GB2023397A - Holding animals - Google Patents

Abstract

In an animal holding pen 1 a barrier 9 is pivotable downwards from a stowed position to an operative position in which a cross bar 43 of the barrier abuts the hindquarters of the animal and is releasably held in that position against upward movement. Thus the animal is secured against rearward movement and remains in optimum position for treatment. The barrier is preferably a rearwardly and downwardly sloped rectangular frame pivotable intermediate its ends, and secured in operative position by a pawl-and-ratchet device, the pawl comprising a frame 12 manually pivotable on the barrier at the upper end thereof, and the ratchet comprising series of teeth 14 on the pen framework at the top thereof for engagement by the pawl. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to pens for use in treating animals This invention relates to pens for use in the treatment of animals, for example the dehorning of calves.

Existing treatment pens usually comprise a box shaped and dimensioned to confine the animal closely and have a rear entry through which the animal is herded to a treating position in which the neck is clamped in an opening in the front end wall of the box and its head projects forwardly and downwardly from said wall.

Disadvantages of existing treating pens include: (a) undesirable movement of the animal in treating position when it attempts to reverse through the rear entry; (b) the treated animal on being released through the rear entry tends to mix with the animals awaiting treatment, and confusion arises as to which animals have been treated and which are awaiting treatment; (c) the edge of the opening in the front wall engages the neck of the animal and tends to choke the animal.

The object of the present invention is to improve the existing treatment pens.

According to the present invention a pen for use in the treatment of animals comprises an enclosure for the animal and barrier means mounted on the enclosure for up and down hingeing movement between a stowed position permitting entry of the animal to the enclosure and an operative position adjacent to the hindquarters of the animal to secure the animal against rearward movement.

Preferably adjustable fastening means are provided for releasably retaining the barrier means selectively in any one of a number of operative positions.

Preferably the adjustable fastening means consist of pawl-and-ratchet mechanism operatively associated with the barrier means to retain same releasably against upward hingeing movement from operative position.

Preferably also the enclosure comprises an elongate box open at the rear end to permit entry of the animal and having an opening in the front wall for through passage of the animal's head.

By virtue of the invention, the animal to be treated is easily rendered practically immobile in the box irrespective of the length of the animal, so that treatment of a number of animals of different sizes is greatly facilitated.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the front opening is provided in a doorwhich is openable to permit forward herding of the treated animal from the pen. Thus, the treated animals are readily herded to a location clear of the untreated animals at the rear of the pen so that the risk of mixing is greatly reduced.

In this preferred embodiment a plate extends outwards from the lower edge of the front opening to engage the lower jaw of the projecting head of the animal and thereby provide support for the head, the head-supporting plate advantageously sloping forwards and downwards from the edge of the opening and being of shallow-V cross section. The lower jaw in thus neatly accommodated in the dished plate, and a buckled strap on the plate holds the head at an optimal attitude for treatment, constriction of the neck by the edge of the opening being avoided.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are respectively side, rear and front views of an animal pen with the animal shown in broken lines in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings: A pen or enclosure for use in de-horning calves (a so-called calf-handling crate) consists of a fabricated elongate rectangular box 1 open top and bottom and at the rear entry end 2, and closed at the front end 3.

The box is composed of a welded framework 4 of angle iron, and metal panels 5 secured to the framework.

At the top of the box 1 there is provided an animal-controlling device 6 including an elongate forwardly and upwardly sloped rectangular barrier frame 7 hingedly mounted at 8 intermediate its ends on the box to to provide for swinging movement of the rear frame portion 9 with its cross bar 43 downwards and upwards within the rear portion 10 of the box. The controlling device 6 also includes pawland-ratchet mechanism 11 whereof the pawl is a depending rectangular frame 12 pivotally mounted at 13 on the front end of the barrier frame 7, and the ratchet consists of a pair of parallel rows of ratchet teeth 14 and 15 on the top of the box sides and engageable by the bottom cross bar 16 of the pawl frame 12.

The front end of the box 1 (Fig. 3) is in the form of a door 17 provided with hinges 18 connecting it to the corner upright 19 of the box framework, the door being releasably fastened at its free upright edge to the adjacent corner upright 20 of the box framework.

This latter upright 20 has pivotally mounted thereon at 21 a two-armed lever (Fig. 1) whereof one arm is a hook 22 engageable with a pin 23 projecting laterally from the adjacent swinging edge of the door 17 and the other arm is a handle 24 tending to swing downwards to maintain the hook 22 in door-locking engagement with the pin 23. Thus, by raising the handle 24 the door 17 is released for opening movement.

The door 17 is composed of a rectangular metal framework and metal sheeting on the framework.

