SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FEED MIXTURE PREPARATION

Abstract

The present disclosure concerns a system and a method for the preparation of adaptive batch of feed mixture for an animal habitat. The system includes a mixing unit that is linked to storage containers, each storage container stores a different type of feed component that is suitable for different state of the animal. A controller of the system receives data indicative of the state of the animals in the habitat and facilitates a flow of desired amounts of each feed and/or supplements or immune additives into the mixing unit, based on data that is corresponding to the state of the animals. The feed components are mixed in the mixing unit to obtain a desired feed mixture and the mixing unit is configured to convey the feed mixture to a feeding line that further conveys the feed mixture to feeding ports, within the habitat.

Claims

1-30. (canceled)

31. A system for preparing a feed mixture for an animal habitat, the system comprising: a mixing unit configured to be coupled to at least two storage containers, each of the at least two storage containers comprising a different feed component, and for receiving feed component from each of the at least two containers via a corresponding dispensing unit of each of the at least two containers; a controller configured to receive input data indicative of a state of animals in the animal habitat, and operate the dispensing unit of each of the at least two containers based on the input data, to dispense desired amounts of each of the different feed components for obtaining the feed mixture; and wherein the mixing unit is configured to be coupled to a feeding line for conveying the mixture thereto.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising the at least two storage containers.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the dispensing units are directly coupled to the mixing unit.

34. The system of claim 31, further comprising a feeding line coupled to the mixing unit and configured to convey the feed mixture to feeding ports of the animal habitat.

35. The system of claim 31, wherein the state of the animals comprises at least one of the following parameters: average age of the animals, average weight of the animals, feed consumption, water consumption, or level of stress of the animals.

36. The system of claim 31, wherein the input data further comprises data indicative of environmental conditions within or in the surrounding of the animal habitat.

37. The system of claim 31, wherein the mixing unit is configured to be coupled to an auxiliary silo having an auxiliary dispensing unit for receiving at least one of the following auxiliary component: feed supplements, medical treatment additives, pharmaceutical substances, or nutritious, wherein the controller is configured to operate the auxiliary dispensing unit to dispense a desired amount of an auxiliary component based on the input data.

38. The system of claim 31, wherein the controller is configured to dispense a desired amount of at least one of the feed components proportionally or reverse-proportionally to at least one of the following: average age of the animals or average weight of the animals.

39. The system of claim 31, wherein the animal habitat is a commercial poultry house.

40. The system of claim 31, wherein the controller is configured to select one predetermined mixing plan, out of a plurality of mixing plans, according to the input data and operate the dispensing unit based on the selected mixing plan.

41. A system for preparing a feed mixture for an animal habitat, the system comprising: a mixing unit coupled to at least two storage containers, each of the at least two storage containers comprising a different feed component, and for receiving feed component from each container via a corresponding dispensing unit of each of the at least two containers; a controller configured to receive input data indicative of a state of animals in the habitat, and operate the dispensing unit of each of the at least two containers based on the input data, to dispense desired amounts of each of the different feed components for obtaining the feed mixture; and a feeding line coupled to the mixing unit for conveying the mixture thereto.

42. A method for preparing a feed mixture for an animal habitat, the method comprising: receiving input data indicative of a state of animals in the animal habitat; selecting a mixing plan based on the input data; and mixing desired amounts of each of at least two feed components based on the selected mixing plan to obtain homogenous feed mixture, wherein each of the at least two feed components is separately stored.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising conveying the feed mixture to animal feeding ports.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein each of the at least two feed components comprises a mixture of feed ingredients.

45. The method of claim 42, wherein the state of the animals comprises at least one of the following parameters: average age of the animals, average weight of the animals, feed consumption, water consumption, level of stress of the animals, or level of stress of the animal.

46. The method of claim 42, wherein the input data further comprises data indicative of environmental conditions within or in the surrounding of the animal habitat.

47. The method of claim 42, wherein the desired amount of at least one feed component is proportionally or reverse-proportionally to at least one of the following: average age of the animals or average weight of the animals.

48. The method of claim 42, wherein the mixing plan is selected out of a plurality of mixing plans.

49. The method of claim 42, wherein the method is carried out automatically.

50. The method of claim 42, further comprising mixing desired amounts of auxiliary component, separately stored from the at least two feed components, based on the selected mixing plan, wherein the auxiliary component is selected from at least one of the following: feed supplements, medical treatment additives, pharmaceutical substances, or nutritious.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0043] FIGS. 1A-1C are block diagrams of non-limiting examples of embodiments of the system according of the present disclosure.

[0044] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of non-limiting example of the system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a non-limiting example of an embodiment of a method for preparing a feed mixture according to the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 4 is a graph showing the actual lysine amino acid requirements in a rearing period of a poultry (solid line) versus lysine supply in a 3-batches feeding regime according to the common practice (dashed line).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0047] The following figures are provided to exemplify embodiments and realization of the invention of the present disclosure and it is to be understood that the invention of the present disclosure in not limited to any of the specific configurations of these examples.

