Abstract: There is provided an autonomous vehicle for pushing feed lying on a floor, comprising a frame; a skirt rotatably connected to the frame, wherein a bottom portion of the skirt continuously contacts the floor to push the feed. The vehicle comprises a sensor assembly for detecting a magnetic field emitted from a magnetic guiding element inserted in the floor and a control unit mounted for directing rotation of the skirt and for guiding the vehicle along a predetermined path formed by the magnetic guiding element. Also provided is an autonomous vehicle with a skirt drive mechanism mounted to the frame for driving rotation of the skirt, and an autonomous vehicle comprising a prism-shaped skirt rotatably connected to the frame. There is also provided methods for installing a magnetically guided autonomous vehicle and for pushing feed using an autonomous vehicle, as well as systems and kits comprising said vehicle.

Abstract: A utility car for maintenance of a livestock environment is comprised of a container compartment which is supported on wheels and displaceable over a floor surface by a motor drive operated by a conductor person. A front-end loading bucket is provided for loading feed/hay into the container compartment. The container compartment has a discharge trough and a conveyor feeds the feed/hay from the compartment into the discharge trough. The front end loading bucket has a pivotal rear gate in an upper end section of a rear wall thereof for guidingly discharging feed/hay from the loading bucket into an open top end of the front wall of the container compartment and closes the open top end when the loading bucket is at a discharge position.

Abstract: The cow training device has a bracket attached to the front cross-stanchion of the cow stall, over the neck of the cow. The bracket holds a rear pivotable arm, which has an outer free end adapted to be located spacedly over and proximate the cow's back. The bracket also holds a short selectively powered frontward rotatable whip, linked to a switch which is activated only if the rear arm is upwardly pivoted. If the cow is located at the front portion of its stall and it wants to evacuate, it will arch its back, which will come into upward abutment with the arm outer free end and upwardly pivot the arm. The switch will then be activated, and power will be supplied to the whip which will rotate to sting the cow's neck. To escape this treatment, the cow will normally back up in its stall reactively to position its hind portion over the rear stall gutter. Its arched back will then not abut on the arm outer free end, and the whip will stop rotating, thus relieving the cow of this whipping treatment.