THE CLEANBED COWTRAINER

Abstract: The invention concerns an apparatus to teach cows to lie down in the cubicles which are to be found for that purpose in the stable instead of lying down on the wet dirty floor of the passageway. The apparatus according to the invention is fastened on the cow with a girth and measures the electric resistance of the floor on which the cow is going to lie down. If the animal is going to lie down on a floor with a low electric resistance the apparatus produces some sound signals, if the animal does not react by standing up this is followed by an electric shock.

Description: THE CLEANBED COWTRAINER The invention concerns an apparatus for teaching cows to lie down in the cubicles, which are to be found in the stables for that purpose, instead of on the wet dirty floor of the passageways. In the present-day dairy stables the animals can walk freely around. The room they have exists of passageways and cubicles. The passageways are used when feeding and drinking and to drive the animals from and to the cubicles. The resting places are to be found in a higher, dry part mostly covered with rubber mats and divided by partitions in such a way that the cubicles are about 100 cm broad and 250 cm long. In these cubicles the cow can stand up and lie down but the dung is dropped at the rear outside the box. To teach the animals to lie down in these boxes the cow is tied into the box during the night. For some animals this is not sufficient, they continue prefering the wet corridor, probably because they feel cooped up in the box and so dare not lie down. In the morning the animals must be set free to eat and drink and because they have to be milked. These animals are then quickly tired, eat quickly and after that lie down again in the dung. The consequences o. this behaviour are very harmful. The animals get very dirty, which requires a lot of extra work when they are milked and because the floor is cold and wet the animal will contract all kinds of ailments after some time. It is the object of the invention to provide means to cure the animal of the habit to lie down in the wet corridor. The apparatus according to the present invention is fastened on the cow with a girth and measures the electric resistance of the floor on which the cow is going to lie down. Dung and urine have a comparatively low resistance, a dry floor with or without rubber mats has a very high resistance. If the animal lies down on a floor with a low electric resistance the apparatus will produce a sound signal a few times, if the animal does not react by standing up this will be followed by an electric shock. This electric shock is repeated only a few times to avoid that animals which cannot stand up would be exposed continuously to electric shocks. The contact points must be situated in such a way that the surface resistance (the resistance measured on the surface of the insulation) is so high that it does not affect the measuring of the apparatus and only a low resistance between these contactpoints is measured when the cow lies down on a wet floor. This low value must immediately be neutralised when the cow stands up again. For instance it would be obvious to fasten the contact points under the body of the cow to the girth. However, this does not work because liquid and dirt will stuck to the body of the cow when she stands up. The resistance between the two contact points is then measured across the body of the cow and the apparatus will react as if the cow is still lying in the dung. At all times it must be avoided that a low electric resistance can be measured on the hide of the cow. This would also interfere with the functioning of the apparatus when the cow is sweating. Problems also occur when both contact points touch the iron parts (box separation, feeding gates) of the stable. According to the present invention the solution to this problem has been found by fastening the contact points to two flexible insulated wires. These wires are attached to the apparatus and hang loosely on both sides of the cow, so that, when the cow is standing up, there is continuously a high surface-resistance because there is always a dry, clean insulated area between the contact points. Looking lengthways at the cow, the contact points must be attached about halfway on both sides of the animal. In the cubicle this is the dryest place and the chances are negligable that both contact points will touch the ironwork of the stable at the same time. The invention will have the following effect: after the apparatus has been placed on the cow, the animal will soon learn that after some sound signals an electric shock will follow. She gets to know that when she lies down on a wet floor she will be warned by sound signals. In this way most animals discover by themselves the dry cubicles where they do not hear any sound signals when they lie down. If, after one day, the cow has not yet found a dry resting place, the animal must be tied into a cubicle during the night. Because she is very tired, she will certainly lie down that night, so that from that time she knows where she can lie down. Now there is no need any more to tie her into the cubicle, however , it is necessary that the apparatus remains on the cow for some time so that she will get completely used to the box. The invention will be further explained with the help of a drawing, representing an example of a realisation of the invention. Fig I shows a complete Cleanbed Cowtrainer with girth 1, contact points 2, flexible wires 3, switch 4 and the electrodes 5 giving the electric shocks. Fig II shows the apparatus fastened on the cow.

Claims: CLAIM The invention relates to an apparatus characterised in that when fastened on the back of a cow, it, by means of two contact points to be found at the ends of two insulated, flexible, electricity conductive wires, immediately determines the electrical resistance of the floor on which the cow lies and in this way acertains whether the animal lies on a wet and consequently dirty floor and if so, the apparatus makes this known to the cow by means of sound signals and subsequently gives to the cow, if she does not react to this by standing up, a limited number of electric shocks.

Inventors: VINK GERRIT-JAN, VINK, GERRIT-JAN
Applicants: VINK GERRIT JAN, VINK, GERRIT-JAN
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A01K15
IPC codes: A01K15