Patent ID: 7500448

Claim:
Apparatus for transporting poultry from a first location to a second location within a poultry house, comprising: a multi-tiered, multi-compartmented poultry cart having a substantially rectangular frame of a size permitting said cart to pass through narrow aisles within the poultry house, said cart having a set of fixed wheels at one end and a set of caster wheels at an opposite end, and said cart being sized to hold about 150 to 200 live chickens; and a separate self-propelled transporter for pushing and pulling said poultry cart while said set of caster wheels of said poultry cart remain in contact with an underlying floor surface, said self-propelled transporter having a gripper assembly laterally engaging said poultry cart above said set of fixed wheels to stabilize said cart and a lifter assembly disposed below the gripper assembly elevating said one end of said poultry cart adjacent said fixed set of wheels off the underlying floor surface while said set of caster wheels of said poultry cart remains in contact with the underlying floor surface; said self-propelled transporter having a pair of drive wheels enabling translation along the underlying floor surface and a frame connecting said gripper assembly and said lifter assembly to said transporter adjacent said drive wheels; whereby the poultry cart may be coupled to the transporter and decoupled therefrom for efficiently transporting poultry from the first location to the second location.