Synthetic horse bedding

Details Synthetic horse bedding Synthetic horse bedding

1995-01-20

1998-03-10

Price, Thomas

Animal husbandry

Confining or housing

Stall

A01K 1015

Patent

active

057249164

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to floor/wall coverings which are suitable for, but not limited to, use with animals, particularly for stalls, stables, boxes, pens or floats in which animals are housed or transported.


BACKGROUND ART

Most stables, stalls, boxes, pens or floats, etc, for animal stock, eg, horses, pigs, cattle, are covered with straw or similar particulate bedding material in order to insulate the stock from the hard and usually cold floor and to absorb waste and debris from the animals.
To ensure cleanliness and prevent the spread of disease in this conventional bedding material, replacement material must continually be provided and the used material cleaned out of the stables or stall and disposed. Not only is the purchase and transportation of conventional straw or other particulate bedding expensive, particularly in remote and areas, but the disposal of large quantities of used bedding which is soaked with animal waste is also costly.
Further, conventional particulate bedding of straw, wood shavings, sawdust, etc, is inadequate in terms of protection and insulation from the stable floor and walls. Once the conventional bedding has been placed in the stall, it is usually scattered by the animal leaving areas of the floor exposed. In addition, straw or other particulate bedding tends to cause the animal to slip and possibly fall when trying to move about the stall or stable. This is particularly true for horses when trying to stand up. The conventional bedding of straw, wood shavings or sawdust bedding slides over the stable floor, especially if it is wet. When the horse tries to stand, it tends to get the bedding under its hooves, thereby slipping and possibly injuring itself.
In an attempt to combat these problems with conventional bedding of straw, sawdust, wood shavings, etc, it has previously been proposed to provide a replacement bedding in the form of a matting either laid down in sections or cut to the exact size of the stall or stable.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,129,097 and 4,502,415 disclose a stable floor for animals comprising a compressible sub layer of porous filamentary material embedded in a top moisture impervious layer.
While this matting provides a reasonable thermal insulation from the stable floor, there is no mechanism for removing animal waste or debris from the stable. The matting of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,129,097 and 4,502,415 requires that all animal waste and debris, dirt, etc, be manually picked up from the matting and taken away. Alternatively, the mat itself may be entirely removed from the stable and washed down.
In addition, any animal waste or material which finds its way under the upper layer of the matting disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,129,097 and 4,502,415 will be absorbed and retained by the porous filamentary compressible sub-layer. This absorption of animal waste leads to unacceptable conditions for both the animal and stable hand. Not only would the smell quickly become intolerable, but the entrapment of animal waste under the matting will undoubtedly cause the spread of disease.
In response to these difficulties, German patent specification No 2649054 has suggested using moisture impermeable closed cell foam with a plurality of apertures to allow animal waste and debris to pass therethrough. However, this matting suffers from similar problems as outlined above, since it does not provide any mechanism for removal of the material that passes through the aforesaid apertures.
In addition, these prior art mats are quite thin, eg, 10-40 mm thick. Such a thickness is insufficient to provide both physical and thermal insulation for the animal from the stable floor and walls. To overcome these difficulties, the mats of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,129,097 and 4,502,415 and German patent specification No 2649054 are used in conjunction with conventional bedding material, eg, straw, wood shavings, sawdust, etc, which leads to all the previously discussed difficulties of conventional bedding supply and disposal.
In order to ameliorate the disadvantages of the

REFERENCES:
patent: 3209380 (1965-10-01), Watsky
patent: 4129097 (1978-12-01), Schwartzkopff et al.
patent: 4502415 (1985-03-01), Schwarzkopff et al.
patent: 4673452 (1987-06-01), Awdhan
patent: 5463785 (1995-11-01), McKeel

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Synthetic horse bedding does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Synthetic horse bedding, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Synthetic horse bedding will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-130892