GB2261586A

GB2261586A - Animal bedding or litter

Info

Publication number: GB2261586A
Application number: GB9121557A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Stewart Crotty
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-10-10
Filing date: 1991-10-10
Publication date: 1993-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 2011-10-10
Also published as: GB2261586B; GB9121557D0

Abstract

A bedding or litter material is disclosed for animals comprising short strips of cardboard. Apparatus for producing the bedding or litter material is also disclosed in which sheets of cardboard 2, 4 are fed on a conveyor 6 into a shredder 8. The strips of card produced by the shredder 8 are then fed by a conveyor 14 in a direction transverse their length into a second shredder 16 which cuts them into short lengths. <IMAGE>

Description

ANIMAL BEDDING OR LITTER This invention relates to materials for animal bedding or litter. In this specification unless the content otherwise dictates the term "animal" is intended to include four legged animals, e.g. sheep, cows pigs, dogs, horses, mice, rats, and hamsters; and fowl, e.g. chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ducks etc.

In one aspect, the invention is concerned with a process of rearing animals, e.g. those suitable for meat, dairy or egg production.

Keeping animals confined, e.g. in a building pen or yard, requires the use of bedding or litter to absorb their excrement. Traditionally, bedding or litter comprised straw. More recently, for reasons both of economy and due to a shortage of straw, other materials have been used successfully, e.g. wood chippings and shredded newspaper. Wood chippings are becoming expensive, however. It is necessary to buy wood chippings for example. Wood chippings are in short supply due to a reduction in manufacturing output in the current recession. A cheaper alternative would be advantageous. A disadvantage of newspaper is that its life is not long since it tends to form a compressed soggy mass when wet.

Against this background, in accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided a bedding or litter material for animals, comprising short strips of cardboard.

Surprisingly, the litter, which can be made from solid cardboard or corrugated cardboard, e.g. single, double or triple wall corrugated cardboard, is acceptably comfortable and absorbent.

The material can be made from a mixture of cardboard and other paper so as to contain short strips of both. Most preferably the other papers do not contain a significant quantity of newspaper because the ink rubs off on the animals making them dirty, which is often unacceptable. Pullets kept only on shredded newspapers become a dusty black colour, for example.

There also appears no tendency for the animals to eat the cardboard in contrast, say, to newspaper strips. In trials it was found that less thickness of the material was required than would have been required of wood chippings. For example 5 or 6 tonnes of the material replaced 7 tonnes of wood chippings. Thus even if the material were as expensive, or slightly more expensive than, wood chippings, there would be a potential saving in cost. In practice, there appears to be very little demand for used cardboard and a charge is normally made for removing it in contrast, say, to the need to pay for wood chippings. So material in accordance with the invention is potentially cheaper than wood chippings and is more robust than litter containing only newspaper.

Advantageously, the strips have widths predominantly in the range 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch, and lengths predominantly in the range 1/8 inch to 3 inches. Such strips produce a comfortable springy mat.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided apparatus for manufacturing bedding or litter material comprising a first conveyor arranged to feed cardboard or a mixture of cardboard and other paper to a first shredder from which shredded cardboard or mixture is delivered in a first direction; a second conveyer arranged to received the shredded cardboard or mixture from the first shredder and convey the shredded cardboard or mixture in a second direction, transverse to the first, to a second shredder, and a third conveyor arranged to receive the shredded cardboard or mixture from the second shredder and convey the shredded cardboard or mixture in a third direction, transverse to the second, to a third shredder.

In order to produce strips of the preferred dimensions, the preferred apparatus has shredders each of which have a plurality of cutters spaced across the path of the material to be shredded, the cutters being spaced from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch apart.

Most preferably, the cutters are spaced approximately 1/2 inch apart.

In an aspect which may have a higher potential through-put, the invention extends to apparatus for manufacturing the bedding or litter material comprising a first conveyor arranged to feed cardboard to a shredder: a second conveyor arranged to receive the shredded cardboard from the shredder and convey the shredded cardboard to a cyclone containing a plurality of blades for chopping the shredded cardboard into short lengths.

Recognising that litter when composted is a valuable material, the invention extends in another aspect, to the material after being used for animal bedding or litter and then composted.

Recognising that the bedding or litter material will potentially reduce production costs, the invention extends in a yet other aspect to a process of rearing animals e.g. for meat, dairy or egg production, including keeping the animals for at least part of their lives in a building, a yard, a pen or nest box, the floor or part of the floor of which is covered with the bedding or litter material.

A still further aspect of the invention extends to a building, pen or nest box for rearing animals for meat, dairy or egg production, wherein the floor or part thereof is covered with a bedding or litter material as claimed in claim 1 or 2.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a block diagram of apparatus for manufacturing a bedding or litter material in accordance with the invention.

Referring to the drawing, sheets of cardboard 2,4 are fed in the direction of arrow "A" on a 3 ft wide conveyor 6 to the 3 ft wide inlet of a shredder 8. Two sets of cutters are mounted on contra-rotating shafts in the shredder. One set of cutters is schematically illustrated at 10 mounted on a shaft 12. The cutters 10 each engage a corresponding cutter in the other set so as to produce a shearing action, in use. The cardboard 2,4 is shredded by the cutters into strips which are as wide as the spacing between the cutters 10 and as long as the dimension of the cardboard sheet in the direction of the conveyor 6. The cutters are preferably spaced from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch and most preferably about 1/2 inch. The material fed to the shredder 8 could contain paper, e.g. craft or other paper in addition to the cardboard. In this case the other paper is preferably not newspaper.

