Patent ID: 7832356

Claim:
A method of feeding pigs as they grow from weaning to an older stage comprising: providing for the pigs access to a feeder; providing in the feeder an elongate trough having a base and a sidewall for receiving and containing feed and water and arranged such that the head of the pig can reach over an upper front edge of the sidewall to the base for eating the feed and water; providing in the feeder an elongate shelf providing a substantially horizontal surface for receiving feed; the horizontal surface of said shelf being arranged at a height above and rearwardly of said front edge so as to allow access by the head of the pig to said shelf for direct feeding therefrom, and between said shelf and said front edge to the base; providing in the feeder a hopper for continually depositing feed onto said shelf arranged such that deposited feed on the shelf remains on said shelf but can be removed to the trough by the pig; providing in the feeder a water supply for dispensing water into the trough; during a first stage of growth starting immediately after weaning from a mother sow: periodically, independently of the pigs, controlling the water supply to the trough so as to supply water in sufficient quantity into the trough to control filling of the trough up to a predetermined level of the trough arranged such that it avoids dispensing water onto the shelf; and periodically causing the pigs to clean up the trough by halting the water supply into the trough for a time period sufficient for the water to be wholly consumed; and during a second stage after the first stage when the animals have become older: managing the water supply to the trough by providing at least one nipple actuable by the pigs for control by the pigs of the dispensing of the water into the trough arranged such that said at least one nipple avoids dispensing water onto the shelf.