GB2100569A - Improvements in bedding, litter or the like for livestock - Google Patents

Improvements in bedding, litter or the like for livestock Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2100569A
GB2100569A GB08119153A GB8119153A GB2100569A GB 2100569 A GB2100569 A GB 2100569A GB 08119153 A GB08119153 A GB 08119153A GB 8119153 A GB8119153 A GB 8119153A GB 2100569 A GB2100569 A GB 2100569A
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GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
bodies
bedding
litter
polystyrene
preformed
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB08119153A
Inventor
Colin Fenton
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to GB08119153A priority Critical patent/GB2100569A/en
Publication of GB2100569A publication Critical patent/GB2100569A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01KANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
    • A01K1/00Housing animals; Equipment therefor
    • A01K1/015Floor coverings, e.g. bedding-down sheets ; Stable floors
    • A01K1/0152Litter
    • A01K1/0155Litter comprising organic material
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01KANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
    • A01K1/00Housing animals; Equipment therefor
    • A01K1/015Floor coverings, e.g. bedding-down sheets ; Stable floors
    • A01K1/0152Litter

Landscapes

  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Environmental Sciences (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Animal Husbandry (AREA)
  • Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
  • Housing For Livestock And Birds (AREA)

Abstract

An equine bedding or litter comprises discrete rod-like or tube-like bodies of closed-cell expanded polystyrene.

