IE921505A1 - Nesting box arrangements - Google Patents

Abstract

A nesting box comprises an elongate box-like structure 10 having two end walls 12, a top member 14 and a back member 16. The space defined in the structure is compartmented into two rows of individual boxes 18. Each box has a floor member 20 and a partially open front. The nesting box is carried laterally by two upright supports 22 each in sliding relationship in a passage defined between a corresponding end wall 12 and two vertically-spaced arms 24. Each support 22 is secured to its respective end wall 12 by clamping means 26/28, both the height and orientation of the nesting box on the supports 22 being adjustable.

Description

NESTING BOX ARRANGEMENTS.

This invention relates to nesting box arrangements for use, for example by poultry, and particularly, but not necessarily, for location in barns or other 'open1 houses. A particular problem arises in egg production for commercial breeding purposes, namely in reducing the number of eggs that become, due to the location in which they are laid, bacterially contaminated, ie. their shells become dirty and bacteria from the dirt passes through the respective shell to affect the contents.

An object of the present invention is to obviate or mitigate the above problem.

Accordingly, the present invention is a nesting box arrangement comprising an elongate box-like structure having two end walls, a top member and a back member, the space defined thereby being compartmented into at least one row of individual boxes, each of which having a floor member and an open front, the structure being carried laterally by two upright supports each in sliding relationship with a corresponding end wall and each being clampinyly secured to its respective end wall at any desired height and at any desired angular attitude.

Preferably, two rows of boxes are provided, one above the other and a back member is provided for each row. In front of each row, an assembly incorporating two or more roosting bars is desirably provided. Each assembly preferably also has an upstanding plate lengthwise of its respective boxes to close off similar lower portions of the front of the boxes in its respective row. Each end wall preferably has two vertically spaced arms extending forwardly and rearwardly of the end wall, similar horizontally-spaced forward portions of the arms supporting respective assemblies. The rearward extensions of similar horizontally-spaced arms preferably carry a rear upright plate lengthwise of the boxes in each row, the rear plates each hingedly carrying along its top edge a lid which extends inwardly towards the back member. The back member of each row preferably extends across each box and terminates above the floor member a determined distance. The floors of the boxes in each row desirably extend rearwardly to abut against the rear plate.

Preferably also, the supports are similar and each has an upright component and an angular component secured thereto, the components of each support being rooted to a surface-engaging, stabilising member which extends forwardly and rearwardly of the end walls.

Preferably further, a piece of compressible material is placed on top of each floor. The material is desirably washable.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanyiny drawings in which:Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a nesting box 05 arrangement according to the present invention, parts of the arrangement being cut-away for clarity and parts being shown separate from the arrangement; and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one end of the arrangement showing a structure angularly disposed relative to its support.

Referring to the drawings, a nesting box arrangement comprises an elongate box-like structure 10 haviny two end walls 12, a top member 14 and a back member 16 with the space defined thereby being compartmented into at least one row of individual boxes 18. Two rows of boxes 18 are provided in this embodiment, one above the other and a back member 16 is provided for each row of boxes 18. Each box 18 has a floor member 20 and an open front (as shown). Each end wall 12 has an upright rectangular sheet component 12A with the upper end thereof extended triangularly (as shown) to impart to the top member 14, when fitted, an inclined attitude from front to rear of the structure . A batten 12B is secured to the outside of the sheet component 12A along the marginal edge of the front and rear edyes of the component. Each end wall 12 has two vertically spaced arms 24 extending forwardly and rearwardly of the end wall 12 and being secured to the respective battens 12B to form a passage with the sheet component 12A of a width dimension the same as the width dimension of the battens 12B.

The structure 10 is carried laterally by two upright supports 22, each in sliding relationship with a corresponding end wall 12. Each support 22 is clampingly secured to its respective end wall 12 at any desired height and at any desired angular attitude. The supports 22 each pass through the passage formed in the respective end wall 12. An aperture is provided in each lower arm 24 and a corresponding aligned aperture is provided in the plate component 12A of the respective end wall 12. The area around the apertures in both the lower arm 24 and the plate component 12A is reinforced and a screw-threaded fastener 26 is engaged through the apertures and a nut 28 threaded over the outer end of the fastener 26. Release of or tightening of the nut on the fastener 26 loosens or clamps the support 22 in its respective engagement with its end wall 12 to permit height or angular adjustment.

In front of each row of boxes, an assembly incorporating two or more roosting bars 30 is provided. The upper assembly has two parallel bars 30 and the lower assembly has three bars 30. Each assembly has an upstanding elongate plate 32 lengthwise of its respective boxes to close off similar lower portions of the front of the boxes in its respective row. Similar horizontally-spaced forward portions of the arms 24 support respective assemblies. The rearward extensions of similar horizontally-spaced arms 24 carry a rear upright plate 34 lengthwise of the boxes in each row, the rear plates 34 each hinyedly carries along its top edge a lid 36 which extends inwardly towards the back member 16. The back member 16 of each row extends across each box and terminates above the floor member 20 a determined distance, ie. a distance sufficient to allow an egg to roll down the floor member 20, when sloped, and under the back member 16. The floor members 20 of the boxes in each row extend rearwardly to abut against the rear plate 34. The spaces defined by the rearward portions of the upper and lower arms 24, and their respective rear plate 34, lid 36, back member 16 and floor member extensions form two egg collection chambers, one for each row of boxes. The lid 36 is provided with handles for opening the lid as required for access to the respective chamber. The floor members 20 rest on ledyes 21 provided on the sides of their respective box, ie. on partitions or the inside face of the side walls, and therefore they are readily removable for cleaning.

