Livestock feeder apparatus

A pig feeder includes a hopper in which a supply of feed is stored, and a feed trough mounted adjacent a lower end of the hopper and in communication with the hopper through an opening therein so that feed in the hopper can pass into the feed trough. The trough includes a bottom wall, a front wall extending upwardly from the bottom wall and having a top edge, and a top face having a width extending between the top edge of the front wall and the hopper. The top face has at least one feeding hole therethrough which is substantially U-shaped having a curved portion and a straight portion, the curved portion of the feeding hole being remote from the hopper. The diameter of the curved portion is preferably equal to the height of the front wall so that pigs feeding from the trough must reach vertically downwardly to get to the feed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates generally to livestock feeding devices and, 
more particularly, to a pig feeder having a hopper for storing feed and a 
trough in communication with the hopper for permitting pigs to reach the 
feed. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The science of raising pigs has become highly developed since the days when 
pigs roamed free in mud filled yards eating slop fed to them in open 
troughs. Today, it is common to see pigs raised in very clean confinement 
units having separate pens for pigs of similar sizes. These separate pens 
are employed to segregate pigs by size so that different feed formulas may 
be fed to different sized pigs thus enabling the farmer to bring the pigs 
to market size much more quickly than has been possible in the past. 
A concern in the design of feeders used with modern day confinement units 
is to conserve feed by attempting to prevent feeding pigs from rooting or 
raking feed from the troughs and onto the ground surrounding the feeder. 
This concern is especially important where the floors of a unit are grated 
or otherwise incapable of containing feed that falls from the feeder such 
that feed falling from the feeder is wasted by passing beneath the floor 
out of reach of the feeding pigs. 
In order to conserve as much feed as possible, and in light of the fact 
that pigs in confinement units are frequently segregated by size, feeders 
provided in each of the units of a conventional hog confinement structure 
are commonly customized for the size of pig to be confined therein. For 
example, a known feeder construction has a hopper communicating with a 
trough through an adjustable slot in the hopper, and the trough is 
provided with a top cover having circular openings through which pigs may 
feed. When a feeder of this construction is employed in a unit in which 
pigs of less than sixty pounds are to be confined, the feeder may be 
provided with a cover having openings which are smaller in diameter than a 
similarly constructed feeder in a unit for use with pigs nearing market 
size. 
In addition to allowing feeding by pigs of a predetermined size, the 
circular holes are intended to serve the purpose of preventing feed from 
being rooted up out of the trough during feeding. The premise on which the 
circular hole design is based, is that by surrounding the head of the pig 
as it enters the trough, none of the feed therein will escape through the 
hole during feeding and the pig will not be able to push the feed to the 
end of the feeder and up out of the trough. However, several problems have 
been encountered in troughs of this known construction. For example, if 
the pigs in a given confinement unit are not moved at the proper time to a 
unit adapted to enclose larger pigs, they will outgrow the feeder in the 
unit and will develop sores around their ears by attempting to get to the 
feed through the now undersized holes in the trough. Thus, the holes 
restrict the feeder to use only with pigs of a narrow size range. 
Further, even when the feeder openings are of the proper size, pigs feeding 
from the trough are able to work feed therefrom by raking the feed up 
along the underside of their chins and out the lower part of the opening. 
It would be desirable to provide a feeder which overcomes these problems 
encountered with feeders provided with circular holes and which prevents 
feed from being rooted from the feeder trough by feeding pigs. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a feeder which is 
constructed in such a way that pigs of a broad range of sizes may feed 
therefrom without being able to root feed from the trough. 
In addition, it is another object of the present invention to provide a 
feeder which forces pigs to feed by reaching more vertically downwardly 
into the feed trough than in past constructions in order to protect 
against raking of the feed up and out of openings provided therein. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a feeder that includes no 
relatively movable parts and which permits the use of a constant width 
feed hopper opening for dispensing feed to the troughs of the device. A 
disadvantage of known devices employing adjustable slots exists in that 
the parts become rusted or worn during brief exposure to the confinement 
unit environment, resulting in the feeder not working properly. By 
providing a feeder with no movable parts, this shortcoming in the known 
feeders may be overcome. 
