Abstract: An apparatus for drying piglets immediately after birth includes a container shaped and arranged for receiving up to three or four of the piglets having an opening arrangement for manual insertion by the worker of the piglets to be confined within the container during a drying period. The container has a system for applying air movement and optionally heat to the piglets while confined with the container for drying and a release arrangement having a door controlled by a settable timer or a system for detecting when the piglets are dry for allowing release from the container of the piglets after a sufficient drying time period has elapsed. The container includes a base mounted in each farrowing crate and a cover portion which is removable from one crate to another.

Abstract: An apparatus for drying piglets immediately after birth includes a container shaped and arranged for receiving up to three or four of the piglets having an opening arrangement for manual insertion by the worker of the piglets to be confined within the container during a drying period. The container has a system for applying air movement and optionally heat to the piglets while confined with the container for drying and a release arrangement having a door controlled by a settable timer or a system for detecting when the piglets are dry for allowing release from the container of the piglets after a sufficient drying time period has elapsed. The container includes a base mounted in each farrowing crate and a cover portion which is removable from one crate to another.

Abstract: The number of piglets dying at birth is reduced by providing a temperature sensor in a farrowing crate at the piglet area thereof on a movable cover so that, when the sow is expected to give birth, the sensor is located in the crate at a location to detect the presence of one or more piglets after birth. On detection by a control unit using the sensor signal of the one or more piglets, the sensor communicates a signal to a pager carried by an operator indicating to the operator that birth of piglets is in progress and activates a heating lamp for the piglets in the pen to attract them away from the area of the sow to reduce crushing. The control unit and the sensor also control the heat output. The cover can slide along the piglet area and can lift to expose the piglet area.

Abstract: The number of piglets dying at birth is reduced by providing a temperature sensor in a farrowing crate at the piglet area thereof on a movable cover so that, when the sow is expected to give birth, the sensor is located in the crate at a location to detect the presence of one or more piglets after birth. On detection by a control unit using the sensor signal of the one or more piglets, the sensor communicates a signal to a pager carried by an operator indicating to the operator that birth of piglets is in progress and activates a heating lamp for the piglets in the pen to attract them away from the area of the sow to reduce crushing. The control unit and the sensor also control the heat output. The cover can slide along the piglet area and can lift to expose the piglet area.

Abstract: The number of piglets dying at birth is reduced by providing a motion or weight sensor in a farrowing crate at the piglet area thereof so that, when the sow is expected to give birth, the motion sensor is located in the crate at a location to detect motion of one or more piglets after birth and, on detection of motion of the one or more piglets, causing the motion sensor to wirelessly communicate a signal to a pager carried by an operator indicating to the operator that birth of piglets is in progress.

Abstract: A transportation cart primarily for transporting deceased animals through the alleyways of a barn has a swivelling mast and boom mounted on the front section of a frame driven by powered wheels with a slide panel attached to the mast below the boom over which the object can slide as it is pulled by actuating a winch to be carried. A coupling is provided between the front frame section and a rear frame section with castor wheels for providing side to side movement of the rear frame section relative to the front frame section transverse to a longitudinal center line to provide ballast when the lifting is to one side and to provide manoeuvrability. The boom has an inner end mounted on the mast for pivotal movement about a transverse axis such that an outer end of the boom can be raised and lowered and the slide panel is movable from its inclined slide position below the boom to a raised stored position attached to an underside of the boom.

Abstract: A boar cart for carrying a boar through alleyways of a sow insemination area for interaction with the sows during insemination is formed by a cage for containing the boar which includes a cage floor on which the boar stands, two sides each defined by vertical bars on a respective side of a longitudinal center line of the cage assembly for confining the boar so that the boar is maintained extending longitudinally of the cage, a cage front and a cage rear. The cage may be rigid or may be defined by a front portion and a rear portion connected together for pivotal articulated movement about a pivot coupling defining a vertical pivot axis arranged substantially at the center line such that the cage can articulate to the left and to the right for navigating left and right corners in the alleyways while the boar is retained in the cage.

Abstract: There is provided a moveable cart for use in transporting an animal, as a male hog, past one or more rows of cages containing sows to permit the determination of estrus in the sows and also to increase the success rate during artificial insemination by permitting snout to snout contact between the sow and male hog, the cart having a base with wheels mounted thereon, at least one wall extending upwardly from the base, and at least one panel for blocking visual access in at least one direction between the interior and exterior of the cart and at least one opening in the wall sized to permit the head of an animal to least partially extend therethrough.