The supports 22 are similar and each has an upright component 38 and an angular component 40 secured thereto, the components 38, 40 of each support 22 being rooted to a surface-engaging, stabilising member 42 which extends forwardly and rearwardly of the end walls 12.

A piece of compressible washable material, ie. a floor cover, is placed on top of each floor member 20 to cushion the fall of an egy, the material extending rearwardly over the floor extension. The inside face of the rear plate 34 is lined with a piece of resilient material to prevent the impact of eggs hitting thereagainst causing cracks.

The nesting box arrangement as described above are beneficially made of wood rather than of metal or of plastics material. One or more arrangements are positioned in a barn house initially each with the structure 10 at its lowest position relative to its supports 22. This is to allow hens to become accustomed to the boxes, i.e. training the hens to fly onto the roosting bars 30 and then into the boxes. During this training period, each floor cover has some wood shavings or similar discrete material thereon through which the hens can scrape. The floor cover is kept thereunder to allow the hens to become accustomed to the surface texture so that it is not 'alien' when the discrete material is no longer provided after the training period. After a period of time, when the hens have become accustomed to the boxes, the structure is tilted backwards and clamped in this position on the supports 22 to assist in the eggs rolling out off the boxes into the respective collection chambers.

Gradually, depending on circumstances, the structure 10 is raised relative to its supports 22 so that the collecting- of the eggs from the collection chambers does not involve the same degree of backbending for the collector .

Periodically and as required, each floor and it's cover can be removed from its respective box, knocked against a surface to dislodge dust and dry matter and then replaced. The floor covers can be washed, if required, and in the event that one or more floor covers are soiled before a periodic washing, a fresh cover can be substituted for the soiled cover (s).

In a first modification, the nesting box arrangement is made up from easily assembled/ disassembled components such that periodic washing for hyyenic purposes can be easily managed.

In a second modification, the rear plate 34 is slotted into grooves provided in arms 24 and is easily removable therefrom. Vertical slots are provided in the arms 24 adjacent to the back members 16 such that during the 'training' period, the rear plates 34 and lids 36 for each row of boxes can each be removed from its normal position, oriented and fitted into the respective slots, lid first, to close off the gap between the back member and floor member for each box. This prevents any discrete material from being ejected from the boxes by the hens when scraping. in a third modification, each assembly is hinged at its plate 32 whereby the bars 30 can be manually hinged upwardly against the front of the boxes to prevent access thereto during the night, the bars 30 being hinged back into their normal position during daylight.

Variations and other modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention described above and as claimed in the claims hereinafter.

Claims (16)

1. Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:~

1. Λ nesting box arrangement comprising an elongate box-like structure having two end walls, a top member and a back member, the space defined thereby being compartmented into at least one row of individual boxes, 05 each of which having a floor member and an open front, the structure being carried laterally by two upright supports each in sliding relationship with a corresponding end wall and each being clampingly secured to its respective end wall at any height and at any 10 angular attitude.

2. A nestiny box arrangement as claimed in Claim 1, wherein two rows of boxes are provided, one above the other and a back member is provided for each row.

3. A nestiny box arrangement as claimed in Claim 2, wherein in front of each row, an assembly incorporating two or more roosting bars is provided.

4. A nestiny box arrangement as claimed in Claim 3, wherein each assembly has an upstanding plate lenythwise of its respective boxes to close off similar lower portions of the front of the boxes in its respective row.

5. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein each end wall has two vertically spaced arms extending forwardly and rearwardly of the end wall.

6. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in Claim 5 when dependant on Claims 3 or 4, wherein similar horizontally-spaced forward portions of the arms supporting respective assemblies.

7. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in Claim 5 or 6, wherein the rearward extensions of similar horizontally-spaced arms carry a rear upright plate lengthwise of the boxes in each row, the rear plates 05 each hingedly carrying at its top edge a lid which extends inwardly towards the back member.

8. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the back member of each row extends across each box and terminates above the floor member a determined distance.

9. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the floors of the boxes in each row extend rearwardly to abut against the rear plate.

10. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the supports are similar and each has an upright component and an angular component secured thereto, the components of each 05 support being rooted to a surface-engaging, stabilising member which extends forwardly and rearwardly of the end walls.

11. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein a piece of compressible material is placed on top of each floor.

12. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in Claim 11, when dependant on any one of Claims 7 to 10, wherein the piece of material is curved up against the rear plate.

13. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the material is washable.

14. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in any one of Claims 7 to 11, wherein a piece of resilient material lines the inside face of the rear plate.

15. A nesting box arrangement as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 14, wherein each assembly is hinged at its plate to enable the bars 30 to be manually hinged upwardly against the front of the boxes to prevent access thereinto.

16. A nesting box arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.