GB1562486A

GB1562486A - Livestock feeding appliances

Info

Publication number: GB1562486A
Application number: GB4699275A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: WALTERS AG
Current assignee: WALTERS AG
Priority date: 1976-11-22
Filing date: 1976-11-22
Publication date: 1980-03-12

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATI NG TO LIVESTOCK FEEDING APPLIANCES (71) I, ANTHONY GEORGE WALTERS, a British Subject of Ford Hall, Ford, Near Shrewsbury, Salop, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to livestock feeding appliances, hereinafter referred to as "of the kind set forth", in which food is fed into a trough or other receptacle for a travelling hopper.

According to the present invention there is provided in or for a livestock feeding appliance of the kind set forth, a travelling hopper which includes an impeller for sup Plying food to a discharge outlet of the hopper, and driving means connected to the impeller and comprising a pulley wheel drivingly engaged by a cable which is fixed, or adapted to be fixed, relative to and lengthwise of the receptacle supplied by the hopper in use, the hopper moving relative to the cable as it travels along the receptacle and the arrangement being such that the pulley wheel is caused to be rotated by the cable, and the impeller is thereby driven, only during travel of the hopper along the receptacle.

Preferably the impeller is an auger but it is possible for it to be of other forms.

The size and speed of operation of the impeller controls the rate at which food is discharged from the hopper in use. When the impeller is not operating food is not discharged from the hopper.

Adjustable means such as a shutter may be included which acts in combination with the impeller to provide variable control of the discharge of food from the hopper. The adjustable means may, for example, be at the discharge outlet and be arranged to alter the effective size of the outlet. Alternatively it may extend adjacent to the impeller, or part of it, in the hopper, so as to form in effect a barrier which variably restricts the amount of food which may be in close enough proximity to the impeller to be encouraged to be moved by the impeller to the discharge outlet. The drivinb means may also be adjustable to vary the speed of operation of the impeller and hence the rate at which in use it supplies food to the discharge outlet.

In accordance with usual practice, the travelling hopper may be arranged to travel backwards and forwards along the trough or other receptacle it serves in use. The hopper may be charged with food at one end only of the receptacle. Preferably the driving means is adapted to drive the impeller only when the hopper travels in one direction. Thus in use food is discharged from the hopper only when it is travelling in that direction, which is conveniently the direction away from the end of the receptacle at which food is charged into the hopper. If desired the hopper may be arranged to be charged at each end of the receptacle and the driving means may be adapted accordingly to drive the impeller during travel of the hopper in both directions.

Tn battery and like systems for birds and animals the amount of food which is required to be supplied to different compartments of the system may vary. For example due to death of birds or animals some compartments may not have any occupants, or at any rate not contain the full complement of occupants. In these circumstances where, as in the usual way, a trough or other receptacle serves a row of compartments in the system, it is wasteful and undesirable to discharge food into parts of the receptacle at empty compartments, and to discharge food for a full complement of occupants at any part of the receptacle serving a compartment having a depleted number of occupants.

Accordingly, in order to ensure that the discharge of food from the travelling hopper in use is controlled according to the requirements at different parts of the receptacle it supplies, trip means is preferably provided which is selectively co-operable with the driving means temporarily to interrupt operation of the impeller during any part of the travel of the hopper in use. Interruption of operation of the impeller interrupts the discharge of food from the hopper.

Thus it will be understood that the arrangement makes it possible for food not to be supplied to any part of the receptacle along which the hopper travels in use where food is not required.

The trip means may be, or may be adapted to be, permanently mounted on or in assoclation with the receptacle which the hopper supplies and be arranged to be set in operative and inoperative conditions as required.

Where the present invention is applied to a battery or like system for birds or animals in which the hopper serves a receptacle extending along a row of compartments, the trip means may comprise an actuator for every bird or animal which each compartment can house when fully occupied, each actuator being operable independently of the others for co-operation with the driving means. Thus if a bird or animal is removed from a compartment for any reason, one of the actuators associated with that compartment may be set in the operative condition so as to effect an interruption in the supply of food from the hopper to the receptacle which will reduce accordingly the amount of food supplied for that compartment. Alternatively the trip means may comprise actuators which are adapted to be releasably mounted on or in association with the receptacle to be effective at any selected part of the receptacle. In the case of a battery or like system therefore, if a bird or animal is removed from a compartment one of the actuators may be temporarily applied at that compartment to co-operate with the driving means.

