Patent ID: 6857390

Claim:
A method of raising birds from hatchlings comprising: providing a barn defining a containment area having a floor surface arranged for raising birds from the hatchlings; providing a vehicle for movement over the floor surface of the containment area; providing a support on the vehicle for receiving a roll of a sheet material; dispensing the sheet material as a strip laid directly onto the floor surface as the vehicle is moved across the floor; providing a hopper on the vehicle for receiving a feed material for the hatchlings; dispensing the feed material through a nozzle of the hopper as a layer of the feed material onto the strip after the strip is laid as the vehicle is moved forwardly such that the strip is held down in place on the floor by the feed material from the nozzle; causing the feed material to be maintained separated from the floor surface by the sheet material such that the feed material is protected against being lost within the floor surface; placing the hatchlings on the strip: and protecting by the sheet material the hatchlings from engagement with the floor surface while providing access to the feed material on the sheet material.