The disclosures herein relate to animal feeder devices. Specifically, the disclosed invention relates to an interchangeable interactive slow feeder device for large herbivorous animals, particularly horses, which requires ongoing interaction by the animal with interchangeable features of the device to access hay or other feed.
The natural feeding behavior of horses and many other large herbivorous animals is well-established. Typically, a horse will spend between fifty and sixty percent of its time during a 24-hour day eating. In fact, the natural feeding process is, more-or-less, continuous during daylight hours. Horses and large herbivorous animals feed naturally by grazing. Grazing is an instinctive, established evolutionary process involving differing levels of instinctive and cognitive responses and behavior which culminate in the consumption of food. For example, a grazing animal may consider the distribution of different species of plant in an area, accessibility of the terrain, and the geographical location of forage in relation to water, shade, protection from wind, and bedding sites. Additionally, an animal is guided by its changing physiological needs, such as hunger, thirst, thermal regulation, energy level/fatigue, and the like. Actual food consumption involves sensory investigation (i.e., smell and touch) of the forage, biting off a portion of forage, and then taking one or two steps forward while chewing.
In an open pasture, horses, for example for example, directly consume growing forage, such as grasses and soft non-woody plants, feeding with its head down and its nose brushing against the forage very near the ground. Such grazing behavior is a stepwise process wherein the animal may typically spend hours in a head-down position with its nose within inches of the ground as it investigates, bites, and chews the forage while slowly moving step-by-step across the ground.
Imbalances in physical and psychological aspects of this system, such caused by feeding from a trough or similar fixed-position open feeder, disrupt a horse's natural, instinctive grazing behavior and create boredom. This can result in overfeeding or underfeeding. Additionally, placing hay or other forage on the ground increases the risk of “sand colic,” abdominal pain in horses from ingesting sand. This abdominal pain arises from irritation of the colon of horses caused by the accumulation of sand. Colic can also arise from eating too fast, another risk that is increased when using an open feeder.
Moreover, existing devices for feeding horses and other grazing animals are problematic with respect to preservation of instinctive and cognitive feeding experiences important for optimal animal health. Feeding troughs and corral fence-mounted feeders do not place the horse in proper maximal “head-down” feeding position to replicate the natural grazing experience. Feeders mounted on the side of a fence can be awkward to load with hay, resulting in spilling hay onto the ground outside of the corral. All open feeders allow the horse to access its food freely with minimal or no interaction, unlike the natural grazing experience. An absence of interactive feeding behaviors may create boredom, overeating, and eating too quickly.
For at least the foregoing issues, the use of existing feeders for horses does not encourage the animal to engage in natural, interactive feeding behaviors, deprives the animal of forage interaction similar to grazing, often results in overeating, and may lead to multiple metabolic and psychological stresses that ultimately negatively impact the animal's health.
Because of these and other problems, there is a need for an improved feeder design for use in feeding large, domesticated herbivorous animals, such as horses, that addresses the aforementioned deficiencies.
Disclosed herein are embodiments of an interactive slow feeder for feeding domesticated large animals, such as horses. The interactive slow feeder incorporates a relatively simple design. The device rests on the ground, can be easily filled with hay, and incorporates interchangeable features that require animal interaction for a horse or other grazing animal to access hay or other feed.
Disclosed is an interactive slow feeder comprising a feed box having an interior defined by at least one side and configured to hold an animal feed; a cover configured to moveably interact with the at least one side to fully enclose the interior and having a feed port in communication with the interior; and a feature operatively coupled to the feed port, wherein the feature is configured to change the feed port between a closed position restricting access to the interior to an open position allowing access to the interior in response to an animal interaction with the feature, wherein the animal may remove the animal feed from the interior.
In some embodiments, the interactive slow feeder further comprises a bottom coupled to the at least one side opposite the cover. In some embodiments, the cover has a plurality of feed ports. In some embodiments, the cover is hingedly coupled to the at least one side. In some embodiments, the cover is slidably coupled to the at least one side. In some embodiments, the cover is hingedly coupled to the at least one side. In some embodiments, the cover is slidably coupled to the at least one side. In some embodiments, the cover is removable from the feed box.