The driving means may include a ratchet and pawl mechanism, the pawl of which is arranged to be disengaged from the ratchet by the trip means to interrupt the drive to the impeller. A plunger or lever may be connected to the pawl, and the trip means may comprise an actuator having a profiled surface or edge with which the plunger or lever co-operates to deflect the pawl from its operative condition. A dog clutch or other appropriate clutch means may be provided instead in the driving means.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a poultry battery cage system to which the invention is applied; Figure 2 is an enlarged side view partly in section of a drive means for an auger in a travelling food hopper which supplies a trough in the system; Figure 3 is a front view of the drive means; Figure 4 is a plan view of a trip actuator for co-operation with the drive means; Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective showing a modification in which an auxiliary hopper is attached to a food hopper of the system; Figure 6 is a rear view of a food hopper, partly broken away, which includes an alternative form of auger and a food agitating mechanism; and Figure 7 is a diagrammatic front view showing a further embodiment of the invention applied to a system of pig stalls or pens.

In the embodiment illustrated by Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings the invention is applied to a poultry battery cage system in which back-to-back runs of cages 1 each contain three rows of cages extending one on top of another in conventional manner. Extending continuously along the front of each row of cages is a food trough 2 which receives food from a hopper 3 which travels forwards and backwards along the trough. The hoppers 3 serving the troughs of the three rows of cages in each run are all mounted for simultaneous travel on a common framework 4 supported by a wheeled trolley 5 which runs on tracks 6 extending along the tops of the runs of cages. The trolley 5 is driven to move the hopper 3 along the troughs in known manner by a wire rope circuit, the ends 7 of the rope being connected to the trolley 5 and the rope passing round drums or pulleys of which one is driven by a motor, not shown. Alternatively the trolley may carry a motor which drives its wheels.

Each hopper 3 is open at the top, is of elongated rectangular horizontal crosssection, the longer sides extending lengthwise of the trough which the hopper supplies, and tapers in width towards its bottom 8 which depends into the trough which the hopper supplies and is closed except for a discharge outlet 9 at one end, Figure 3.

There may be more than one outlet if desired, In the hopper just above the closed bottom 8, an auger 10, Figure 3, extends over the outlet 9 and is rotatably supported at its ends in bearings, not shown, on opposite end walls 11 of the hopper. The auger comprises a shaft 12 around which a wire scroll 13 is wound and secured.

Above the auger 10 opposite the discharge outlet 9 a horizontally slidable shutter 14 is mounted which prevents or restricts food contained by the hopper in use from falling directly into the outlet. The shutter 14 is adjustable to vary the volume of food which may be conveyed by the auger 10 to the outlet. The volume is determined by the size of the auger and the clearance between the shutter and the auger.

On the outside of the end wall 11 of the hopper nearest to the outlet 9 driving means 15 for the auger is provided, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The driving means 15 comprises a pulley wheel 16 mounted at and fixed to one end of a knock-off shaft 17 which extends slidably co-axially through a hollow drive shaft 18 with which is fast a bevel gear 19 in mesh with a further bevel gear 20 on one end of the shaft 12 of the auger. Also fast with the hollow drive shaft 18 is a ratchet wheel 21 having just two diametrically opposed teeth 22 with either one of which normally engages a spring loaded pawl 23 pivoted on the pulley wheel 16 in a circular recess 24 in one face of the pulley wheel. The recess 24 is co-axial with the hollow drive shaft 18 and is large enough to receive both the pawl 23 and the ratchet wheel 21. The hollow drive shaft is journalled in opposed walls of a housing 25 which is secured to the end wall 11 of the neck portion 8. The bevel gears 19, 20 are contained in the housing 25. The pulley wheel 16 and ratchet wheel 21 are outside the housing but a cylindrical cover 26 on the hollow drive shaft 18, of complementary diameter to the recess 24 in the pulley wheel, slidingly engages in the recess and affords protection for the pawl 23 and ratchet wheel.

