Improvements in or connected with Nests for Fowls.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Oct., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 14th June, 1900-Accepted, 18th Aug., 1900
Improvements in or connected with Nests for Fowls.
I, JAMES HIBBERT, of "Frankby," Hall Road, Blundellsands, near Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Broker, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
:-
It is found, by persons who keep fowls for egg production, very difficult if
not impossible to ascertain which fowls are laying eggs in remunerative num-
bers and which are not doing so. Fowls which lay comparatively few eggs
are in many cases kept at a loss.
The object of my invention is to provide a nest and appliances in conjunction
therewith by means of which each fowl each time that it actually lays an egg
in the nest becomes separated from those fowls that have not laid; and the
essential feature of the invention is to make use of the egg just laid to release
or allow to be operated, or to operate, doors or equivalent appliances, which
will allow the hen which has laid the egg to pass into a separate enclosure and
prevent it going back amongst the hens that have not laid.
For this purpose I, under one arrangement, use a dish shaped nest having
an aperture in the bottom thereof. The nest is covered with some soft material
and is so shaped that eggs dropped at any part cannot fail to roll through the
aperture; and it is free to slide into and out of a box. The box is provided
with doors at front and back, preferably vertically sliding doors, so connected
together by means of a rocking beam and cords or chains that one door is open
when the other is shut. The front door is of superior weight to the back door,
or is provided with springs tending to keep it shut. Underneath the aperture
in the nest is a pivotted lever or equivalent device provided with a hook or
catch which can engage with a notch or catch on, or connected to, the back door
so as to keep the back door shut. A pivotted or sliding platform is provided
and so connected to the doors by rods, cords, or chains, or equivalent devices,
that when the platform is depressed by a hen stepping on it the front door is
opened and the back door shut, and when the front door is shut the platform
is raised and the back door opened; or instead of a platform, doors, guards,
or fences may be provided against which the hen must push when leaving the
nest thereby operating the doors. A receptacle of soft material preferably
arranged in the form of a hammock is arranged below the pivotted lever above
mentioned and may be drawn out to remove the eggs which fall into it from
the lever. The action is as follows:-The back door being closed and held
by the catch and the front door open a hen enters the nest and lays an egg
which immediately rolls through the aperture at the bottom and drops on the
pivotted lever which it depresses thus releasing the catch engaged with the
notch on the back door which then opens and at the same time the front door
shuts and the platform is raised. The hen can now only leave by the back door
and in doing so steps upon the platform which is thus again depressed and
by means of the rods, cords, or other connections opens the front door and

page_text: shuts the back door which is again held by the catch until another hen has
laid an egg in the nest, when the operation is repeated. Suitable guards or
fences are provided to ensure that the hen must pass over the platform when
leaving the nest. The back door opens into an enclosure separate from the
one from which the hen enters the nest so that all hens which have laid are
collected together. If a hen enters the nest and does not lay the appliances
are not affected and such hen must leave again through the front door into the
same enclosure from which she entered. The eggs after dropping on to the
pivotted lever roll therefrom into the receptacle underneath, whence they may
be removed as desired. Instead of the doors being vertically sliding, doors
movable on hinges or pivots either vertical or horizontal may be employed but
in all cases the doors are so connected together and to the platform that when
the front door is opened the back door is shut and the platform depressed and
Also instead of the catch being on the back door it may be on, or
.connected to, the front door or to the platform.
vice versa.
Instead of the egg being used to release a catch which allows the doors to
be operated the egg itself may be made to move the doors by the lever or equi-
valent device on which such egg falls or presses being connected to the doors
by rods, cords, or equivalent devices. In this case the movement of the plat-
form, door, or fence, on or against which the hen steps or presses, is made to
operate a pusher or other device which removes the egg from the lever and
allows the doors to return to normal position, the back door being in this case
the heaviest.
Further, instead of two doors as above described one door may be used so
arranged that when an egg has been laid in the nest, the door is swung over
so as to guide the hen when leaving the nest into a separate enclosure, or the
nest box itself may be made movable so that the entrance may be presented to
separate enclosures: the connections and means for operating being similar to
those before described.
