Patent ID: 7647888

Claim:
A poultry feeder( 10 ) comprising: a pan having a floor and a side wall; a grill having an annular wall which surrounds the pan side wall and is movable relative to the side wall between a lowered position in which the feeder has an effective lower wall height and a raised position in which the feeder has an effective higher wall height; the grill further including a plurality of spokes extending from a top of the annular wall and a ring connecting upper ends of said spokes; and a feed tube assembly; the feed tube assembly comprising: a drop tube having an upper portion which extends through said grill ring and a lower portion, said upper portion having opposed openings through which a feed conduit can pass; said lower portion having a dimension greater than an inner diameter of said grill ring, such that said grill ring is supported by said drop tube lower portion; a feed flooding tube sized and shaped to axially receive said drop tube; said feed flooding tube having a bottom edge, legs extending down from said bottom edge, and a feed flooding tube window spaced above said feed flooding tube bottom edge; said legs supporting said feed flooding tube on said pan such that the bottom edge of said feed flooding tube is spaced above said pan floor; spaces between said legs defining a lower exit through which feed can pass from said feed tube assembly into said pan; and a locking collar sized fit over said feed flooding tube and shaped to be movable axially and rotationally relative to said feed flooding tube; said locking collar being movable axially on said feed flooding tube between a raised position in which said locking collar supports said grill in the grill's raised position and a lowered position; said drop tube being selectively movable between a first position relative to said feed flooding tube in which said feed flooding tube window is opened to define an upper exit through which feed can pass to enter said pan and a second position relative to said feed flooding tube in which said feed flooding tube window is closed, such that said upper exit is closed; and when said drop tube is in at least one of said first and second positions, said grill can be selectively moved between its raised and lowered positions to selectively adjust the effective height of said pan wall.