The knock-off shaft 17 is in effect a plunger being loaded by a helical compression spring 27, which acts between an abutment 181 on the hollow drive shaft 18 and the pulley wheel 16, to a condition in which the pulley wheel is normally close against the ratchet wheel, as shown in Figure 2. In this condition the pawl is able to engage with the ratchet wheel in order to transfer drive from the pulley wheel to the hollow drive shaft for rotating the auger through the bevel gears.

The pulley wheel 16 is adjacent to the front of the hopper, which is remote from the poultry cages 1. A static cable 28 which extends lengthwise of the trough 2 and is anchored at its ends beyond the two ends of the trough, is wound round the pulley wheel. Thus as the hopper 3 travels along the trough the cable causes the pulley wheel to rotate and drive the auger 10. The pawl and ratchet are only effective in transferring rotary drive from the pulley wheel to the hollow drive shaft 18 whilst the hopper is travelling in one direction along the trough.

At the end remote from the pulley wheel the knock-out shaft 17 proiects from the hollow drive shaft rearwardly of the rear of the hopper. A bridge member 29 is secured transversely to the projecting end of the knock-off shaft.

Trip actuators 30 are arranged to be detachably clipped onto a rear edge 31 of each trough at any positions required along the length of the trough. They are made of metal or suitable plastics material and each comprise a flat body part 32, Figures 2 and 4, which has a projecting V-shaped edge 33 but otherwise is substantially rectangular, and resilient depending limbs 34 which snap into engagement with the rear edge 31 of the trough and an adjacent horizontal bar 35 of a cage 1 to retain the actuator in any selected position. There is also a slot 36 in the body part 32 which can receive a vertical bar 37 of a cage to help to locate the actuator against movement longitudinally of the trough. The actuators 30 are fitted so that their V-shaped edges 33 project forwards and lie in the paths of the bridge members 29 of the knock-off shafts as the hoppers travel along the troughs. The arrangement is such that when a bridge member makes contact with the V-shaped edge of an actuator, the edge deflects the bridge member forwards. The deflection slides the knock-off shaft 17 forwards in the hollow drive shaft 18 against the loading of the spring 27 with the result that the pulley wheel 16 is moved forwards and the pawl 23 is disconnected from the ratchet wheel 21. Whilst the pawl is disconnected no drive is transmitted to the hollow drive shaft so that rotation of the auger is stopped and no food is expelled from the hopper into the trough. When the knock-off shaft has passed the actuator 30 it returns under the spring loading to its normal position and the drive between the pulley wheel and hollow drive shaft is re-established as soon as the wheel has rotated sufficiently to bring the pawl into engagement with one of the two teeth 22 of the ratchet wheel.

The diameter of each pulley wheel is selected and the drive transmission to each auger is such that with each half revolution of the pulley wheel the auger is caused to be rotated sufficiently to discharge enough food from its hopper to feed one bird. By adjustment of the sliding shutters 14 in the hoppers, and if necessary replacing the pulley wheels by others of different diameters, the volume of food discharged can be varied.

In use food is charged into the hoppers at one end of the run of cages they serve.

When the hoppers are subsequently moved along the troughs away from that end by the trolley the augers are rotated by their respective driving means 15 and food is discharged into the troughs. When the hoppers reach the other end of the run of cages they return but in the return travel the augers are not rotated so that further food is not discharged into the troughs.

- If all the cages are fully occupied no actuators 30 are applied to the troughs and the augers therefore rotate continuously during the travel of the hoppers. However, if birds are removed for any reason from any of the cages in any row actuators may be clipped to the trough at that row opposite the cages affected, one for each bird removed, in which case at each actuator the auger of the hopper serving the trough will be temporarily stopped and no food will be discharged for the missing birds.

Apart from the function of tripping the drive to the augers, the actuators 30 provide a means of ready visual indication to an operator in charge of the battery cages of the absence of birds from any of the cages, and of the numbers of birds missing.

An auxiliary hopper 38 containing, for example, mineral additives to supplement the food may be attached to each hopper 3 for travel with the hopper, as shown in Figure 5. This also has an auger, not shown, similar to and driven by a drive means 39 which is similar to the drive means 15 of the auger 10 in the main hopper 3, and is arranged to be operated to interrupt the rotation of the auger of the auxiliary hopper in a similar manner to that drive means. Alternatively the auger of the auxiliary hopper may take its drive from the auger of the main hopper.

