A water supply for an animal feeder includes a valve member on a nipple controlled by the animal connected to a water supply duct for supplying water to the valve member. A regulator is provided for controlling a flow rate and the nipple controls the flow rate by defining a housing through which the water passes with a resilient cylindrical body mounted in the housing. The resilient body defines a convoluted or serpentine water flow path therethrough or thereon for flow of water along the flow path through the housing with the flow path defining a rate of flow of the water. The housing has an adjustment member for adjusting application of pressure to the resilient body to change an amount of compression of the resilient body so as to distort the water flow path and change the rate of flow. The serpentine path is also of increased length to restrict the flow.

The present invention provides a hand feeding, natural, self-regulating nipple nutritional system and method of use for a baby animal which allows the baby animal to latch onto a surrogate feeding nipple in which the speed of flow of liquid and quantity of liquid, such as milk, is regulated comfortably by the animal. In particular, the invention provides a soft, flexible, highly porous material affixed to a liquid-dispensing vehicle, in which the porous material is saturated with, and serves as a reservoir for, the liquid so that any excess liquid not ingested remains in the porous material. The porous material includes a nipple protrusion at one end to which the baby animal latches onto and suckles from until it is satisfied. The nipple protrusion has a density that is greater than the density of the rest of the porous material, which contributes to the high absorbency of the porous material and closely mimics the feel of a mother's nipple. Thus, the device and method of the invention prevent choking, aspiration and risk of death in baby animals in need of nutritional support.

A system for distributing a plurality of predetermined amounts of predetermined feeds including at least one feed component to preselected recipients thereof at a plurality of respective feed locations. The system includes a track assembly with a track and a feeder assembly movable along the track. The feeder assembly includes a mixer subassembly for preparing a preselected one or more of the feed components together to provide the predetermined amounts of the predetermined feeds, and a dispensing subassembly, configured to receive the predetermined feeds from the mixer subassembly and to provide the predetermined feeds to the preselected recipients thereof. The system also includes a feeder mounting assembly, for mounting the feeder assembly to the track, and a motion assembly for moving the feeder assembly along the track.

Infant training devices and methods for the use thereof are disclosed herein. A benefit to the devices and methods herein can be the effective training of an infant to develop the suck-swallow-breathe pattern of nutritive and non-nutritive sucking required for feeding from an infant bottle, or for self-soothing with a pacifier. A further benefit to the devices and methods herein can be providing versatile devices for the use of vibration therapy as an infant training aid for feeding from an infant feeding bottle, or as an infant soothing pacifier.

A nursing apparatus and related technique as presented for nursing orphaned baby animals. The invention consists of a feeding syringe adapted for receiving a nipple cap having an elongated nipple of elliptical or flat-like cross-section. The elongated nipple has an inlet bore in communication with the feeding syringe and an outlet bore interposed between and in communication with the inlet bore and a nipple opening. The nipple cap is slip or friction fit onto the feeding syringe. The inlet bore is of a larger diameter than the outlet bore to establish a land area there between. Pressure of fluid from the syringe impacts the land area, generating a force. Before that force becomes sufficient to aspirate the baby animal being fed, the force causes the nipple cap to separate from the feeding syringe, preventing such aspiration. The nipple caps are sized and color coded to accommodate selection consistent with the age/physical size of the baby as it matures.