Improvements in or connected with Nests for Fowls.
I, JAMES HIBBERT, of "Frankby," Hall Road, Blundellsands, near Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Broker, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the accompanying drawings on which similar figures indicate equivalent
parts in all the views:-
It is found by persons who keep fowls for egg production, very difficult if
not impossible to ascertain which fowls are laying eggs in remunerative numbers,
and which are not doing so. Fowls which lay comparatively few eggs are in
many cases kept at a loss.
The object of my invention is to provide a nest and appliances in conjunction
therewith by means of which each fowl each time that it actually lays an egg
in the nest becomes separated from those fowls that have not laid and the
essential feature is to make use of the egg just laid to release or allow to be
operated, or to operate, doors or equivalent appliances which will allow the
hen which has laid the egg to pass into a separate enclosure and prevent it
going back amongst the hens that have not laid.

page_text: of
I attain these objects by apparatus such as is illustrated in the accompanying
drawings in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section and Fig. 2 is a cross section
at the line A A on Fig. 1, of one form of my apparatus. For the purposes
my invention I use a dish shaped nest 2 having an aperture 3 in the bottom
thereof. The nest is covered with some soft material and is so shaped that
eggs dropped at any point cannot fail to roll through the aperture. The nest
rests on slides 4 and is free to be moved into or out of the box 5. The box is
provided with a door 6 at the front and a door at the back. The doors are,
as shown, preferably vertically movable doors sliding in guides 6, 7, and are
connected together by means of a rocking beam 8 and cords or chains 9 or equi-
valent devices, so that one door is open when the other door is shut. The front
door is of superior weight to the back door or it may be provided with springs
tending to keep it shut. Underneath the aperture in the nest is a lever or
A hook or catch 13
equivalent device 10 attached to a bar 11 pivotted at 12.
is also attached to the bar 11 and such hook engages with a notch or catch 14.
15 is a
on or connected to the back door 7 so as to keep such back door shut.
spiral spring to retain the catch 13 and lever 10 in normal position, 16 is a
platform hinged at 17 and connected by means of cords 18 to pulleys 19 on the
shaft 20 which carries the rocking beam 8 so that when the platform 16 is
depressed by a hen stepping on it the front door is opened and the back door
is shut. When the catch 14 on the back door is released such door rises and
also the platform and the front door shuts. Instead of cords 18, rods, chains
or equivalent devices may be used to connect the platform 16 to the rocking
beam or to the doors in any convenient way. The platform instead of being
hinged may, it will be obvious, be made to slide up and down. It will also be
obvious that instead of a platform to be depressed, doors, guards, or fences may
be provided against which the hen must push when leaving the nest, such doors,
guards or fences being connected to the doors 6 and 7 so as to operate them as
above described. 21 are guards or fences on each side of the platform 16 to
ensure that the hen passes over it when leaving the nest so that such platform
will be operated to open the front door and shut the back one. 22 is a receptacle
of soft material preferably arranged in the form of a hammock below the
lever 10. The receptacle 22 is attached to a drawer 23 which can be drawn out
to remove the eggs which fall into it from the lever 10. The action is as fol-
lows The back door 7 being closed and held by the catch 13 and the front
door 6 open a hen enters the nest and lays an egg which immediately rolls
through the aperture 3 at the bottom and drops on the pivotted lever 10 which
it depresses thus releasing the catch 13 engaged with the notch 14 on the back
door which is then opened by the weight of the front door and at the same
time the front door 6 shuts and the platform 16 is raised. The hen can now
only leave by the back door 7 and in doing so steps upon the platform 16 which
is again depressed and by means of the cords 18 opens the front door 6 and
shuts the back door 7 which is again held by the catch 13 until another hen
has laid an egg in the nest, when the operation is repeated. The back door
opens into an enclosure separate from the one from which the hen enters the
nest so that all hens which have laid are collected together. If a hen enters
the nest and does not lay, the appliances are not affected and such hen must
leave again through the front door into the same enclosure from which she
entered. The eggs after dropping on to the pivotted lever roll therefrom. into
the receptacle underneath, whence they may be removed as desired.