[0048] Reference is first made to FIGS. 1A-1C, which are block diagrams exemplifying embodiments of a system for preparing a feed mixture for an animal habitat, e.g. a commercial poultry house, according to the present disclosure.

[0049] FIG. 1A exemplifies a system 100 that includes a mixing unit 102 and a controller 104. It is to be noted that a controller refers to a processing circuitry that is configured to perform processing of data and generate execution data to be executed by physical elements of the system. The controller may be a single component or several distributed components, all referred together as a controller. The mixing unit 102 includes dispensing units 106.sub.i, (where ‘i’ is a dispensing unit number i=1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 . . . ) each is linked to storage containers 108.sub.i (where ‘i’ is a storage container number i=1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 . . . ) and is configured to receive feed Fd.sub.i from a corresponding storage container 108.sub.i. The dispensing units 106.sub.i regulate the flow of feeds from each container to a mixing chamber 110. The regulation of the flow is carried out according to a demand and is performed by an automatic controller as elaborated below. The mixing chamber 110 of the mixing unit 102 is configured to receive the feeds Fd.sub.i via the dispensing units 106.sub.i and to mix them to obtain a feed mixture FM. The mixing may be obtained passively, namely by the flow of the feed into the mixing unit through the dispensing units, or carried out by agitation of the mixing chamber and/or by mixing elements within the mixing chamber 110. The feed mixture that is obtained following the mixing within the mixing chamber 110 is typically homogeneous or partially homogeneous, namely the plurality of feeds that constitute the feed mixture are homogeneously or partially homogenously spread in the mixture. It should be noted that the homogeneousness of the mixture may increase while the mixture is further conveyed to the feeding ports.

[0050] The amount of feed Fd.sub.i that is dispensed from each storage container 108.sub.i to the mixing chamber 110 is controlled by a controller 112. The controller is configured to receive an input data ID and generate dispensing data DD based thereon. The dispensing data DD is indicative of the desired amount of each feed Fd.sub.i, e.g. a desired amount of volume or weight, in a final feeding mixture FM product. The controller controls the dispensing units based on the dispensing data DD to dispense the desired amount of feed Fd.sub.i from each container to the mixing chamber, to obtain the desired feed mixture FM.

[0051] The input data ID may include various data pieces that affect the resulting final feed mixture product. A first data piece is the average age of the animals of the habitat, e.g. days from hatching for poultries, or days from being born for mammals. It is to be noted that by referring to the animals in the habitat, it is referred to the animals in the habitat that are expected to receive the final feed mixture product of a single batch of the feed mixture. An animal habitat may include several groups of animals, each is expected to receive its own feed mixture according to the characteristic parameters thereof, e.g. its own specific average age. For example, in the instance using two storage containers that stores two different feeds, a first feed that fits for early age animals, constitutes the entire feed mixture of the first day of rearing of the animals, and a second feed that fits for advanced ages of the animals, constitutes the entire feed mixture in the last day of rearing of the animals in the animal habitat. In between the first and last day of rearing, the proportion of the first feed in the mixture decreases over time and the proportion of the second feed increases over time.

[0052] The input data ID may further include data indicative of at least one of: (i) movement profile of the animals of the habitat, which is obtained by movement sensors within the habitat and may be indicative of the state of the animals, namely whether they are in stress; (ii) environmental conditions within the animal habitat or in the surrounding thereof, for example, extreme weather conditions, such as extreme heat or cold; and (iii) immune profile of the animals, obtained by routine tests in the habitat, namely whether they need to receive any supplements to provoke immune response, or whether there is a disease that needs to be treated. This data can be input automatically or manually into the controller. There may be a specific container that includes supplements and/or immune additives (e.g. drugs) that are mixed in the feed mixture by demand, according to a specific input.

[0053] Therefore, the controller 112 is configured to receive all the above input data ID and control the dispensing units 106.sub.i accordingly to obtain a desired feed mixture FM that may include feed supplements or immune additives.

[0054] The input data ID may be received by a user that enters the data via a user interface. Alternatively, the input data ID may be retrieved automatically. For example, the controller 112 may be in data communication with an external system and continuously or periodically fed thereby with data that constitutes the input data or part thereof. The external system may be configured to collect data related to the age of the animals, the environmental conditions and the state of the animals and communicate it to the controller 112.

[0055] The controller 112 may monitor the mixing process by receiving data indicative of storing quantities of feeds in each storage compartment 108.sub.i, e.g. data obtained by weight sensors. The controller 112 predicts the amount of feed that is expected to remain in each storage compartment 108.sub.i at any time and upon receiving measurements of the quantities of the feed that is found in each storage compartment 108.sub.i, the controller 112 compares the current levels/quantities of feed with the expected prediction and determines whether there is a deviation. If the controller 112 identifies a deviation from the expected quantities, it outputs an alert. Such an alert may be presented to the user via various options, for example via a user interface on a mobile device. The process monitoring described above may be carried out in real-time, namely all the data is measured, transmitted, and processed in a continuous or semi-continuous manner.

