GB2063183A - Live birds handling equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to the handling of live poultry from farm to factory. In order to minimise damage to the birds they are transferred from a controlled environment house (5) to an air conditioned closed-sided vehicle (1) fitted with an awning (4) to integrate the vehicle (1) with the house (5). The transfer takes place on a conveyor (11) feeding birds onto a rotary loading table (12) whence they are transferred onto conveyors (40) in cages (9) in the vehicle (1). Catching, loading, transport and unloading preferably take place under conditions of subdued lighting to mute bird activity. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Live bird handling equipment This invention relates to equipment for the handling of live birds, particularly poultry being collected from the farm where they are grown and transported to the factory for slaughter and preparation.

Conventionally, poultry are caught manually at the farm and put into cages or crates which are transported on lorries (and/or rail vehicles) to the factory where the birds are manually transferred onto overhead shackle, conveyors on which they are carried to the stunning and slaughtering stages and to various subsequent stages of preparation.

This handling of live birds, and theirtransportation, leads to a considerable amount of damage to the birds, particularly broken wings and body damage, such as scratching and bruising. The overall damage percentage may be 10% or even higher and since damaged birds do not merit such a high price as undamaged birds, the economic loss is considerable. It will also be understood that the manual handling is also labour-intensive and therefore expensive so that a reduction in the amount of manual handling will lead to benefits of reduced costs and reduced losses due to damaged birds.

In one particular conventional mode of operation, the birds are caught in the house and carried outside for crating, e.g. 10 birds to a crate. The crates are then stacked onto a lorry, i.e. an open sided vehicle, so that the birds are to a large extent exposed to the weather during transit, Exposures to temperatures outside a fairly narrow range can adversely affect the live weight of the birds, leading to an adverse economic effect apart from humanitarian considerations. At the factory the birds are removed manually from the crates and transferred to the overhead shackle conveyor.

In another conventional mode of procedure the crates are permanently mounted on the lorry. This increases the capacity of the lorry but tends to increase the difficulties of crating the birds, which have to be lifted, or thrown, to higher levels for crating on the lorry itself. This leads to higher labour costs and potential damage to the birds. Again the vehicle is at least semi open-sided so that the birds are exposed to the weather.

It is also possible to have the crates assembled together in modules so that crating takes place at ground level and stacking on the lorry or trailer is simplified. It has also been proposed that the birds caught in the house should be loaded onto shackle conveyors to be carried outside for crating but this entails a lot of handling.

All of these systems involve much manual handling, which is an unpleasant job, and much of it is outside the house so that the handling personnel, as well as the birds, are exposed to the weather. The jobs are therefore classified as being dirty in nature giving rise to personnel problems, including a low standard of handling and absenteeism.

Poultry are normally grown in a controlled environment within a house since they appear to thrive best at a temperature close to 19"C, plus or minus a few degrees. The climatic temperature variations in the U.K. are between about -5 C and 30"C. If while being transported the birds are subjected to low temperatures, they tend to shiver and become tense and also do not bleed when slaughtered and eat tough. At high temperatures the birds sweat, gasp and become agitated and so may become damaged as well as losing weight. In wet weather they tend to become wet, cold and dirty, while if the vehicles are caught in traffic jams the birds tend to become overheated, or in winter conditions excessively chilled, owing to increased journey times.The birds are also very sensitive to light and are normally kept in semi-darkness to mute their activity.

The present invention relates to an improved method of handling live birds between the growing houses and the factory and also to vehicles and equipment for the handling.

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of handling live birds from a controlled environment house which includes moving a closed-sided air conditioned vehicle to the house and integrating the interior of the vehicle with the interior of the house, the vehicle having mechanically loadable storage facilities for the birds, catching the birds in the house and loading them onto the storage facilities without significant change of environment and transporting the birds in the vehicle to a factory for offloading.

The vehicle or the house may include a folding awning for integrating the environments by forming a closed passage between the house and the vehicle.

The catching and loading are preferably carried out under subdued white or blue light to minimise bird activity.

