Litter screening and separating apparatus

In a litter screening and separating apparatus movable along the floor of a poultry house for engaging and lifting litter from the floor, wherein said apparatus has a scoop means on a front portion thereof for scooping up said litter, a storage compartment for receiving and storing litter scooped up by the scoop means, and an upwardly and rearwardly inclined conveyor means extending from a first end adjacent to the scoop means to a second end adjacent to the storage compartment for conveying litter from the scoop means to the storage compartment, the improvement comprising:

• a plurality of replaceable individual panel means having opposite ends thereof removably attached to and carried by flexible chains of the conveyor means, and with said chains define said conveyor means, said panel means having a leading edge and a trailing edge and being attached at the leading edge to said chains, said panel means having a width and being attached to said chains in spaced relation to one another along said chains such that when the panel means are moving along flight of said conveyor means the panel means lie flat and in substantially contiguous relationship with one another, defining an essentially continuous support surface for said litter, but when the panel means move around the second end of the conveyor means the trailing edge of the panel means flip upwardly, throwing litter carried thereby into said storage compartment, the trailing edge of said panel means having an upturned portion to enhance the throwing action and to assist in retaining litter on the panel means as they move up the inclined conveyor means, said panel means having opening means therethrough for enabling smaller particles of litter to pass therethrough while retaining larger particles of litter on the conveyor means.