According to the present invention, the livestock feeding apparatus 
includes a feed trough having a bottom wall, a front wall extending 
upwardly from the bottom wall and having a top edge, and a top face having 
a width extending between the top edge of the front wall and the hopper. 
The top face has at least one feeding hole therethrough which is 
substantially U-shaped having a curved portion and a straight portion, the 
curved portion being adjacent the top edge of the front wall. In addition, 
a hopper for storing a supply of feed may be provided in communication 
with the trough through a slot in the hopper. The front wall of the trough 
extends upwardly from the bottom wall at a constant height which is 
substantially equal to the diameter of the curved portion of the feeding 
hole. 
By this construction, pigs feeding from the trough are forced to reach 
essentially vertically downwardly into the trough and are unable to rake 
feed out of the holes or to root the feed along the length of the trough. 
Further, by providing U-shaped holes in the top face of the trough, a 
broader range of pig sizes is accommodated by any given hole size, 
resulting in less of a possibility that pigs will develop sores on their 
ears by outgrowing the feeder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
As shown in FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the inventive pig feeder 
designated generally as 10 includes a vertically extending hopper 12 
having a generally rectangular shape and an open top 14. The hopper 12 is 
not limited to a rectangular shape but may also be constructed as a 
cylindrical hopper without departing from the invention. 
Near the bottom of the hopper, a pair of troughs 16, 18 are provided, each 
of which extends along a side of the hopper 12 and includes a front wall 
20, 22, a pair of end walls 24, 26, 28, and a top wall 30, 32 presenting a 
number of feeding openings 34. These feeding openings 34 are U-shaped 
having a curved edge portion 36 adjacent the front wall 20, 22 of the 
trough 16, 18 and a straight edge portion 38 abutting the hopper 12. Legs 
40 are defined in the top wall 30, 32 between the openings 34, which serve 
to prevent pigs from rooting feed along the length of the trough 16, 18 
and into large piles which may tend to overflow onto the floor surrounding 
the feeder 10. 
The U-shaped configuration of each of the feeding openings 34, as 
illustrated in FIG. 3, serves two important functions in the inventive 
construction. First, because the openings 34 include the curved lower edge 
portion 36 adjacent the front wall 20, 22 of the feeder which may be 
designed to closely match the shape of the chin or throat of pigs feeding 
therefrom, feed is prevented from escaping around the sides or base of the 
pig's chin or throat. In addition should it be necessary that pigs remain 
in a confinement unit having a feeder designed for use with smaller pigs, 
there is little or no danger that the pigs will develop sores around their 
ears from attempting to enter the openings as can occur with feeders 
having circular openings, since the straight edge portions 38 of the 
U-shaped openings 34 extend toward the hopper 12 and permit larger pigs to 
feed from the openings 34. 
From FIG. 2, it can be seen that feed is delivered to the trough 16, 18 of 
the feeder 10 through a slot 42 at the bottom of the hopper 12. This slot 
42 has a constant width of, e.g. one inch which restricts the amount of 
feed which can pass from the hopper 12 into the trough 16, 18. Although it 
is possible to make the width of the slot 42 adjustable, it is not 
preferred since the inventive construction permits a reliable dispensing 
of feed to the trough without a need for adjustment of the slot 42 or of 
moving parts of any kind. In addition to providing the slots 42 to 
restrict the flow of feed into the troughs 16, 18, an inverted V-shaped 
ridge 44 is provided which extends along the bottom of the hopper 12 
between the opposing troughs 16, 18 so as to direct feed toward the slots 
42 as it falls toward the bottom of the hopper 12. In this manner, even 
feed that is high in fat, which is somewhat sticky, is able to flow down 
through the hopper to a position in or adjacent the troughs 16, 18 which 
is within reach of feeding pigs. 