--
be
Instead of the doors being vertically sliding it will be obvious they may
movable on hinges or pivots either vertical or horizontal but in any case the
doors are so connected together and to the platform that when the front door
Instead
is opened the back door is shut and the platform depressed and vice versa.
of the catch 14 being on the back door it may be on or connected to the front
door or to the platform 16 in any convenient way, a catch such as 13 being

page_text: suitably connected to the lever 10 to engage with the catch on the said door
or platform.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of another modification of my apparatus. In this
case instead of the egg being used to release a catch to allow the doors to be
operated the egg falls on to a lever 10 carried on a pivotted bar 11. To the
end of the pivotted bar is attached a short lever 24 connected by a cord 25 to
the pulley 19 on the shaft of the rocking beam 8 which is connected as before
described to the doors and 7 so that the weight of the egg on the lever 10"
operates the rocking beam and moves the doors so as to shut the front one and
open the back one. When the hen leaves the nest by the back door and steps
on the platform 16 it is depressed and by means of a lever 26 operates a pusher 27
which pushes the egg off the lever 10 as shown by the dotted lines. The
lever 10 is then free to rise and the doors return to normal position, the back
door in this arrangement being slightly the heaviest. The platform is held
up by the spring 28.
Fig. 4 is a plan of another modification of my apparatus. In this arrange-
ment the door 6 is hinged at 30 to an upright and is held to one side of the
nest against the pull of the spring 31 by a catch 13. When the egg falls
through the aperture 3 on to the lever 10, mounted on the pivotted bar 11, the
catch 13 is pulled back by the cord 32 attached to such catch and to a lever 33
on the bar 11 and the door 6 is pulled over by the spring 31 to the position
shown by the dotted lines, the platform 16 being raised by the cord 18 attached
thereto and to the door 6. The hen can now only leave the nest by stepping
on to the platform 16 which is thus depressed, thereby pulling the door 6 into
normal position again where it is retained by the catch 13".
Fig. 5 is a plan of another modification. In this case the whole nest is
mounted on a pivot 33 so that the opening 6ª can oscillate to either side of a
fence 34. The nest is held in normal position by the catch 13 which can be
withdrawn by means of the egg as described under Fig. 4 and the nest is then
moved to the position shown in dotted lines by the spring 31 attached at 31ª
to the box, and the platform 16 is raised by the push rod 18 attached thereto
and to the nest as shown. When the platform is depressed the nest is moved
back into normal position again.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section of another modification. In this arrangement
the whole nest is enclosed in a box 37 and is suspended by a cord 18 passing
over a pulley 35 and attached to a balance weight 36. The nest is retained in
normal position by a catch 13 taking into a notch 14 in the box 37. The hen
enters the nest by the opening 6ª and when the egg laid falls on to the lever 10
the catch 13 is released. The weight of the hen then depresses the whole nest
so that she cannot leave by the opening Ga but must leave by the opening 7 at
the back into another enclosure. When the hen steps off the nest the balance
weight raises the nest into normal position again where it is retained by the
catch 13 until another egg is laid.
I do not confine myself to the particular arrangements described as it will be.
obvious many modifications may be made without departing from the nature of
my invention but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
First. The combination with a nest, of devices for closing and opening or
diverting the entrance or entrances thereof, a catch or equivalent device oper-
ated by the egg laid to release or put in action the said opening and closing or
diverting devices, and devices for restoring the parts to normal position, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Second. The combination with a nest of a lever or like device situated under-
neath an aperture in the nest, a catch or its equivalent operated by the lever,

page_text: doors at least one of which, or the connections thereof, can be engaged by the
catch, and a movable platform or like device connected to the doors substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this Thirteenth day of June 1900.
W. B. JOHNSON,
4, Clayton Square, Liverpool, Agent.