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in bedding, litter or the like for livestock The present invention relates to bedding, litter or the like for animals, and more particularly to bedding for use in stabling horses.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved bedding or litter material as an alternative to the more usually employed straw, wood shavings or peat which is currently relatively expensive and often difficult to obtain and/or handle and/or dispose of in bulk.
The animal bedding or litter according to the present invention comprises discrete bodies of a synthetic plastics material.
The characteristics of the bodies should be such that, when the bodies are distributed over a stable floortoform a layerofthe required depth, they will provide a relatively soft and/or resilient bedding possessing the required degree of thermal insulation, they will allow urine to permeate therebetween without significant absorption, and they will resist, or will not be readily prone to movement or flow transversely to an extent which would result in exposure of the underlying stable floor, due to normal movements of the horse. These characteristics may be achieved by the choice of basic synthetic material, and/orthe manner in which it is formed into the discrete bodies, and/or the shape(s) and/or size(s) of the bodies.
I have discovered that a particularly advantageous material is polystyrene, such as expanded polystyrene. This material is inert in the sense that it does not appear to give rise to any harmful effects due to contact with horses, nor is it usually attractive to horses to eat, and even if eaten, does not appear to be harmful. Furthermore, such material is readily available in bulk, since it is commonly employed, in a variety of forms, as a protective packaging material for industrial and domestic articles.
The bodies may, for example, comprise chips, strips, granules or pellets, or equivalent, obtained for example, by crushing, shredding or otherwise breaking down scrap preformed closed-cell, expanded polystyrene blocks or other shapes used in packaging. Alternatively, the bodies may be molded or otherwise preformed to the required shape(s) and size(s), and as such may comprise one or more of the currently available preformed shapes employed for packaging. Such preformed shapes or bodies are marketed, for example by Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd., under the trade name " ". The bodies whether preformed or not, may, for example, be of such a size that their major dimension is of the order of 1 to 3cm or more.
The individual bodies are preferably not spherical, nor should they have an overall smooth rounded shape approaching spherical, since, as a mass, they will then tend to be readily displaced and positionally unstable underfoot. Furthermore, such bodies might require dams, baffles, or other retaining means at stable doors or other openings to prevent unintentional out-flow.
Appropriate preformed shapes may be star, corrugated, or chopped tube or rod.
Whilst polystyrene, such as closed-cell expanded polystyrene, has been proposed, other forms of polystyrene, and/or other plastics materials, may be employed.
The synthetic plastics bodies may be used as bedding or litter for livestock other than horses, for example cattle, and/or it may be used for surfacing show rings, etc, used for horses or cattle, for example it may form at least the top surface of a show jumping arena.
The bodies may be used alone, or in combination with other materials, i.e. they may be mixed with conventional bedding or litter materials, such as straw.
The bodies may be recycled, i.e. may be cleaned and/or disinfected in an appropriate manner, and reused. In this respect, synthetic materials such as polystyrene posses the advantage over conventional natural litter materials that the former are relatively inert, and are not degraded to any significant extent by recycling or cleaning using hot liquid cleansing agents, detergents or disinfectants.
Thus, from another aspect, the present invention provides a bedding or litter material for livestock as hereinbefore described, in combination with apparatus or reclaiming and recycling contaminated bedding or litter material.
Alternatively, the bodies (and optionally their contaminants) may be destroyed, consumed or otherwise disposed of, for example incinerated, dissolved or otherwise degraded.
Thus, from yet another aspect, the invention provides a bedding or litter material for livestock as hereinbefore described, in combination with apparatus for disposing of such material.
Disinfectants, fungicides, germicides, and/or bactericides, or the like, and/or colouring agents or dyes, may be added to, or combined with, the material hereinbefore described. Alternatively or additionally, the material may be prepared or treated to render it biodegradable.
CLAIMS (Filed 22.6.82) 1. An animal bedding or litter which comprises discrete bodies of a synthetic plastic material, the bodies being of such a size and shape that, in use, when laid to form a layer several bodies deep, the bodies tend to resist generally transverse separational movement due to normal movements of an animal.
2. An equine bedding or litter comprising discrete bodies of a synthetic plastic material, the bodies being of rod-like or tu be-like form.
3. A bedding or litter as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the bodies are sized and shaped to resemble natural straw.
4. A bedding or litter as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the plastics material comprises polystyrene or equivalent.
5. A bedding or litter as claimed in claim 4, wherein the polystyrene or equivalent is closed-cell, expanded polystyrene or equivalent.
**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (7)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. SPECIFICATION Improvements in bedding, litter or the like for livestock The present invention relates to bedding, litter or the like for animals, and more particularly to bedding for use in stabling horses. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved bedding or litter material as an alternative to the more usually employed straw, wood shavings or peat which is currently relatively expensive and often difficult to obtain and/or handle and/or dispose of in bulk. The animal bedding or litter according to the present invention comprises discrete bodies of a synthetic plastics material. The characteristics of the bodies should be such that, when the bodies are distributed over a stable floortoform a layerofthe required depth, they will provide a relatively soft and/or resilient bedding possessing the required degree of thermal insulation, they will allow urine to permeate therebetween without significant absorption, and they will resist, or will not be readily prone to movement or flow transversely to an extent which would result in exposure of the underlying stable floor, due to normal movements of the horse. These characteristics may be achieved by the choice of basic synthetic material, and/orthe manner in which it is formed into the discrete bodies, and/or the shape(s) and/or size(s) of the bodies. I have discovered that a particularly advantageous material is polystyrene, such as expanded polystyrene. This material is inert in the sense that it does not appear to give rise to any harmful effects due to contact with horses, nor is it usually attractive to horses to eat, and even if eaten, does not appear to be harmful. Furthermore, such material is readily available in bulk, since it is commonly employed, in a variety of forms, as a protective packaging material for industrial and domestic articles. The bodies may, for example, comprise chips, strips, granules or pellets, or equivalent, obtained for example, by crushing, shredding or otherwise breaking down scrap preformed closed-cell, expanded polystyrene blocks or other shapes used in packaging. Alternatively, the bodies may be molded or otherwise preformed to the required shape(s) and size(s), and as such may comprise one or more of the currently available preformed shapes employed for packaging. Such preformed shapes or bodies are marketed, for example by Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd., under the trade name " ". The bodies whether preformed or not, may, for example, be of such a size that their major dimension is of the order of 1 to 3cm or more. The individual bodies are preferably not spherical, nor should they have an overall smooth rounded shape approaching spherical, since, as a mass, they will then tend to be readily displaced and positionally unstable underfoot. Furthermore, such bodies might require dams, baffles, or other retaining means at stable doors or other openings to prevent unintentional out-flow. Appropriate preformed shapes may be star, corrugated, or chopped tube or rod. Whilst polystyrene, such as closed-cell expanded polystyrene, has been proposed, other forms of polystyrene, and/or other plastics materials, may be employed. The synthetic plastics bodies may be used as bedding or litter for livestock other than horses, for example cattle, and/or it may be used for surfacing show rings, etc, used for horses or cattle, for example it may form at least the top surface of a show jumping arena. The bodies may be used alone, or in combination with other materials, i.e. they may be mixed with conventional bedding or litter materials, such as straw. The bodies may be recycled, i.e. may be cleaned and/or disinfected in an appropriate manner, and reused. In this respect, synthetic materials such as polystyrene posses the advantage over conventional natural litter materials that the former are relatively inert, and are not degraded to any significant extent by recycling or cleaning using hot liquid cleansing agents, detergents or disinfectants. Thus, from another aspect, the present invention provides a bedding or litter material for livestock as hereinbefore described, in combination with apparatus or reclaiming and recycling contaminated bedding or litter material. Alternatively, the bodies (and optionally their contaminants) may be destroyed, consumed or otherwise disposed of, for example incinerated, dissolved or otherwise degraded. Thus, from yet another aspect, the invention provides a bedding or litter material for livestock as hereinbefore described, in combination with apparatus for disposing of such material. Disinfectants, fungicides, germicides, and/or bactericides, or the like, and/or colouring agents or dyes, may be added to, or combined with, the material hereinbefore described. Alternatively or additionally, the material may be prepared or treated to render it biodegradable. CLAIMS (Filed 22.6.82)
1. An animal bedding or litter which comprises discrete bodies of a synthetic plastic material, the bodies being of such a size and shape that, in use, when laid to form a layer several bodies deep, the bodies tend to resist generally transverse separational movement due to normal movements of an animal.
2. An equine bedding or litter comprising discrete bodies of a synthetic plastic material, the bodies being of rod-like or tu be-like form.
3. A bedding or litter as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the bodies are sized and shaped to resemble natural straw.
4. A bedding or litter as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the plastics material comprises polystyrene or equivalent.
5. A bedding or litter as claimed in claim 4, wherein the polystyrene or equivalent is closed-cell, expanded polystyrene or equivalent.
6. A bedding or litter as claimed in claims 2 and 5, or claim 3 or 4 in combination with claim 5, wherein the polystyrene or equivalent is partially expanded to an extent such that it tends to fold or crease, rather than break, if subjected to an excessive bending load.
7. An animal bedding or litter substantially as hereinbefore described.
GB08119153A 1981-06-22 1981-06-22 Improvements in bedding, litter or the like for livestock Withdrawn GB2100569A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB08119153A GB2100569A (en) 1981-06-22 1981-06-22 Improvements in bedding, litter or the like for livestock

