Patent ID: 8573157

Claim:
An animal feeder comprising: a feeder housing including a feed hopper having a feed gate opening, a feed trough located remote from said feed hopper and positioned below said feed gate opening such that a feeder access opening is defined between the feed hopper and the feed trough; a feed gate movable relative to said feed gate opening and positionable in a plurality of positions; a feed gate mechanism operably coupled to said feeder housing and connected to said feed gate for moving said feed gate relative to said feed gate opening, said feed gate mechanism includes a first member mounted for pivotable motion relative to said feeder housing and a second member interconnecting said first member with said feed gate to transmit motion of said first member to said feed gate and selective locate said feed gate in one of said plurality of positions; a feed agitator including an agitation grate extending across said feed gate opening and having a first end loosely coupled to a first side wall of said feed hopper and a second end loosely coupled to an agitation plate adjacent a second wall of said feed hopper such that said agitation grate is positionable within said feed hopper without interfering with said feed gate; and an actuator having a first end coupled to a portion of said agitation plate extending through said feed gate opening, a second end of said actuator extending into said feed trough and accessible through said feeder access opening for moving said agitation grate relative to said feed hopper.