IMPROVEMENTS IN FEEDING RACKS FOR SHEEP AND OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Colin Yorke Campbell at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th December 1880.
COLIN YORKE CAMPBELL, of Barbreck, Lochgilphead, in the County of Argyle,
North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FEEDING RACKS FOR SHEEP AND OTHER
ANIMALS,"
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of feeding
racks for sheep, deer, and other animals, and it is designed to retain the hay or
other feeding stuffs more securely, and also afford shelter to the animals while
feeding in exposed situations during inclement weather, whilst the rack itself is
portable and easily secured to fences or other fixtures, and can be removed or
stowed away in little space when not in use.
Feeding racks as usually constructed have been made open above, and are merely
placed in the open fields, when the animals while feeding are exposed to rain or
snow and other storms, and the racks are commonly overturned or their contents
covered by snow, strewed by the wind, or wasted by the animals. By the present
improvements these objections are overcome, and the feeding stuffs being effectively
secured, and yet open to the animals, they are not liable to be starved.
The improved feeding rack may be constructed of wood or metal, or of both
combined, and is made with a vertical back board which is secured to the fence or
other fixture by hooks above, catching on to the wires or bars of the fence, and
fastened below by cords, wires, or small chains. The rack is also made with close
vertical ends, and a close cover is fitted above, and rack bars are formed in front
where the animals feed. These rack bars are slightly angled to give a greater
capacity above, and over the bars a front board is also fitted and hinged to the
cover, preferably so as to lie at a slight angle, and be self-closing or open inwards.
The top cover, which is fixed, is angled downwards and backwards, and is made to
project considerably over the front board and rack, so that falling rain runs to the
back, and the sheep feeding below are protected from it. The improved feeding
rack is suspended by the hooks on the back board to the fencing, at a height to
suit the animals for which it is intended, and it is preferably fitted with the
suspending hooks close inside or outside the standards of the fence to prevent
lateral displacement. The rack is made light enough to be readily removed and
fitted to any part of a fence, with the object of placing it when possible to windward
of the sheep feeding in front, and thus protecting them.

page_text: In combination with the improved rack a trough is fitted beneath, either attached
to the rack or separately fixed by retaining hooks to the lower bars of the fence.
This trough is by preference made slightly longer than the rack to catch any loose
hay that may be drawn out of the latter and not used. The trough may also be
used to contain turnips or other solid or mashed food or water, and in its position
beneath the rack it is also protected from rain.
It will be generally convenient when there are a large number of sheep or
animals to be fed to place a number of the improved racks end to end, and in this
case the trough beneath may be either made the same length as the racks or longer,
and simply continued from end to end of the series of racks.
When the field or enclosure in which the animals are fed is not surrounded by
fences, as on hills, the racks may be secured by their hooks catching into wires
fitted over, or staples fixed to walls or dykes where convenient; or staves may be
driven into the ground and wires stretched across, to which the racks and troughs
may be suspended. When sheds or other buildings are provided for the sheep
wires may be stretched between the upright posts of such sheds, or staples driven
into them, to which the racks and troughs may be secured in a similar way.
The improved feeding rack is susceptible of modification in regard to details
while still adhering to the essential features of novelty or improvements, which
consist in constructing the rack as described to adapt it for being secured to fences
and other fixtures, and to enclose the feeding stuffs within it.