varied as required.

To further facilitate the positioning of the walls, handles, such as the handle 229 are provided for each sub-portion of each wall.

It can thus be seen that the accommodation means 204, 205, 206, 207 are entirely flexible in terms of floor area and volume, so as to be adaptable to any type of animal.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, each post 213,214,215,216 has a corner facing the circulation space Cl or C2 to which it faces. It is then possible to install walls between two uprights of two adjacent rows so as to temporarily close a circulation space. The installation of these walls in the circulation space is done by slide connections identical to those described above. This allows in particular to get the animals out, for example so as to clean the accommodation. Fig 2. illustrates the establishment of a wall 230 between the second row R2 and the third row R3, to close the circulation space C3.

Removable means for distributing food and removable means for distributing water are also provided for each accommodation means. It can be troughs, augettes, dishes, plates, drinkers fixed provisionally by any suitable means on one or more walls inside a means of accommodation.

Claims (10)

1) Installation (1) for testing and evaluating a product intended for animal nutrition, comprising: a first zone (100) comprising means suitable for the storage and manufacture of food containing said product, a second zone (200) comprising means for housing animals (204, 205, 206, 207, 260), the second zone (200) being divided into at least two non-communicating spaces (201, 202), separated by a partition (203), each space (201, 202) comprising at least one row (RI to R14) of at least a means of accommodation for animals (204, 205, 206, 207, 260), each means of accommodation (205) comprising: - a removable floor (210), - amounts (213, 214, 215, 216), - two first walls (211, 212) said to be main, facing one another, each main wall (211) being pivotally mounted between a first upright (214) and a second upright (215), - two second so-called secondary walls (221, 222) facing each other, perpendicular to the first walls (211, 212), each (221) (222) mounted by a sliding link on two uprights (213 , 214) (215, 216), each secondary wall (221, 222) having a support (223, 224) on each of its faces for mounting by a sliding connection a third wall called the tertiary wall (225) between two secondary walls (221, 222) - two adjacent accommodation means in the same row having a common secondary wall. 2) Installation (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that each slide connection is composed of a guide means in translation which is presented by each upright (213, 214, 215, 216) and each support (223, 224 ) and which is able to cooperate with a corresponding means presented by each secondary wall (221, 222). 3) Installation (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that each upright (213, 214, 215, 216) and each support (223, 224) have, as means of guiding in translation, a corner (2131) which is able to cooperate with a groove (2211) arranged along the lateral edges of the secondary walls (221, 222). 4) Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each support (223,224) separates the face of the wall which presents it in two symmetrical portions. 5) Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, each wall (211, 212, 221, 222, 225) being divided into several sub-parts juxtaposed one above the other. 6) Installation (1) one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each main wall (212) and each third wall (225) have supports for mounting by a sliding connection of the fourth so-called quaternary walls between a main wall (212) and a tertiary wall (225). 7) Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that means for recovering excrement are provided under each floor (210) of each accommodation means (205). 8) Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each accommodation means comprises removable means for distributing food and removable means for distributing water. 9) Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a third zone (300) comprising means for maintaining said installation (1), in particular means for controlling the environmental conditions prevailing in the second zone including the luminosity (L), the temperature (T), the hygrometry (H), the air flow speed (F), the gaseous environment (G). 10) Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises one or more other zones chosen from an area (400) for analyzing data collected on animals, a care area (500) animals, a laundry area (600).