IE48567B1 - Apparatus and method for dosing livestock - Google Patents

Abstract

In the dosing of livestock with an anthelmintic by administering the anthelmintic on a continuous basis in the animal's drinking water there is provided a tank 1 for the drinking water, a water line 18 to the tank, a solenoid valve 20 on the line for controlling the input of water to the tank and which is actuated by a float switch 5 in the tank and also by a timer. The timer operates at predetermined time intervals to open the solenoid valve to fill the tank and also activates dosing means for supplying a measure dose of anthelmintic to the water in the tank. The dosing means may comprise a dose pump 11 located in a storage container 10 for the anthelmintic and adapted to pump a quantity of the anthelmintic to a metering chamber 12 which retains a measured quantity of the anthelmintic. That measured quantity is drawn into the water line, and thence to the water tank, by a venturi pump 17 when the solenoid valve 20 is opened to fill the tank with water.

Description

This invention relates to apparatus and a method for dosing livestock.

Our Patent Specification No. 41765 describes a method of preventing or controlling parasitic infestation of livestock, particularly ruminants such as sheep, cattle and goats, and non-ruminants such as pigs and horses, comprising putting the animals on pasture at the beginning of the grazing season when the pasture is relatively free of helminth parasitic infection, and administering an anthelmintic to the livestock through their drinking water on a continual daily basis throughout a substantial part or all of the grazing season so as to suppress helminth egg or larval output from the animals such that heavy helminth contamination of the pasture is prevented.

Continuing tests over a number of seasons have confirmed the value of the above method. However no satisfactory apparatus for dosing the livestock automatically has been available.

If the animals' water supply is dosed at a predetermined concentration, so that the intake of anthelmintic by each animal is proportional to the volume of water drunk by the animal, there is a danger that the animals 'will take in too much of the anthelmintic during dry weather (when the animals tend to drink a lot) and will not take in enough of the anthelmintic during wet weather (when the animals tend to refrain f-rom drnking due to moisture being available on the pasture).

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus and a method for giving one dose of anthelmintic per day, to a group of animals (particularly calves) served by a water tank from which the animals drink. The invention is also applicable to the dosing of preparations other than anthelmintics, such as for example other medicaments, trace elements and the like, which are hereinafter referred to as a veterinary preparation.

The present invention provides apparatus for dosing livestock with a veterinary preparation, said apparatus comprising input control means to control the supply of water to a drinking water tank, dosing means to supply measured doses of the veterinary preparation to the water tank, and a timer which at selected time intervals activates the input control means to establish a selected volume of water in the tank and activates the dosing means to supply a dose of the veterinary preparation to that volume of water.

The present invention also provides a method of administering a veterinary preparation to livestock through their drinking water which comprises establishing a selected volume of water in a tank at a selected time, supplying a measured dose of the veterinary preparation to the selected volume of water, making the water containing the veterinary preparation available as drinking water to the livestock, supplying additional water (if required) to the tank after the livestock have consumed the selected volume of water containing the veterinary preparation but waiting for a selected time interval before supplying any further amount of the veterinary preparation to the tank.

Preferably the measured dose of the veterinary preparation is supplied to the drinking water once a day so that the selected time interval is 24 hours. However other time intervals e.g. from 12 to 48 hours could be used.

In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus of the invention comprises: 1) An input valve in the line for supplying water to the tank. 2) Means to open the valve when the water level in the tank falls to a predetermined bottom level or in response to activation by a timer. 3) Means to close the valve when the water level in the tank rises to a predetermined top level. 4) A storage container for the veterinary preparation.

) Dosing means to supply a measured dose of the veterinary preparation from the said container to the tank in response to activation by the timer, and 6) A timer which at a selected time (e.g. once a day) operates an 1° electrical control unit to carry out a sequence of operations including a) opening the input valve so that water is supplied to the tank, and b) activating the dosing means for a period long enough to supply the measured dose of veterinary preparation to the tank.

Preferably the apparatus also incorporates means for agitating the contents of the tank and/or means for agitating the veterinary preparation in its storage container.