[0056] The mixing unit 102 is further configured to convey the feed mixture FM to a feeding line 114 that comprises a plurality of feeding ports for feeding the animals within the habitat.

[0057] FIG. 1B exemplifies an embodiment of the system 100 that includes the storage containers 108.sub.i and the feeding line 114 as part of the system. Furthermore, it is exemplified that the controller is configured to receive the input data ID from a data providing system 116. The data providing system 116 is configured to collect the relevant data and generate the input data ID that is continuously or periodically transmitted to the controller 112.

[0058] FIG. 1C exemplifies another embodiment of the system of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 1C shows the modules of the controller, including an input module 118 and an operation module 120. The input module 118 is configured to receive the input data ID and the operation module 120 is configured to generate the dispensing data DD based thereon and operate the dispensing units 106.sub.i according the dispensing data DD.

[0059] It should be noted that the examples of FIGS. 1A-1C focus on selected elements of the system while generally describe various configurations of the feed preparation system. Generally, system elements from FIGS. 1A-1C may be combined between them to provide the feed preparation system of the present invention.

[0060] In the figures throughout the application, like elements of different figures were given similar reference numerals shifted by the number of hundreds corresponding to the number of the figures. For example, element 102 in FIG. 2 serves the same function as element 102 in FIGS. 1A-1C.

[0061] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a non-limiting example of the system according to the present disclosure. The system 200 includes a first and second storage containers. In this example, the first and second storage compartments are in the form of silos 208A and 208B, respectively. Each of the storage containers stores a different type of feed such that different proportions of the two feeds provides a plurality of feed mixtures that are suitable for the entire rearing period of animals in the animal habitat 230.

[0062] An auxiliary silo 208C stores feed supplements and/or immune stimulating additives that may be mixed in the feed mixture together with the feeds of silos 208A and 208B. The silos 208A, 208B and 208C are linked to a mixing unit 202 via corresponding dispensing units 206A, 206B and 206C. A controller (not shown) is configured to operate the dispensing units such that each dispenses a desired amount of feed and/or supplements to the mixing unit 202. The mixing unit 202 receives the desired amounts of feeds and/or supplements from the silos according to the operation of the dispensing units by the controller such that the feeds are mixed therein to obtain a desired homogenous feed mixture. The controller operates the dispensing unit based on input data that is at least indicative of the average age of the animals in the habitat that receives the feed mixture.

[0063] It is to be noted that the animal habitat may include various sections, each with different requirements of feed mixtures. For each section, a different feed mixture is prepared according to the input data that is relevant thereto. Thus, several batches of feed mixture may be prepared for a single animal habitat, each of the batches may be constituted by different proportions of feeds.

[0064] A conveying feeding line 214 links the mixing unit 202 to feeding ports 232 in the animal habitat 230. The mixing unit 202 is configured to convey the feed mixture to the conveying feeding line 214 such that portions of the feed mixture reaches the plurality of feeding ports 232 so as to feed the animals in the animal habitat 230.

[0065] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram exemplifying an embodiment of a method for preparing a feed mixture for an animal habitat according to the present disclosure. The method includes receiving input data 350 that is indicative of the state of the animals in the habitat. The state of the animals in the habitat may include at least one of the following parameters: an average age, an average weight, and/or an average level of movement of the animals, feed consumption, water consumption or any combination thereof. Based on the input data, the method includes selecting a mixing plan 352 of pre-stored feeds. The mixing plan includes the proportions of each feed, namely the amount of each feed out of the final feed mixture product. The mixing plan may include also an amount of supplements or immune additives according to a demand based on the input data. Then, the method follows with dispensing desired amounts of feed components 354 into a mixing chamber and mixing the feed components 356 to obtain the desired feed mixture with a desired homogeneity. It is to be noted that each of the original pre-stored feeds that constitute the final feed mixture product may include various ingredients, such as various types of grains.

[0066] The above method may be followed by conveying the feed mixture to feeding ports 358 within the animals' habitat that are accessible to at least one group of animals therein. By this method, a group of animals in the habitat receives feed mixture that is specifically suitable for the conditions of the animals of the group, namely each group of animals in the habitat, given that it is separated from other groups in the habitat, may receive its own specific feed mixture in its own, dedicated, feeding ports.

[0067] FIG. 4 is a graph showing the actual lysine amino acid requirements in a rearing period of a poultry (solid line) versus lysine supply in a 3-batches feeding regime according to the common practice (dashed line). As can be appreciated, the requirements of lysine during the rearing period of poultries are continuously changing through the days. In the batches regime, the actual requirement of lysine by the poultry is adequately met only at very specific points during the rearing period (5 times in this specific example). At most of the time, the poultries are fed with a deficiency or excess of lysine, which can negatively affect their rearing process. As opposed to that, the exact amount of lysine that is required for the poultries at any time can be supplied by the system and method of the present disclosure. Furthermore, in the instance that a deviation from the rearing progress is observed, e.g. the average weight of poultry in the habitat is lower than expected, a user can instruct the system to add a specific ingredient or to mix more or less from a feed component to obtain the desired feed mixture.