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB08119153A GB2100569A (en) 1981-06-22 1981-06-22 Improvements in bedding, litter or the like for livestock

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB2100569A true GB2100569A (en) 1983-01-06

Family

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Family Applications (1)

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GB08119153A Withdrawn GB2100569A (en) 1981-06-22 1981-06-22 Improvements in bedding, litter or the like for livestock

Country Status (1)

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Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1986000781A1 (en) * 1983-02-02 1986-02-13 Sally Carden Davies An animal mattress
US5184574A (en) * 1990-12-20 1993-02-09 Kirk Robert C Cat litter box
EP0528660A2 (en) * 1991-08-17 1993-02-24 Dunlop Limited Livestock bedding
US5429073A (en) * 1993-10-26 1995-07-04 Shakespeare Company Bedding materials for animals
US6453846B2 (en) * 1999-03-15 2002-09-24 Rapac, Inc. Method of applying bedding on the floor of a poultry rearing barn and for recycling or disposing of spent bedding
US8464500B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2013-06-18 Shelly Ann Townsend Process for reprocessing soiled animal bedding
US9596827B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2017-03-21 Shelly Ann Townsend Method for reprocessing animal bedding
US10626059B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2020-04-21 Equine Eco Green, Llc System and method for reprocessing animal bedding
US10995041B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2021-05-04 Equine Eco Green, Llc System and method for reprocessing animal bedding

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1986000781A1 (en) * 1983-02-02 1986-02-13 Sally Carden Davies An animal mattress
US5184574A (en) * 1990-12-20 1993-02-09 Kirk Robert C Cat litter box
EP0528660A2 (en) * 1991-08-17 1993-02-24 Dunlop Limited Livestock bedding
GB2258990A (en) * 1991-08-17 1993-03-03 Dunlop Ltd Livestock bedding.
EP0528660A3 (en) * 1991-08-17 1993-10-27 Dunlop Ltd Livestock bedding
US5429073A (en) * 1993-10-26 1995-07-04 Shakespeare Company Bedding materials for animals
US6453846B2 (en) * 1999-03-15 2002-09-24 Rapac, Inc. Method of applying bedding on the floor of a poultry rearing barn and for recycling or disposing of spent bedding
US8464500B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2013-06-18 Shelly Ann Townsend Process for reprocessing soiled animal bedding
US9596827B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2017-03-21 Shelly Ann Townsend Method for reprocessing animal bedding
US10626059B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2020-04-21 Equine Eco Green, Llc System and method for reprocessing animal bedding
US10995041B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2021-05-04 Equine Eco Green, Llc System and method for reprocessing animal bedding
US11472751B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2022-10-18 Equine Eco Green, Llc System and method for reprocessing animal bedding
US11649193B2 (en) 2009-02-23 2023-05-16 Equine Eco Green, Llc System and method for reprocessing animal bedding

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