Part of the framework and part of the metal sheeting are omitted to provide a rectangular through opening 25 at the top corner of the door remote from the hinges 18. With the calf in the pen (Fig. 1), the neck extends through said opening 25 and the head to be treated is outside the pen. A neck-clamping bar 26 (Fig. 3) extending across the opening 25 has one end The drawing(s) originally filed was/were informal and the print here reproduced is taken from a later filed formal copy.

pivotally mounted at 27 on a door upright 28 adja cent to the hinges 18, and has a handle portion 29 at the other end to enable manual up-and-down pivot ing of the bar whereof an intermediate portion has a curved edge 30 for engagement with the neck of the calf. The bar extends through a vertical slot formed by a guide rod 31 on an intermediate upright 32 of the door. Manually releasable pawl-and-ratchet mechanism 33 holds the bar 26 in clamping position, the pawl consisting of an upright rod 34 which has at is lower end a pivot 35 connecting it to the bar 26, and the ratchet consisting of a vertical series of teeth 36 on the door upright 28.The free end of the rod 34 is wedge-shaped to engage the teeth 36 and has thereon a hook formation 37 engageable with a complementary hook formation 38 on an intermediate upright 39 of the door to enable fastening of the rod 34 following manual swinging thereof to a disabled position when the bar 26 is raised to neckrelease position, the rod 34 thus supporting the bar 26 in neck-release position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3. Alternatively, a tension spring (not shown) detachably connects the rod 34 to the upright.

An intermediate cross member 40 of the door framework at the-bottom of the opening 25 carries a head-supporting plate 41 sloping forwards and downwards from the edge of the opening 25 and having a shallow-V cross-section, as shown, with the side walls tapering from their upper to their lower ends. A buckled strap 42 is provided on the plate 41 to enable secural of the animal's head to the plate.

The animal pen operates as follows: With the front door 17 closed, the animal is herded through the open rear end of the pen and assumes a standing position with its neck extending through the front opening 25 and its head resting on the plate 41. The rod 34 is unhooked and laid against the adjacent ratchet teeth 36, and the bar 26 is then manually lowered on to the animal's neck to rest there, the rod 34 engaging a tooth 36 to prevent release of the bar 26.The barrier frame 7 is then pivoted to move the portion 9 thereof downwards against gravity from its stowed position to an operative position with its cross bar 43 abutting the hindquarters of the penned animal, the pawl-and-ratchet mechanism 11 serving to maintain the frame 7 in the operative position which is shown in broken lines in Fig. 1. it will be clear that the animal-controlling device 6 is capable of firmly trapping different sizes of animals quickly and easily against rearward movement, and that by simply first lifting the pawl frame 12 and then pivoting the barrier frame 7 to the full-line stowed position of Fig. 1, the animal can be rendered mobile.

Moreover, the V-section plate 41 gives optimum support to the animal's head, choking being avoided. Prior to treatment of the animal, the strap 42 is fastened around the animal's muzzle to secure the head to the plate and so complete the immobilization of the animal.

When the treatment is complete, the front door 17 is opened and the animal is herded forwards out of the box 1. There is therefore no risk of mixing of the animals awaiting treatment with the treated animals.

Claims (10)

1. A pen for use in the treatment of animals comprising an enclosure for the animal and barrier means mounted on the enclosure for up and down hingeing movement between a stowed position permitting entry of the animal to the enclosure and an operative position adjacent ot the hindquarters of the animal to secure the animal against rearward movement.

2. A pen according to claim 1, including adjustable fastening means for releasably retaining the barrier means selectively in any one of a number of operative positions.

3. A pen according to claim 2, wherein the adjustable fastening means consist of pawl-andratchet mechanism operatively associated with the barrier means to retain same releasably against upward hingeing movement from operative position.

4. A pen according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the enclosure comprises an elongate box open at the rear end to permit entry of the animal and having an opening in the front wall for through passage oftheanimal's head.

5. A pen according to claim 4, wherein the front opening is provided in a door which is openable to permit forward herding of the treated animal from the pen.

6. A pen according to claim 4 or 5, wherein a plate extends outwards from the lower edge of the front opening to engage the lower jaw of the projecting head of the animal and thereby provide support for the head.

7. A pen according to claim 6, wherein the headsupporting plate slopes forwards and downwards from the edge of the opening and is of shallow-V cross-section.

8. A pen according to claim 7, wherein a fastening strap is provided on the plate to secure the head releasablyto the plate.

9. A pen according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the barrier means include a rectangular frame having a pair of side members pivotally mounted on the side walls of the enclosure for hingeing movement about a transverse axis, and a cross member interconnecting the side members and engageable with the hindquarters of an animal in the enclosure.

10. A pen for use in the treatment of animals, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.