The means to open and close the valve at predetermined water levels may comprise a float switch having upper and lower adjustable limits. Alternatively some other suitable means for sensing upper and lower water levels may be used e.g. photoelectric or electronic sensing means.

The apparatus of the invention may suitably be contained in a housing which can be mounted at one end or side of a water tank, leaving the major portion of the tank opening free so that the animals can drink water from the tank in the usual way.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a water tank and float switches; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of closing means and a storage container for the veterinary preparation; Λ8 567 Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating the dose cycle: and Figure 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating one arrangement of control unit for use with the invention.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, one embodiment of apparatus of the invention comprises an open drinking tank 1 which is adapted to hold drinking water for livestock. Suitably the tank 1 is semicircular in plan having a part-circular front wall portion over which animals have access to the tank, and a planar rear wall portion. The rear wall portion is provided with a water inlet 2, and a recessed partition 3. The recessed portion 3 houses a lower float switch 4 and an upper float switch 5. The upper float switch 5 is mounted on a portion member 6 which is detachably secured in the recess 3, and which is provided with a vertical slot 7 in which the upper float switch 5 is slidable. The recess 3 also houses a circulating pump 8 for agitating the water within the tank.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawings this illustrates the dosing means of the invention which comprises a dose container 10 which holds the anthelmintic or other veterinary preparation which it is desired to administer to the animals. A dose pump 11 is located within the dose container 10. The outlet of the dose pump 11 is connected by a dose delivery tube 15 to the interior of a metering chamber 12. The dose delivery tube 15 enters the metering chamber through a hole in a stopper 13 inserted in the open end of the metering chamber 12. The free end of the delivery tube 15 is vertically adjustable within the metering chamber 12, and preferably the wall of the chamber 12 is transparent and is provided with graduation marks 14 to allow for accurate adjustment of the tube end within the chamber 12. The metering chamber 12 is provided with an overflow tube 21 leading back into the dose container 10. A dose outlet tube 16 leads from the bottom of the metering chamber 12 to a venturi pump 17. The venturi pump 17 is fitted on a water line 18 which delivers water to the inlet 2 of the drinking tank 1 (see Figure 1). A by-pass pipe 19 is connected to the pipe 18 upstream of the venturi pump 17 and also leads to inlet 2 so as to enable water to by-pass the venturi pipe 17 and flow directly to the drinking tank 7. Flow of water through pipes 18 and 19 is controlled by a solenoid valve 20.

The apparatus of the invention is adapted to deliver an amount of water to the drinking tank 1 at a selected time and to supply a measured dose of the veterinary preparation to that water. The dosing cycle is arranged to supply the measured dose of veterinary pre5 paration to the water at selected time intervals, e.g. once every 24 hours. The dosing cycle is initiated by a timer circuit (as described hereinafter). Assuming that the drinking tank 1 is empty or almost empty at the beginning of the dosing cycle, the cycle operates as follows: 1) the solenoid valve 20 is disabled to maintain the valve in a closed position; 2) the dose pump 11 is activated for a preset period and pumps the veterinary preparation e.g. an anthelmintic from the dose container 10 through delivery tube 15 to the metering chamber 12. The metering chamber continually fills and the anthelmintic overflows through overflow tube 21 back into the dose container 10 thus agitating the anthelmintic in the container 10. Agitation of the anthelmintic in container 10 is also assisted by the fact that some of the anthelmintic is pumped directly back into the container through pipe 22 on the pump outlet. The period of the operation of the dose pump 11 is so selected as to ensure that there is thorough agitation of the anthelmintic, and can be varied depending upon the concentration of the anthelmintic used; 3) at the end of the agitating step the dose pump 11 stops and anthelmintic in the metering chamber 12 siphons back through tube 15 and into the container 10 until it reaches the level of the free end of tube 15 within the metering chamber 12. It will be appreciated that the height of the free end of tube 15 within the metering chamber can be adjusted to predetermine the amount of anthelmintic which will remain in the chamber when the siphoning step ceases, this is the amount which will be administered to the drinking water as described below. The graduation marks 14 may be used to measure the dosage to be administered; 4) at the end of the siphoning period the solenoid valve 20 is activated to allow water to pass through pipe 18 and the venturi pump 17. The passage of the water through the venturi pump 17 causes the pump 17 to draw the dose of anthelmintic remaining in the metering chamber 12 through dose outlet tube 16 and into the water stream entering drinking tank 1. Water also by-passes the venturi pump 17 and flows directly into tank 1 through pipe 19; ) water flow through pipe 18 continues until the water in the drinking tank 1 reaches the level of the upper float switch 5 when the solenoid valve is closed thus ending the dosing cycle.