The unloading of the birds may also take place in a fully enclosed hanging-on area in a controlled environment and under subdued lighting conditions, preferably with the birds being mechanicallyun- loaded from the storage facilities and manually hung onto a shackle conveyor for handling within the factory.

The storage facilities in the vehicle preferably comprise one or more stacks of superimposed cages each including a reversible belt conveyor to act as an effective floor and mechanical loading and unloading device. The vehicle may have a cooperating belt conveyor shiftable for successively loading the belt conveyors in the cages, and also usable for unloading them.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle for transporting live birds comprising a closed-sided body incorporating a series of stacks of superimposed cages each including a reversibly drivable belt conveyor for loading and supporting birds.

Preferably, the body is air conditioned and preferably also the sides are removable for cleaning and sterilizing as required.

The vehicle preferably also has a loading belt conveyor adapted to co-operate separately with the individual conveyors in the cages for loading birds into the cages and for unloading the birds from the cages.

The vehicle may also carry a folding awning at the openable rear thereof to integrate the interior of the vehicle body with the interior of a bird house to stabilize the environment of the birds during transfer to the vehicle.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a vehicle in loading position adjacent a house; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the vehicle of Figure 1, cut away to illustrate some details; Figure 3 illustrates the vehicle in course of loading; Figure 4 illustrates a rear portion of the vehicle in transport position except that a tail lift is in down position; Figure 5 illustrates a cage section; Figure 6 illustrates an arrangement for unloading the vehicle at a factory; and Figure 7 shows more detail of the arrangement of Figure 6.

In the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a closed-sided vehicle 1 of which the sides 2 are in the form of removable panels for ease of cleaning. The vehicle body can be seen as being equipped with an air conditioning unit 3, and it would also be seen that the rear of the vehicle there is mounted a fordable awning 4 to shield the gap between the vehicle and a house 5 from the outside atmosphere and light so as to integrate the interiors of the house and vehicle body. The vehicle body is shown as having an hydraulic control panel 6, and also an hydraulic tail lift 7.

Turning now to Figure 2, the vehicle is shown in generally transport position, with the awning 4 folded inward to the vehicle and the taillift 7 in the raised position. In addition, Figure 2 illustrates that the vehicle body is provided with racking 8 which divides the body into superposed cage areas, each of which is provided with a belt conveyor, of which only one if illustrated at 9, extending substantially the length of the vehicle body and adapted to support live birds, indicated at 10, for transport within the vehicle.

Figure 3 shows how a loading belt conveyor 11, which is pivotally connected on the vehicle by a telescopic extension bar 1 lea, may be used for transporting birds from the interior of the bird house 5 to the vehicle, where they are accumulated on a manually operable rotary table 12 until there are sufficient to start one of the conveyors 9 adjacent the table so that the birds can be close packed onto it as they are carried into the cage area. For efficient packing, when the table 12 is empty, the conveyor should be stopped. Catching is carried out under subdued lighting so that the birds are in a somnolent condition and need a minimum of handing and restraint and will in fact submit tamely to being placed on the conveyor and carried along it to the table and thence to the interior of the vehicle.

Turning to Figure 4, it can be seen that the conveyor 11 and the table 12 are both in fact mounted on the vehicle itself and in Figure 4 they are shown in a vertical storage position, with the conveyor 11 folded. They may be laterally and vertically adjusted, by appropriate hydraulic rams under the control of the hydraulic control panel 6 so as to be alignable with each and every one of the conveyors 9 individually. Thus, the birds can be loaded into the vehicle virtually as fast as they can be caught. Figure 4 also shows a number of extensions 13 for the conveyor 11 stored in a rack beneath the vehicle body for use when required. The awning 4 is shown in the folded position and the tail lift 7 in the lowered position. As the tail lift 7 is raised, the awning 4 may be further folded to bring its lower portion clear of the ground.