The modification shown in Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings will now be described. Here the auger 10 delivers food to discharge outlets, not shown, in both of the end walls 11 of the hopper 3. This is achieved by providing two scrolls 40, 41 of opposite hands on the shaft 12 of the auger which extend from near the opposite ends of the shaft to the centre of the shaft. The ends of the shaft project out through the discharge outlets and one end is connected to the driving means 15 in the manner previously described. Vertically slidable shutters 42 on the end walls 11 above the discharge outlets can be adjusted to vary the the amount of food which can be discharged through the outlets by the auger.

If desired, the scrolls could alternatively be arranged to move food to a single discharge outlet at the middle of the bottom 8 of the hopper.

Referring again to Figure 6, the end of the shaft 12 remote from the drive means provides the drive for a food agitating mechanism 43 mounted in the hopper above the auger. The mechanism ensures that the food will not become compacted in the hopper. The end of the shaft 12 carries fast with it, outside of the hopper, a disc 44 having an eccentric pin 45 on it which is connected to the lower end of a cranked link 46. The upper end of the cranked link is connected by a pin 47 to the outer end of a radial arm 48 which extends rearwardly from one end of a shaft 49 passing horizontally through the hopper and journalled in bearings 50 on the end walls of the hopper. Mounted on the shaft 49 inside the hopper are two radial links 51 having bifurcated outer ends in which are pivotally connected upper ends of depending arms 52 which support between them two horizontal, vertically spaced, agitating bars 53 which cut through the food in the hopper. As the auger rotates the eccentric pin 45 causes the cranked link 46 to oscillate up and down and swing the radial arm 48 up and down. The swinging movement of the arm partially rotates the shaft 49 which in turn moves the radial links 51 angularly and causes shaking movement of the depending arms 52 and the agitating bars 53.

One further modification is shown in Figure 6 which is the provision of a spreader 54 for levelling food out which has been disharged into the trough. The spreader consists of a vertical plate 55 of regular trapezoidal shape with its parallel sides extending horizontally transversely of the trough and a shorter one of those sides lowermost, which plate is secured to the lower end of a vertically adjustable arm 56 on a bracket 57 secured to the neck portion of the hopper at the end of the hopper remote from the driving means 15. The vertical adjustment of the arm 56 is made possible by a vertical slot in the arm engaged by a bolt 58 screwed into the bracket 57. The plate 55 depends into the trough and, of course, the height at which it operates to level the food in the trough is adjustable.

The invention may be applied to the feeding of animals, including pigs and cattle, as well as to poultry and other birds.

An embodiment of the invention for supplying food to pigs is shown in Figure 7.

Two back-to-back rows (only one of which is shown) of stalls or pens 59 have a receptacle 60 for the food extending lengthwise continuously between them. The receptacle is separated by partitions 61 into individual sections for the pigs. A hopper 62 which serves the receptacle is wheeled and runs on rails 63 supported above the receptacle out of the reach of the pigs.

The hopper is driven in a similar manner to the trolley of the first-described embodiment by a wire rope circuit 64 passing around reeling drums 65 above opposite ends of the receptacle, one of the drum being driven by an electric motor 66.

An auger, not shown, in the hopper and its driving means are similar to those provided in the first-described embodiment. A rail 67 also supported above the receptacle 60 extends along one side of the travel path of the hopper 62 and may have trip actuators 68, as before, clipped to it opposite any sections of the receptacle to which food is not required to be discharged.

For some animals such as pigs it is desirable to confine the supply of food for each animal to a short length of the trough or receptacle, rather than spread it out along the full extent of the section of the trough available for feeding that animal.

This requirement may be met by providing a collecting container below the discharge outlet or outlets of the or each hopper into which food from the hopper passes and is accumulated therein, and which is arranged to be opened at intervals by electrical cr mechanical means to discharge the accnmu- lasted food into the trough or receptacle.

Thus although the hopper may supply food continuously to the collecting container the container enables the food to be supplied to the trough in batches.

WHAT I CLAIM IS:- 1. In or for a livestock feeding appliance of the kind set forth, a travelling hoDDer which includes an impeller for supplying food to a discharge outlet of the hopper, and driving means connected to the impeller and comprising a pulley wheel driv mgly engaged by a cable which is fixed, or adapted to be fixed, relative to and lengthwise of the receptacle supplied by the hopper in use, the hopper moving relative to the cable as it travels along the receptacle and the arrangement being such that the pulley wheel is caused to be rotated by the cable, and the impeller is thereby driven, only during travel of the hopper along the receptacle.

