Poultry feeder

A method of raising poultry from young chicks to mature birds ready for market, said birds being raised in a poultry house being provided with a plurality of feeders for presenting feed to the birds within said house, each of said feeders having a feed pan in which said feed is deposited, a feed conveyor for delivering feed to said feeders, and means for selectively raising and lowering said feeders with respect to the floor of said house, said method comprising the steps of:

• introducing young chicks into said house;
• presenting feed in the feed pans of said feeders in such manner that said young chicks standing on the floor of said house can visibly see said feed within said feeders;
• permitting access of said young chicks to said feed in said feed pans;
• and
• upon said birds growing in height, raising said feeders with respect to said floor thereby to change the depth of said feed pans from a shallow depth position to a deeper depth position thereby to prevent said larger birds from raking feed from said feed pans.

A method of raising young birds, such as chickens or turkeys, from young chicks to birds ready for market in a poultry house substantially without a stall in the growth rate of such birds as the feeding of the birds is converted from a feeder adapted for the ready viewing of feed by said young chicks in a feed pan to a feeder adapted for the consumption of feed by larger birds such that the larger birds are effectively prevented from raking feed from said feeder, said poultry house having a floor, a plurality of feeders, each of said feeders having a feed pan, and a feed conveyor for delivering feed to said feeders, said poultry house further having means for raising and lowering said feeders relative to said floor, each of the feed pans of said feeders being movable between a shallow pan and a deeper pan depth position, each said feeder having a drop tube between said feed conveyor and said feed pan for the delivery of feed from said feed conveyor to said feed pan, wherein said method comprises the steps of:

• lowering said feed conveyor within said poultry house prior to the introduction of young chicks within said poultry house such that said feed pans of said feeders are in their said shallow depth positions thus enabling said young chicks standing on the floor of said house to visually see feed deposited by said drop tube within said feed pan;
• contemporaneously with changing said feed pans to their said shallow depth positions, minimizing the volume of feed stored within said drop tube of such feeders;
• delivering feed to said feeders via said feed conveyor so as to deliver a desired quantity of feed to said feed pans of said feeders and to deposit a quantity of feed within the drop tubes of said feeders whereby said feed within said drop tubes constitutes a reservoir of feed;
• discharging feed from the bottom of said drop tube into said feed pan so as to deposit a predetermined quantity of feed within said feed pan for consumption by said young chicks, such predetermined quantity of feed within said feed pan being sufficient to make such feed visible to said young chicks and being of such quantity that said feed within said feed pan does not become overly stale or fouled prior to its being consumed by said chicks;
• providing access to said feed within said feed pan by said chicks;
• upon said chicks consuming feed from within said feed pan, replenishing the feed consumed from said feed pan with fresh feed from said reservoir of feed within said drop tube so as to substantially maintain said desired quantity of feed within said feed pan with said feed flowing from said feed conveyor, into said drop tube and then into said feed pan on a first in, first out basis thereby to minimize the tendency of feed within said drop tube from becoming stale;
• if necessary, delivering additional feed to said drop tubes from said feed conveyor;
• upon the birds growing in height, raising said feed conveyor so as to change said feed pans from said shallow depth to a deeper depth position so as to prevent said now larger birds from raking feed out of said feed pans;
• contemporaneously with changing said feed pans from said shallow depth to said deeper depth pan positions, increasing the volume of said drop tube so as to have a larger reservoir of stored feed within said feeder for supplying said now larger birds with additional feed;
• upon changing said feed pans to said deeper depth positions, said birds only having to consume a portion of said desired quantity of feed in said feed pan to effect the flow of fresh feed from within said drop tube to replenish the feed consumed;
• and
• as required, delivering more feed to said drop tube from said conveyor so as to maintain a reservoir of feed within said drop tube such that as said birds consume said feed from said feed pan, feed will flow out of the bottom of said drop tube to replenish the feed consumed from the feed pan between the times additional feed is delivered to said drop tubes by said feed conveyor.

The method of raising poultry from young chicks to birds ready for market with a better rate of converting feed fed to the birds compared to the live weight of the birds at the time the birds are ready for market, said birds being raised in a poultry house having a floor, a plurality of said feeders within said house, each of said feeders having a feed pan, each of the feed pans being changeable from a shallow depth to a deeper depth position, and a feed conveyor for delivering feed to each of said feeders, each of said feeders having a drop tube extending generally between said feed conveyor and said feed pan, said feed being discharged out of the bottom of said drop tube into said feed pan, said method comprising the steps of:

• introducing young chicks into said house;
• positioning said feed pans in their said shallow depth positions;
• presenting a predetermined quantity of feed in said feed pans of said feeders in such manner that said young chicks standing on the floor of said house can visibly see said feed within said feeders;
• permitting access of said young chicks to said feed in said feed pans;
• continuously supplying fresh feed from within said drop tube in a first in, first out basis to replenish the feed within said feed pans consumed by said chicks so as to substantially maintain said predetermined quantity of feed within said feed pan;
• upon said birds growing in height, raising said feeders with respect to said floor thereby to change the depth of each of said feed pans from a shallow depth position to a deeper depth position thereby to prevent said larger birds from raking feed from said feed pans;
• and
• continuously supplying fresh feed from within said drop tube to said feed pan with the latter in its deeper depth position so as to replenish the feed within said feed pans consumed by said birds such that substantially all of the feed conveyed by said feed conveyor to said feeders is consumed by said birds.