Patent ID: 7017522

Claim:
A farrowing crate comprising; a cage defined by a front wall, a rear wall and two side walls shaped and arranged to contain a farrowing sow and its piglets; a flooring shaped and arranged within the cage such that the sow can lie on the flooring within the cage and can stand at will for taking feed and water while confined along the flooring by the cage; and a feeder at the front wall for supplying feed to the sow when standing; the feeder comprising; a trough for receiving feed for taking by the sow while standing; a hopper for receiving feed from a supply and including a discharge for discharging the feed into the trough; the trough comprising a base plate arranged to lie substantially flat on the flooring and extend from the front wall rearwardly over the flooring; the base plate forming the trough having a raised transverse restricting member spaced from the front wall and extending generally across the base plate to define a trough ares of the base plate forwardly of the transverse restricting member; the transverse restricting member being shaped so as to have a height which tends to restrain feed from escaping from the trough area rearwardly; and the transverse restricting member being shaped so as to allow the sow to lie on the flooring with its head extending over the transverse restricting member into the trough area without causing discomfort to the lying sow.