GB2386309A

GB2386309A - Livestock handling crate

Info

Publication number: GB2386309A
Application number: GB0311844A
Authority: GB
Inventors: George Candlish Clark
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-05-19
Filing date: 2000-05-19
Publication date: 2003-09-17
Anticipated expiration: 2020-05-19
Also published as: GB0311844D0; GB2386310A; GB2386310B; GB2386309B; GB0311845D0

Abstract

A livestock handling crate having a pivotally mounted leg restraint member 38. The leg restraint has an out of use position that allows the animal entry into the crate and an in use position in which it extends across the crate and restricts the movements of the animal's rear legs in a forward direction. Preferably there is a leg restraint member on either side of the crate and in their out of use position they lie flush with the side of the crate.

Description

1 "Livestock Handling Apparatus " 3 This invention relates to livestock

handling apparatus.

5 When treating livestock, and especially cattle, it is 6 well known to restrain the animal in a handling crate 7 having at one end a headgate. The animal's head passes 8 through the gate which then partially closes to prevent 9 withdrawal, while its body is contained within the 10 crate by side walls and a rump bar passing round the 11 rear of the animal. Side doors are provided on the 12 crate to give the farmer easy access to the animal. A 13 traditional problem has been to provide sufficient 14 access while still preventing substantial movement of 15 the animal, which can struggle before and during 16 treatment with consequent injury to itself and to the 17 farmer.

19 It is known to provide a horizontal main steel bar 20 extending along the side of the crate at a height of 21 about a metre from the base, below which the doors open 22 and close, and this gives reasonable lateral restraint 23 for the animal. However, many operations such as

1 cleaning have to be carried out manually at the rear of 2 the animal at the height of its thighs, and the bar 3 tends to interfere and make such operations awkward to 4 carry out.

6 In addition, while the rump bar provides rear restraint 7 for the animal it does not prevent the animal from 8 kicking its hind legs which again can be dangerous for 9 the animal and for the farmer.

ll A further disadvantage of some existing crates is that 12 access to the upper parts of the animal are restricted 13 by steel bars extending along the sides of the crate 14 above the doors and the horizontal main bar. To 15 improve this it has been suggested to split these bars 16 midway along their length and provide them with hinges 17 so that they can be pivoted outwardly in the manner of 18 gates when access to the animal is required This lo causes the gates to project outwardly from the side of 20 the crate at which the farmer is working, and can cause 21 him injury.

23 According to the present invention there is provided 24 apparatus for handling livestock comprising a handling 25 crate having a leg restraint member pivotally mounted 26 on the crate between an out-of-use position allowing an 27 animal's entry into the crate and an in-use position in 28 which the leg restraint member extends in a direction 29 across the crate and at a position where in use it 30 restricts the movement of the animal's rear legs in a 31 forward direction.

32 -

1 The leg restraint member may be pivotable about a 2 horizontal or vertical axis or about an inclined axis.

3 A plurality of leg restraint members may be provided, 4 for example a pair mounted one on each side of the 5 crate, so that in their in-use positions the restraint 6 members co-operate to extend across the crate.

Preferably the restraint member is pivotal about an 9 axis so that in its out-of-use position it lies flush 10 with the side of the crate and in its in-use position 11 it lies in a direction across the crate.

13 An embodiment of the invention will now be described by 14 way of example with reference to the accompanying 15 drawings, in which: 17 Fig. 1 (a), (b), (c) and (d) are respectively 18 front, top, side and rear views of a cattle 19 handling crate of this invention; 21 Fig. 2 (a), (b), (c) and (d) are views 22 corresponding to those of Fig. 1, with side doors 23 omitted and upper restraint bars in their out-of 24 use position; 26 Fig. 3 is a side view of the upper restraint bars 27 shown in Fig. 1; 29 Fig. 4 (a) and (b) are perspective views of the 30 front and rear track members respectively for the 31 upper restraint bars shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

1 Fig. 5 (a) and (b) are side views of rear and 2 front side doors respectively of the crate of Fig 3 l; and 5 Fig. 6 (a) and Fig. 6 (b) are respectively a side 6 view of a portion of the rear door of Fig. 5 (a) 7 with the kick bar in its out-of-use position and a 8 rear view corresponding to Fig. 6 (a) with the 9 kick bar in its in-use position.

11 Referring to the drawings, the cattle handling crate of 12 this embodiment of the invention has a frame indicated 13 generally by the reference numeral 2 comprising a lower 14 portion 4 and an upper portion of end track members 6 15 and 8 whose opposed faces have channels lo formed in 16 them which receive rollers 12 mounted on pins 14 at 17 each end of side restraint members 16 These restraint 18 members consist of a pair of longitudinal spaced bars 19 18 from the lower of which depends an angled lower 20 strut 20 connected at one end to one of a pair of end 21 supports 22.