Generally, the size of the cardboard sheets 2,4 will be such as to produce strips which are too long to produce a comfortably springy bedding material.

The strips produced by the shredder 10 are delivered in the direction of arrow "B" onto a second, 2 ft 6 inch wide conveyor 14. Arrow "B" appears in the schematic drawing to be in the same direction as arrow "A", but there may be a change of direction inside the shredder 8, e.g. between horizontal and vertical. The conveyor 14 transports the cardboard shreds in the direction of arrow "C", generally transverse (shown for example at right angles) to the direction of arrow "B".

The speed of the conveyor 14 is adjusted so that on the one hand the shreds do not build up and cause a jam and, on the other hand the shreds are not drawn out unduly along the conveyor 14. The shreds thus lie generally across the conveyor 14, some lying at right angles to the arrow "C", and some lying to some extent along the conveyor 14, but very few lying generally along the conveyor. Normally the linear speed of the conveyor 14 would be adjusted to be slightly more than the linear speed with which the shreds leave the shredder 8.

The shreds are conveyed by the conveyor 14 to the 2 ft 6 inch wide inlet of a second shredder 16 which has cutters 18 mounted on shafts 20 at spacings in the same range as those of the cutters 10 and preferably also 1/2 inch. The shredder 16 cuts the transverse shreds into various lengths dependent on the angle of each shred as it arrives on the conveyor 14. Thus a shred which lay truly'at right angles across the conveyor 14 would be cut into 1/2 inch squares by the shredder 16. A shred which lay partly along the conveyor 14 would be cut into longer, lozenge shapes.

While, a shred which lay exactly along the conveyor 14 (in the direction of arrow "C") would retain its length and, if cut, would be divided into narrower strips of the original length. If the apparatus is correctly set, very few shreds will lie exactly along the conveyor 14.

However, the length of the strips produced by the shredder 16 will generally be too long to produce a comfortable springy bedding material. The shreds from the shredder 16 are delivered therefrom in the direction of arrow "D" onto a conveyor 22 travelling in the direction of arrow "E" which is transverse to the arrow "D" and shown at right angles in the schematic drawing.

Again the speed of the conveyor 22 is adjusted to be sufficiently fast that the shreds do not build up thereon, but not so fast as to draw the shreds out unduly along the length of the conveyor. The shreds are therefore delivered to the inlet of a third shredder 24, with the shreds largely lying across the conveyor. There is less chance of the shreds being dragged along the length of the conveyor 22 as they are shorter than those on the conveyor 14, having also passed through the shredder 16.

The shredder 24 has cutter wheels 26, again spaced from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch, most preferably approximately 1/2 inch apart, on a rotating shaft 28, and acts to cut the shreds into shorter lengths.

With the cutters of all three shredders set at 1/2 inch spacing, the cardboard strips delivered by the third shredder 24 have widths predominantly in the range 1/8 to 1/2 inch, and lengths predominantly in the range 1/8 to 3 inches. Those of smallest dimensions being produced by, say, cutting the end off a strip, and those of largest dimensions being produced from a strip -inclined substantially from a the direction of arrow "B" on the conveyor 14 and from arrow "D" on the conveyor 22.

The shredder 24 delivers a material suitable for animal bedding or litter to a conveyor 30 which transports the shreds to the inlet of a bailer 34 to be bailed in polythene bags producing bails 36 of about 25 kilo.

In another embodiment (not shown) the second shredder is replaced by a cyclone shredder which has a chamber containing blades for chopping the shreds as they rotate in the cyclone.

In a particular application turkeys were raised for meat in a shed using litter produced by the apparatus illustrated. 5 to 6 tonnes of the material could be used as effectively as, say, 7 tonnes of wood chips.

Claims

1. A bedding or litter material for animals, comprising short strips of cardboard.

2. A material as claimed in claim 1, including short strips of paper other than newspaper.

3. A material as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the strips have widths predominantly in the range 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch, and lengths predominantly in the range 1/8 inch to 3 inches.

4. Apparatus for manufacturing bedding or litter material as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising: a first conveyor arranged to feed cardboard or a mixture of cardboard and other paper to a first shredder from which shredded cardboard or mixture is delivered in a first direction; a second conveyor arranged to receive the shredded cardboard or mixture from the first shredder and convey the shredded cardboard or mixture in a second direction, transverse to the first, to a second shredder, and a third conveyor arranged to receive the shredded cardboard mixture from the second shredder and convey the shredded cardboard or mixture in a third direction, transverse to the second, to a third shredder.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shredders each have a plurality of cutters spaced across the path of the material to be shredded, the cutters being spaced from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch apart.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the cutters are spaced approximately 1/2 inch apart.

7. Apparatus for manufacturing bedding or litter material as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, comprising a first conveyor arranged to feed cardboard to a shredder: a second conveyor arranged to receive the shredded cardboard from the shredder and convey the shredded cardboard to a cyclone containing a plurality of blades for chopping the shredded cardboard into short lengths.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the shredder has a plurality of cutters spaced across the path of the cardboard to be shredded, the cutters being spaced from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch apart.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the cutters are spaced approximately 1/2 inch apart.

10. Material as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, after being used for animal bedding or litter and then composted.

11. A process of rearing animals, e.g. for meat, dairy or egg production, including keeping the animals for at least part of their lives in a building, a pen or nest box, the floor or part of the floor of which is covered with a bedding or litter material as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3.

12. A building, pen or nest box for rearing animals, e.g. for meat, dairy or egg production, wherein the floor or part thereof is covered with a bedding or litter material as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3.