Thus at the end of the dosing cycle a selected volume of water is established in the drinking tank to which an appropriate amount of anthelmintic, has been added. The volume of water in the tank can be predetermined by adjusting the height of the upper float switch 5. If the animals to be treated are, for example, calves the upper float switch 5 is adjusted so that the solenoid valve 20 is cut-off when there is % gallon of water per calf in the tank. The amount of water delivered to the tank 1 during the dosing cycle is carefully selected so as to represent the minimum which will be consumed by the animals during the day so ensuring that all the anthelmintic is taken up. If during the course of the day the water level in the drinking tank 1 falls to the level of the lower float switch 4 (which is situated about \ inch above the floor of drinking tank 1) the solenoid valve 20 is activated to supply water again to the tank until the level of upper limit switch 5 is reached when the valve 20 is cut-off again.

It is important to note that during the water-replenish!ng step no dosing occurs.

Some commercially available anthelmintics do not readily dissolve in cold water and so it is important to periodically agitate the dosed water in the drinking tank 1 so as to prevent the anthelmintic forming a precipitate on the floor of the tank 1. Agitating means is comprised of the circulation pump 8 (see Figure 1) which is activated at predetermined intervals by the timing circuit. For example, it may be activated for 1 minute in every'-t hour, and while activated can cir35 culate the water in the tank at the rate of 400 gals/hr to thoroughly agitate the contents of the tank. The circulating pump 8 is initially enabled at the end of the dosing cycle. However, once the initial dosed volume of water in the drinking tank 1 has been consumed agitation is no longer required until the end of the next dosing cycle and so to conserve power the circulating pump 8 is disabled when the water in the tank 1 first drops to the level of the lower float switch 4 after a dosing cycle.

An electronic control means for the apparatus of the invention is diagrammatical ly illustrated in Figure 3. In accordance with this arrangement the solenoid valve 20 is controlled by an electronic latch 24. Latch 24 is set when the lower float switch 4 is activated.

A digital clock module 28 provides a signal every 24 hours to activate the following sequence of events which leads to a dose of anthelmintic being delivered to the drinking tank 1: a) clock 28 triggers two timers, a dose timer 29 and an interval timer 23; b) when triggered, the dose timer 29 activates the dose pump 11 for a pre-set length of time. The interval, timer 23 deactivates the latch 24 controlling the solenoid valve 20; 2° c) when the dose timer 29 switches off the dose pump 11, that portion of the anthelmintic in the metering chamber 12 above the level of the end of tube 15 siphons back through the dose pump 11. The time allowed for this operation is determined by the time difference between the dose timer 29 and the interval timer 23; the interval timer having a longer delay; d) when the interval timer 23 stops it sets the solenoid valve latch 24 and the solenoid valve 20 opens regardless of the level of water in the drinking tank 1. Simultaneously the interval timer 23 sets an agitation control latch 25. The dose of anthelmintic is delivered to the tank 1 and the tank is filled with water; e) the agitation control latch 25 enables two additional timers. A first timer 26 serves to operate the agitation pump 8 for a predetermined time period, say 1 minute, while a second timer 27 triggers the first timer 26 at predetermined intervals, say every hour. The agitation control latch 25 is reset by the lower float switch 4 when the tank 1 empties.