23 Below the restraint members 16 an angled beam 24 24 extends along the length of the crate, having an 25 inclined rear portion 24a which descends from a height 26 of 1320mm above a base 26 where it joins the rear of 27 the frame 2 to a height of 960mm at a front portion 28 24b. The front portion 24b is horizontal and extends 29 along about one-third the length of the frame 2.

31 Between the beam 24 and the base 26 of the crate are a 32 pair of doors 28a and 28b hinged to the rear and front 33 of the frame 2 respectively, and lockable to the base

1 26 through bolts 44 which can be released by a foot bar 2 32. The doors 28a and 28b are inclined inwardly of the 3 crate towards the base 26 along fold lines 31a and 31b 4 respectively.

6 At a front portion of the rear doors 28a kick bars 34 7 are mounted on pivot pins 36 each passing through a 8 pair of supports 38. An operating handle 40 extends from an upper portion of each kick bar 34 and is used 10 to pivot the kick bar 34 between an upright out-of-use 11 position as shown in Fig. 6(a) where it lies 12 substantially flush with the rear door 28a and a 13 horizontal in-use position as shown in Fig. 6(b) where 14 it extends in a direction across the crate. Thus in 15 their in-use positions the kick bars 34 co-operate to 16 form a generally continuous barrier across the crate at 17 a height of 600mm above the base 26; the kick bars 34 18 can be locked in their in-use and out-of-use positions 19 by means of sliding bolts 30.

21 In their out-of-use position, the sliding bolts 30 pass 22 through the supports 38 along one side of the kick bar 23 34 adjacent the handles 40. Each kick bar 34 is 24 prevented from pivoting in one direction by the sliding 25 bolt 30 and in the other direction by the operating 26 handle 40 which lies flush with one of the supports 38.

27 To move the kick bar 34 into an in-use position, the 28 sliding bolt 30 is removed and the handle 40 is lowered 29 towards the base 26, pivoting the kick bar 34 about 30 pivot pin 36 into a horizontal position. The sliding 31 bolt 30 is then passed through the supports 38 to 32 restrict movement of the kick bar 34 to an out-of-use 33 position.

2 In use, the front end of the crate is secured to a 3 headgate (not shown) for receiving and restraining the 4 head of an animal, for example, a cow or bull.

6 The animal's body extends from the headgate along the 7 inside of the crate, and the doors 28a and 28b and side 8 restraint members 16 protect the farmer from injury in 9 the event of the animal becoming agitated.

11 Once in place in the crate, the animal may be further 12 restrained by a rump bar (not shown) extending from the 13 frame and around the hind quarters of the animal. The 14 kick bars 34 are then pivoted into their in-use 15 position in which they extend across the crate 16 intermediate the front and rear legs of the animal.

18 Access to the animal can then be gained by opening 19 outwardly either or both of the doors 28a and 28b on 20 each side of the crate, although it should be 21 appreciated that opening the rear doors 28a takes the 22 kick bars 34 out of their in-use position; this can 23 provide a safety release in the event of the animal 24 going down in the crate. The beam 24 maintains side 25 restraint for the animal and protects the farmer from 26 the animal's sudden lateral movement. The kick bars 34 27 prevent the farmer being injured by the animal kicking 28 its hind legs and cooperate with the rear doors 28a to 29 prevent the animal twisting sideways. The inclination 30 of the beam 24 at its rear portion 24a allows clear 31 access to the animal's hind quarters for cleaning and 32 other operations.

1 For access to the upper parts of the animal, either or 2 both of the restraint members 16 are lifted to cause 3 the rollers 12 to run upwardly and then inwardly of the crate along the channels 10 of the track members 6 and 5 8 until they engage central stops 38 on the track 6 members 6 and 8; in that position the restraint members 7 are parked well away from the working area.

9 The crate of this embodiment of the invention thus 10 provides a safe and easily-adaptable crate for 11 restraining an animal while the farmer works on it.

13 Modifications and improvements may be made without 14 departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1 Claims

3 1. Apparatus for handling livestock comprising a 4 handling crate having a leg restraint member 5 pivotally mounted on the crate between an out 6 of-use position allowing an animal's entry 7 into the crate and an in-use position in which 8 the leg restraint member extends in a 9 direction across the crate and at a position 10 where in use it restricts the movement of the 11 animal's rear legs in a forward direction.

13

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the 14 leg restraint member is pivotable about a 15 horizontal or vertical axis or about an 16 inclined axis.

18

3. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 1 or 2 19 wherein a pair of leg restraint members are 20 mounted one on each side of the handling 21 crate, so that in their in-use positions the 22 leg restraint members co-operate to extend 23 across the handling crate.

25

4. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim 26 wherein the leg restraint member is pivotal 27 about an axis so that in its out-of-use 28 position it lies flush with the side of the 29 handling crate and in its in-use position it 30 lies in a direction across the handling crate.

1

5. Apparatus for handling livestock substantially 2 as hereinbefore described with reference to 3 the accompanying drawings.