A device and method wherein positive pressure is applied in the sway of the back of an animal to prevent arching of the back to thereby prevent kicking and sidewise movement of the animal. The pressure member, which may be a cable or chain, is curved and flexible as as to fit the contour of the back and so as to be horizontally or longitudinally flexible and positionable as desired. A spanning bar extending down along the sides of the animal positively fixes the ends of the pressure member against upward movement. A rigid pressure section is positioned substantially at the center of the flexible member to increase the pressure at the backbone relative to the sides of the back. The section may be spool shaped so as to engage the sides of the backbone. A spring is utilized to normally retain the pressure member in the raised or inoperative position and means is provided to maintain substantially the same effective spring force throughout the range of adjustable movement of the pressure member.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of my copending application entitled "Cow Controller," Ser. No. 719,175, filed Apr. 5, 1968, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,294.
A kick restrainer for an animal such as a cow which is arranged to be attached to a pair of vertically spaced bars which may form part of an animal stall or the like including upper and lower brackets arranged to be retained in a clamped position on the bars with a vertically extending support rod having an animal restraining member slidably mounted in the brackets, the upper bracket having a spring connected to the rod for urging the rod upwardly into an extended position and the lower bracket provided with a manually operated jack device for releasably retaining the support rod in an adjustable vertical position and for manually moving the support rod downwardly against the urging force of the spring on the upper bracket to position the restraining member against the back of an animal.
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. Thus, the cow is trained to back up in the stall before evacuating, to prevent the stall floor from being littered.
A method and apparatus for restraining an animal within an animal squeeze. The animal squeeze has a "V" shaped passage in which the animal is suspended by relative movement of the sidewalls and the floor. A pressure member is movable into an operative position engaging a back of the animal and restraining the animal. An animal, such as a deer, suspended in a "V" shaped passage, will normally continue to struggle. However, when pressure is exerted upon the back of the deer by the pressure member, the deer ceases to struggle.