Figure 5 shows that within each cage area, the conveyor 9 runs over a pair of rollers 13, and it also shows a rear door 14forthe cage area so that, once loaded, the door 14 may be closed and the birds retained. Further, it shows side edging 15, partly omitted, which prevents the birds falling out of the cage area should they stray too close to the edge of the belt 9. The cage areas may be arranged in two or more stacks arranged side-by-side with a central air and access corridor between the stack, and it is envisaged that the birds may be loaded, e.g. three or four abreast on the individual conveyors 9 within the case areas.

Once loading of the vehicle is complete, the conveyor 11 is retracted and folded into its transport position, and the rotary table 12 is also put into its transport position. The awning 4 is brought to its folded position and the tail lift raised for transport.

The birds are then taken in a controlled environment, maintained by the conditioning unit 3, to a factory, and preferably in order to maintain the condition of the birds and minimise handling at the factory, they are unloaded in a fully enclosed hanging-on area into which the vehicle may be driven. This is illustrated in Figure 6, in which the vehicle 1 is shown enclosed buy a building extension 16 into which there extends a shackle conveyor 17 onto which the birds can be suspended for transport into the factory for stunning, slaughtering and subsequent processing.

Figure 7 illustrates how the conveyor 11 may be swung on the bar 1 lea and used to carry the birds away from the individual conveyors 9 towards the conveyor 17, which has shackles 18 onto which the birds can be transferred. By providing appropriate air conditioning in the building extension 16 and also suitable lighting, for example blue, the birds can be maintained in a somnolent condition during this unloading from the vehicle and subsequent loading onto the conveyor 17. In order to reach the position of Figure 7, the conveyor 11 has to be manually adjusted on the bar 1 1a to a position athwart the vehicle rather than longitudinal thereof.

Various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims (16)

1. A vehicle for transporting live birds comprising a closed-sided body incorporating a series of stacks of superimposed cages each including a reversibly drivable belt conveyor for loading and supporting birds.

2. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, in which the body includes air-conditioning means.

3. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the side of the body are removable for cleaning and sterilizing.

4. Avehicle as claimed in claim 1,2 or 3, comprising a loading belt conveyor adapted to co-operate separately with the individual conveyors in the cages for loading birds into the cages and for unloading the birds from the cages.

5. A vehicle as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a rotary loading table to collect birds from the loading conveyor for batch loading to the cages.

6. A vehicle as claimed in claim 5, wherein the loading conveyor is pivotally attached to the vehicle by a telescopic extension bar enabling it to be spaced from the vehicle with the loading table interposed between the loading conveyor and the vehicle.

7. A vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising a folding awning at the openable rear of the vehicle to integrate the interior of the vehicle body with the interior of a bird house to stabilize the environment of the birds during transfer to the vehicle.

8. A vehicle for transporting live birds substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

9. A method of handling live birds from a controlled environment house which includes moving a closed-sided air conditioned vehicle to the house and integrating the interior of the vehicle with the interior of the house, the vehicle having mechanically loadable storage facilities for the birds, catching the birds in the house and loading them onto the storage facilities without significant change of environment and transporting the birds in the vehicle to a factory for offloading.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, in which the vehicle or the house includes a folding awning for integrating the environments by forming a closed passage between the house and the vehicle.

11. A method as claimed in claim 9 or 10, in which the catching and loading takes place under subdued lighting to minimise bird activity.

12. A method as claimed in claim 9, 10 or 11, in which unloading of the birds from the vehicle takes place in a fully enclosed hanging-on area in a controlled environment and under subdued lighting conditions.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, in which the birds are mechanically unloaded from the storage facilities and manually hung onto a shackle conveyor for handling within the factory.

14. A method as claimed in any of claims 9 to 13, in which the storage facilities in the vehicle comprise one or more stacks of superimposed cages each including a reversible belt conveyor to act as an effective floor and mechanical loading and unloading device.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, in which the vehicle has a cooperating belt conveyor shiftable for successively loading the belt conveyors in the cages, and also usable for unloading them.

16. A method of handling live birds from a controlled environment house substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.