2. A travelling hopper according to Claim 1 wherein the impeller is an auger rotatably mounted in the hopper.

3. A travelling hopper according to Claim 2 wherein there are two discharge outlets at opposite ends of the hopper. and the auger has helical scrolls of opposite hands which enable the auger to supply food to both discharge outlets when it is rotated.

4. A travelling hopper according to Claim 2 wherein the discharge outlet is centrally disposed in the bottom of the hopper, and the auger extends beyond opposite sides of the outlet and has helical scrolls of opposite hands which enable the auger to supply food to the outlet from the opposite sides thereof.

5. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein adjustable means acts in combination with the impeller to provide variable control of the discharge of food from the hopper through the or each discharge outlet.

6. A travelling hopper according to Claim 5 wherein the adjustable means comprises at the or each discharge outlet a shutter which is adjustable to alter the effective size of the outlet.

7. A travelling hopper according to Claim 5 wherein the adjustable means comprises a shutter within the hopper adjacent to at least a part of the impeller, and forming an adjustable barrier which variably restricts the amount of food which may be in close enough proximity to the impeller to be encouraged to be moved by the impeller to the discharge outlet.

8. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein the driving means is adjustable to vary the speed of operation of the impeller.

9. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein the driving means drives the impeller in one direction only of travel of the hopper in use.

10. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein trip means is provided which is selectively co-operable with the driving means temporarily to interrupt operation of the impeller during any part of the travel of the hopper in use, thereby to interrupt discharge of food from the hopper through the or each discharge outlet.

11. A travelling hopper according to Claim 10 wherein the trip means is, or is adapted to be, permanently mounted on or in association with the receptacle which the hopper supplies in use and can be set in operative and inoperative conditions.

12. A travelling hopper according to Claim 11 wherein the trip means comprises a plurality of actuators each of which can be set in operative and inoperative conditions independently of the others.

13. A travelling hopper according to Claim 10 wherein the trip means comprise one or more actuators which are releasably mountable on or in association with the receptacle which the hopper supplies in use to be effective at any selected part of the receptacle.

14. A travelling hopper according to Claim 9 or any of Claims 10 to 13 as dependent from Claim 9 wherein the driving means includes a ratchet and pawl mech- anism intermediate the pulley wheel and the impeller which permits drive to be transmitted to the impeller when the pulley wheel is rotated in one direction only.

15. A travelling hopper according to Claim 9 or any of Claims 10 to 13 as dependent from Claim 9 wherein the driving means includes a ratchet and pawl mechanism intermediate the pulley wheel and the impeller, and a or the trip means operates to disengage the pawl and ratchet to interrupt the drive to the impeller.

16. A travelling hopper according to Claim 16 as dependent from Claim 12 or Claim 13 wherein a plunger or lever is connected to the pawl, and the or each actuator has a profiled surface or edge with which the plunger or lever co-operates to

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. any sections of the receptacle to which food is not required to be discharged. For some animals such as pigs it is desirable to confine the supply of food for each animal to a short length of the trough or receptacle, rather than spread it out along the full extent of the section of the trough available for feeding that animal. This requirement may be met by providing a collecting container below the discharge outlet or outlets of the or each hopper into which food from the hopper passes and is accumulated therein, and which is arranged to be opened at intervals by electrical cr mechanical means to discharge the accnmu- lasted food into the trough or receptacle. Thus although the hopper may supply food continuously to the collecting container the container enables the food to be supplied to the trough in batches. WHAT I CLAIM IS:-

1. In or for a livestock feeding appliance of the kind set forth, a travelling hoDDer which includes an impeller for supplying food to a discharge outlet of the hopper, and driving means connected to the impeller and comprising a pulley wheel driv mgly engaged by a cable which is fixed, or adapted to be fixed, relative to and lengthwise of the receptacle supplied by the hopper in use, the hopper moving relative to the cable as it travels along the receptacle and the arrangement being such that the pulley wheel is caused to be rotated by the cable, and the impeller is thereby driven, only during travel of the hopper along the receptacle.

cause the pawl and ratchet to be disengaged.