A suitable electronic control circuit is illustrated in Figure 4. This illustrates a twenty-four hour timer (I.C.I.) which in the.preferred arrangement illustrated in Figure 3 is replaced by the digital clock 28 The control unit is preferably powered by a battery (e.g. a 12 volt battery) but mains electricity may also be used. Suitably the control unit, battery, dosing means and solenoid valve 20 are all housed in a compartment (not shown) attached to the rear wall of drinking tank 1.

The apparatus of the invention can be operated so that at a certain time e.g. 9.00 a.m. each morning, the tank contains a known volume of water with a known dose of anthelmintic. The animals drink this water during the day. On average it is found that a herd of similar animals e.g. calves of similar age will consume a roughly similar volume of drinking water per day and so will receive a suitable dose of the anthelmintic. When the water containing the anthelmintic has been consumed, the tank fills again with fresh water and this may be repeated several times during the day.

The volume of water in the tank may be varied (by adjusting the height of the upper float switch) to suit the number of animals being served by the tank, because it is desirable that substantially all of the dosed water in the tank is consumed in less than one day. However, if a small part of the dosed water remains in the tank at the end of one day, this can be carried forward in the tank to increase the concentration of anthelmintic in the water slightly for the following day. Alternatively, means can be provided to drain the tank before the beginning of each daily cycle.

Claims (12)

1. Apparatus for dosing livestock with a veterinary preparation comprising input control means to control the supply of water to a drinking water tank, dosing means to supply measured doses of the veterin5 ary preparation to the water tank, and a timer which at selected time intervals activates the input control means to establish a selected volume of water in the tank and activates the dosing means to supply a dose of the veterinary preparation to that volume of water.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising an input valve in a 10 line for supplying water to the tank, means to open the valve when the water level in the tank falls to a predetermined level or in response to activation by a timer, means to close the valve when the water level in the tank rises to a predetermined level, a storage container for the veterinary preparation, dosing means to supply a measured dose 15 of the veterinary preparation from the said container to the tank in reponse to activation by the timer, and a timer v/hich at a selected time operates an electrical control unit to carry out a sequence of operations including opening the input valve so that water is supplied to the tank, and activating the dosing means for a period long enough 20 to supply the measured dose of veterinary preparation to the tank.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, which includes a timer v/hich activates means for periodically agitating the contents of the drinking tank.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the means for agitating 25 the contents of the drinking tank comprises a circulation pump.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the valve is a solenoid valve and the means to open the valve when the water level in the tank falls to a predetermined level comprises a lower float switch, and the means to close the valve when the water level in the tank rises to a 30 predetermined level is an upper float switch the vertical position of which is adjustable.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the dosing means comprises a dose pump located in the storage container and adapted to pump a quantity of veterinary preparation to a metering chamber which is adapted to retain a measured quantity of the preparation, and means for delivering the measured quantity of the preparation to the drinking tank.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the operation of the dose pump is controlled by a timer and is caused to operate for a predetermined period to overfill the metering chamber with the veterinary preparation which overflows into the storage container thereby agitating the preparation in the storage container, and means are provided which at the end of the pumping operation, siphons excess preparation from the metering chamber to leave a measured quantity of preparation in the chamber.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 or 7, wherein the means for delivering the measured quantity of the preparation to the drinking tank comprises a venturi pump located on the water line and adapted when water flows therethrough to suck the preparation from the metering chamber into the water line from where it is introduced to the drinking tank.

9. Apparatus for dosing livestock substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 having control means substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 3 and/or Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A method of administering a veterinary preparation to livestock through their drinking water which comprises establishing a selected volume of water in a tank at a selected time, supplying a measured dose of the veterinary preparation to the selected volume of water, making the water containing the veterinary preparation available as drinking water to the livestock, supplying additional water (if required) to the tank after the livestock have consumed the selected volume of water containing the veterinary preparation but waiting for a selected time interval before supplying any further amount of the 5 veterinary preparation.

12. A method of administering a veterinary preparation to livestock substantial^' as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.