Method of monitoring animal feeding behavior

A system for monitoring administering of a medication to an animal, said system comprising:

• an elongate mat having opposing sides and a plurality of antennas spaced therealong;
• a plurality of passive transponders, each passive transponder having a unique identification code so that when each passive transponder is affixed to an animal, each passive transponder facilitates identification of that animal;
• an electronic control system for transmitting an electronic signal sequentially to each one of said plurality of antennas such that each activated antenna emits the signal and, any sufficiently passive transponder sufficiently adjacent to each activated antenna, receives the signal and generates a return electronic signal which is sent to each activated antenna;
• a computer, coupled to said plurality of antennas, to receive the return signal from each passive transponder and generating preliminary results indicating an animal behavior which affects animal feeding characteristics;
• at least one drinking bowl;
• a supply of water coupled to the at least one drinking bowl via a water supply conduit;
• a valve being located along the water supply conduit for controlling dispensing of water into the drinking bowl, and operation of the valve being controlled by a lever positioned adjacent the drinking bowl;
• at least one medication administration container being coupled to said water supply conduit for dispensing a desired medication to the water supplied by the water supply conduit, and a control solenoid valve being coupled to the computer to control operation of the control valve and facilitate automatic administering of the medication into the water supply conduit.

A method of dispensing of at least one medication to a drinking trough to facilitate treating an animal, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing the drinking trough with at least one drinking bowl;
• coupling the at least one drinking bowl to a supply of water via a water supply conduit;
• providing a valve along the water supply conduit for controlling dispensing of water into the drinking bowl, and coupling the valve to a lever positioned adjacent the drinking bowl for controlling operation of the valve;
• coupling at least one medication container to said water supply conduit for dispensing a desired medication to the water supplied by the water supply conduit, and a control valve being coupled to a computer to control operation of the control valve and facilitate automatic administering of the medication into the water supply conduit;
• providing the water supply conduit with a mixing chamber and a flow valve to measure a quantity of water flowing through the water supply conduit to the drinking bowl, and coupling the at least one medication administering container to the mixing chamber by a medication supply conduit, and providing the medication supply conduit with a flow valve to measure the flow of medication from the at least one medication administering container to the mixing valve.