Methods for raising commercial farm animals including birds, fish and mammals, are disclosed which improve the animals' behavioral characteristics, feeding habits and mortality rates. In one embodiment of the invention, precocial birds are exposed to the combined effects of filial imprinting, environmental enrichment and music as they are raised. In another embodiment, various types of commercial farm animals are exposed to toys.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/058,116, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,092 which was filed on June 4, 1987, and also is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/217,977, which was filed on July 12, 1988.
Animal scent attractant and cover scent kits made from urine collected from a single animal and packaged for storage prior to use. The method of making the kits involves placing a single animal into a staging stall under controlled conditions wherein urine is collected. A series of primary and secondary staging stalls may be used to enhance urine production. Such stalls preferably have solid floors made from concrete, wood or stainless steel which may contain a covered trough to direct the urine into a bottle for collection. Heat and music may also be provided to the stall to enhance urine production, depending on the species of animal.
A method and apparatus for exposed eggs and hatchlings of precocial avian species incubated, hatched, and brooded under artificial conditions to sound recordings made under natural incubating, hatching and brooding conditions to reduce the spread of time over which the hatchlings emerge from the eggs, to reduce the stress experienced by both the unhatched embryo and the hatchling, and to increase the attraction of artificially incubated hatchlings to feed and water during the brooding stage.
A device that automatically repeats a prerecorded message for training a bird to mimic the message. The device is sized such that it may be attached to a bird cage by adjustable clips. The device electronically records and stores a message spoken by the user and plays back the message through a speaker for the bird at intervals determined by a timer. A user may record any type of message that the user wishes for the bird to learn. The message may be of variable length up to 60 seconds in duration. The user may select a delay interval between one second and thirty minutes by utilization of the timer. Once the user activates the play-back, the device will play the prerecorded message at a selected volume, automatically repeating in intervals equal to that selected by the user. Thereafter, the device will continue to repeat the prerecorded message at the selected interval until the user deactivates the device.
A feeder for poultry comprising a feed tray, a feed supply stack secured on the tray and audio conveying means to facilitate dispersion of feeding behavior enhancing sounds from the stack a feeding period.
The present invention provides a novel feeder that is used to attract agricultural animals to the feeder to enhance the animals' feeding behavior by providing a non-reflective feeder that is integrally formed with a plurality of reflective particles that attract the attention of the animals. Once the animals notice the reflective particles, the animals are drawn toward the feeder, thus encouraging them to find and eat the food in the feeder.