In some embodiments, the interactive slow feeder has a plurality of features. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of features is operatively coupled to only one of the plurality of feed ports. In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of features is operatively coupled to more than one of the plurality of feed ports. In some embodiments, the plurality of features is operatively coupled to more than one of the plurality of feed ports.
In some embodiments, the feature is a flap covering the feed port and formed by a flexible lower element partially overlapping or overlapped by a flexible upper element. In some embodiments, the flap has a substantially linear edge. In some embodiments, the flap has a substantially arcuate edge.
In some embodiments, the feature is slidably coupled to the opening. In some embodiments, the feature is hingedly coupled to the opening.
In some embodiments, the feature comprises an animal toy.
Also disclosed is a method of simulating a grazing experience for a horse.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following more particular description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.
Various example embodiments of an interactive slow feeder are described in detail herein. The feeder includes a feed-box container having an interior which can be filled with hay or other forage. The feed-box container has a bottom and is placed on the ground or on the floor of a barn or other building structured where horses or livestock are kept. Placement of the feed-box container on the ground requires the grazing animal, such as a horse, to feed with its head in a position proximate to the ground, requiring the animal to assume natural feeding posture, such as when grazing.
The container is fitted with a removable cover having at least one feed port. The feed port is completely or partially obstructed by a moveable feature, such as a flap, a slider, or other movable obstruction. To access forage from the interior of the closed container through a feed port, an animal, such as a horse, must determine how to interact with the movable feature obstructing the feed port, opening the feed port to allow access to the forage held in the interior of the feed box. Different types of movable features appear differently to the horse, may have different action mechanisms, and require the horse to determine how to move the feature. The cover may have several feed ports with each feed port bearing similar or different moveable feature types with respect to other feed ports. Furthermore, a cover interchangeable with different covers bearing different feed ports may be exchanged on the feed box, in some embodiments of the interactive slow feeder.
The overall dimensions of feed box 102, in some embodiments, are about twenty-four (24) by about thirty-six (36) inches. In some embodiments, the overall dimensions of feed box 102 are about twenty-four (24) by about forty-eight (48) inches. In some embodiments, the overall dimensions of feed box 102 are about eighteen (18) by about forty-eight (48) inches. In some embodiments, the overall dimensions of feed box 102 are about thirty-six (36) inches square. In some embodiments, the overall dimensions of feed box 102 are about forty-eight (48) inches square. The aforementioned dimensions are given by way of example only. A person of skill will recognize that feeders, for example, horse feeders and other grazing animal feeders, come in many different sizes and relative dimensions. Any combination of dimensions suitable for a feed box containing forage for a horse or other large domestic animal are anticipated for feed box 102.
As shown by
In some embodiments, hinge 112 comprises an opening and a J-shaped feature configured to be received by the opening, wherein cover 110 pivotally moves with respect to side 104 at hinge 112. An example embodiment having hinge 112 comprising a J-shaped feature is shown in
Although this may appear trivial, the horse or other grazing animal must, regardless, consider the obstruction created by feature 120 to access the forage held within interior 105 when feeding. This consideration forms an intellectual engagement wherein the horse or other animal interacts with feeder 100 when feeding. The necessary interaction between the animal and interactive slow feeder 100 may provide benefits to the animal, such as providing intellectual stimulation, slowing down the feeding process to better duplicate grazing, and other benefits. Many other examples of features 120 operatively coupled to feed port 106 to movably and intermittently obstruct feed port 106 that must be overcome by an interaction by the horse or other feeding animal are possible. Some additional examples are discussed further herein below. These examples of features 120, however, are not meant to be limiting.