Each trough 16, 18 is defined by the front wall 20, 22 extending upwardly 
from the bottom of the feeder, and the top wall 30, 32 extending between 
the top edge of the front wall and a side surface 48, 50 of the hopper 12. 
In accordance with the invention, the dimensions of the openings 34, the 
front wall 20, 22 and the top wall 30, 32 are fashioned to present the 
openings 34 at a predetermined angle and height above the bottom of the 
trough 16, 18 which, forces a feeding pig to reach downwardly to the feed 
over a distance sufficient to prevent the raking of feed from the trough. 
Specifically, the curved edge portion 36 of each opening 34 has a diameter 
A which is equal to the height of the front wall 20, 22 of the trough, and 
the top wall 30, 32 has a width B which is two inches larger than the 
diameter A of the opening 34. In addition, the top wall 30, 32 is fastened 
to the hopper 12 at a height C above the bottom of the feeder, which 
height C is one inch greater than the diameter A of the opening 34. 
Thus a ratio is defined between the diameter A of the openings 34, the 
height A of the front walls 20, 22, the width B of the top walls 30, 32, 
and the height C at which the top walls are fastened to the hopper 12. 
This ratio may be expressed as the dimension A being one inch smaller than 
the dimension C and two inches smaller than the dimension B. The ratio may 
vary to a small degree so long as the openings 34 are presented at a 
height and angle sufficient to require a pig to reach sufficiently 
downward to the feed trough through the U-shaped openings 34 that the pig 
will be unable to rake feed the entire height of the side of the trough to 
the openings 34. 
As an example of how the ratio may find application in a series of feeders, 
a first feeder constructed for pigs of less than 60 pounds, such as is 
illustrated in FIG. 2, may include openings 34 having a curved edge 
portion 36 with a diameter A of five inches (shown in FIG. 3), front walls 
20, 22 each having a height A of five inches equal to the diameter of the 
openings 34, and top walls 30, 32 each having a width of seven inches and 
being connected to the sides 48, 50 of the hopper 12 six inches above the 
bottom of the feeder. In a second feeder, to be used with pigs ranging 
from 60 to 150 pounds, the openings 34 are formed with a diameter A of 
seven inches, the front walls 20, 22 have a height A of seven inches, and 
the top walls 30, 32 have a width of nine inches and are connected to the 
sides 48, 50 of the hopper eight inches above the bottom of the feeder. 
FIG. 4 illustrates the manner in which the dimensions of the troughs 16, 
18 change when the troughs are customized to accommodate pigs from 60 to 
150 pounds. 
Where the pigs to be feeding from the feeder are greater than 150 pounds, 
the troughs 16, 18 may again be customized as illustrated in FIG. 5. In 
this third construction, the openings 34 have a diameter of nine inches, 
the front walls 20, 22 have a height of nine inches, and the top walls 30, 
32 have a width of eleven inches and are connected to the side of the 
hopper 12 ten inches above the feeder bottom. 
When combined with the U-shaped construction of the openings, this trough 
arrangement insures that feed will not be easily rooted from the trough 
and secures the conservation of feed. In addition, by constructing the 
feeder in accordance with this invention, feeder openings are presented at 
a height and angle which make it difficult for feed to be raked up from 
the bottom of the trough, and the U-shape of the openings prevents any 
feed that does reach the openings from escaping the trough. In addition, 
as pigs outgrow the openings in the feeder, the unique U-shaped design 
allows the pigs to continue to feed from the feeder without developing 
sores on their heads as occurs in the circular openings of conventional 
feeders. 
Although the invention has been described with reference to the preferred 
embodiment illustrated in the drawing, it is understood that modifications 
and substitutes may be made, and equivalents employed herein, without 
departing from the invention as set forth in the claims.