17. A travelling hopper according to Claim 15 wherein the pawl is carried by the pulley wheel, the pulley wheel is mounted and is fixed relative to a spring-loaded shaft, the ratchet is carried by a hollow drive shaft which is drivingly connected to the impeller and co-axially through which the spring-loaded shaft extends and is axially movable relative to thereto, the spring-loading normally urging the shaft to a position in which the pawl is engaged with the ratchet, and an end of the springloaded shaft is adapted to co-operate with the trip means to be moved axially thereby against the spring-loading to disengage the pawl from the ratchet.

18. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein the piilley wheel is detachable and replaceable by another of different diameter for varying the operation of the impeller.

19. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein an auxiliary hopper is attached to the hopper for travel with the hopper and has an impeller for supplying food to a discharge outlet of the auxiliary hopper and driving means adapted to relate operation of the impeller of the auxiliary hopper to the travel of that hopper in use.

20. A travelling hopper according to any of Claims 1 to 18 wherein an auxiliary hopper is attached to the hopper for travel with the hopper and has an impeller for supplying food to a discharge outlet of the auxiliary hopper and which impeller takes its drive from the impeller of the travelling hopper.

21. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein agitating means is provided within the hopper for agitating food contained in the hopper in use, which agitating means is driven by the impeller.

22. A travelling hopper according to Claim 21 wherein the agitating means comprises bars carried by arms depending eccentrically from a shaft which is supported in the hopper and is partially rotat2ble by a link eccentrically connected at one end to the shaft and at the opposite end to the impeller.

23. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein a spreader is provided which depends below the hopper and is adapted for levelling food out which has been discharged into the receptacle from the hopper in use.

24. A travelling hopper according to Claim 23 wherein the spreader comprises a plate which is vertically adjustable on a bracket mounted on the hopper.

25. A travelling hopper according to any preceding claim wherein below the o each dishcharge outlet of the hopper a collecting container is provided which receives the food discharged from the hopper in use by the impeller, and means is provided for opening the collecting container at intervals during the travel of the hopper thereby to supply the food accumulated therein to the receptacle in batches.

26. A battery or like system for livestock having a feeding appliance of the kind set forth which includes a travelling hopper as claimed in any preceding claim.

27. A battery or like system for livestock comprising a row of compartments and having a feeding appliance of the kind set forth the receptacle of which extends along the row of compartments, and which appliance includes a travelling hopper as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 25 which supplies food to the receptacle.

28. A battery or like system for livestock according to Claim 27 wherein the travelling hopper is as claimed in Claim 12, or in any of Claims 14 to 25 as dependent from Claim 12, and one of said actuators is provided opposite each compartment for each bird or animal which the compartment may contain when it is fully occupied, the arrangement being such that for each bird or animal that is missing from the compart- ment at any time one of the actuators can be set in the operative condition to interrupt operation of the impeller as the hopper travels past the compartment in use sufficiently to interrupt discharge of food from the hopper by an amount equivalent to that which the missing bird or animal would have required.

29. A battery or like system for livestock according to Claim 27 wherein the travelling hopper is as claimed in Claim 13, or in any of Claims 14 to 25 as dependent from Claim 13, and a plurality of said actuators is provided which are releasably mountable on or in association with the receptacle opposite the compartments, the arrangement being such that when a bird qr animal is missing from any one of the com- partments at any time whilst the system is in use one of the actuators can be mounted opposite the relevant compartment to interrupt operation of the impeller as the hopper travels past the compartment sufficiently to interrupt discharge of food from the hopper by an amount equivalent to that which the missing bird or animal would have required.

30. A travelling hopper for a livestock feeding appliance of the kind set forth, substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

31. A travelling hopper for a livestock feeding appliance of the kind set forth. substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 4 as modified by Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

32. A travelling hopper for al ivestock feeding appliance of the kind set forth, substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 4 as modified by Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.

33. A poultry battery cage system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

34. A poultry battery cage system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 4 as modified by Figure 5 of the accompanying drawing.

35. A poultry battery cage system substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 4 as modified by Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.

36. A travelling hopper for a livestock feeding appliance of the kind set forth, substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.

37. A housing system for pigs substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.