As discussed herein, feed port 106 is partially or completely obstructed by movable feature 120. In addition to the elastic bands 128 discussed above, Feature 120 can take many forms, as illustrated in the several drawing figures. A variety of illustrative examples of such forms are discussed by way of example below, however this discussion is not intended to be limiting. Persons of skill will recognize, based upon the example embodiments discussed herein, that feature 120 operatively coupled to feed port 106, wherein feature 120 is configured to change feed port 106 from an open position allowing the animal access to interior 105 in response to the animal interacting with feature 120, wherein the animal may remove hay, forage, or other feed from interior 105 is suitable for incorporation by embodiments of interactive slow feeder 100.
For example,
Positioning step 210, in some embodiments, comprises positioning an interactive slow feeder on a low surface. The low surface should be about or of the same elevation as a surface upon which the horse or grazing animal stands when feeding, such as the ground within a corral, pen, ring, or pasture, for example, or the floor of a barn or similar outbuilding. In some embodiments, a user of the interactive slow feeder may seek to mount the feeder in a more elevated position, such as on a fence or other structure, however this is not desirable. Mounting or otherwise positioning the interactive horse feeder above ground-level interferes with the animal assuming a fully “head-down” position, such as when grazing in a pasture.
Filling step 220, in some embodiments, comprises filling the interactive slow feeder with a feed. The feed, in some embodiments, is hay made from grass, alfalfa, or the like. In some embodiments, the feed comprises grain or other feed. Optimally, however, the feed comprises material similar or related to forage obtained by the animal when grazing, such as grass or hay. This is not intended to be limiting. In some embodiments, filling step 220 comprises filling the interactive slow feeder with any suitable food appropriate for the type of animal interacting with the feeder.
Closing step 230, in some embodiments, comprises closing a cover of the interactive slow feeder. Closing step 230 is simple fitting the cover over a feed box to close an interior of the interactive feeder that has been filled with the feed. The cover comprises one or more feed ports. In some embodiments, the cover is hingedly coupled to the feed box and is not completely detachable from the feed box wherein closing step 230 is accomplished by swinging the cover closed over the feed box by pivoting the cover on a hinge coupled to the feed box and the cover. In some embodiments, the cover is completely removable from the feed box, with or without a hinge that may be un-coupled, wherein closing step 230 comprises fitting the cover onto the feed box thus closing off an interior of the feeder.
Interacting step 240, in some embodiments, comprises interacting with a feature at least partially obstructing a feed port. Interacting step is performed by the horse or other animal desiring to feed from the interactive slow feeder, whereas positioning step 210, filling step 220, and closing step 230 are performed by a human user of the interactive slow feeder. Interacting step 240 is performed by the horse, for example, examining a feed port within the cover of the feeder fitted with a feature completely or partially obstructing the feed port to determine how to interact with the feature, to overcome the obstruction and access the feed, and then physically overcoming the obstruction. In some embodiments, interacting step 240 comprises the animal determining it is safe to physically interact with the feature. In some embodiments, interacting step 240 comprises the animal determining one or more ways to physically interact with the feature to access the feed through the feed port. In some embodiments, interacting step 240 comprises visual examination by the animal. In some embodiments, interacting step 240 comprises sniffing. In some embodiments, interacting step 240 comprises touching the feature, such as with a snout, a hoof, or the like.
In some embodiments, interacting step 240 comprises displacing the feature, wherein the feed port obstruction is relieved sufficient for the animal to access the feed through the feed port. For example, in some embodiments, interacting step 240 comprises displacing a movable flap feature, an elastic band feature, rolling a ball feature, sliding a slider feature, rolling a roller feature, or the like.
Feeding step 250, in some embodiments, comprises the horse or other animal feeding upon the feed through the feed port.
Several embodiments of an interactive slow feeder and method of use have been described herein. The interactive feeder allows for intellectual and physical interaction by the animal with the feeder, so as to require a level of intellectual and physical activity by the animal greater than simply eating forage from a feed box or trough. The intellectual and physical interaction may partially re-create certain intellectual and physical experiences of the animal when grazing, for example.
The embodiments and examples set forth herein were presented in order to best explain the present invention and its practical application, and to thereby enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the foregoing description and examples have been presented for the purpose of illustration and example. The description as set forth is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible, in light of the teachings herein above.