| 摘要 |
A feeder (10) for dispensing feed to livestock includes a trough (11) and a hopper (12) mounted above the trough (11). The hopper (12) includes a sidewall, a bottom (20), a central feed discharge hole (21) through the bottom (20), and a plurality of gravity flow feed openings (30) arranged around the central feed discharge hole (21). A deflector (22) is mounted in the hopper (12) above and vertically spaced from the hopper bottom (20) to cover the central feed discharge hole (21) to restrict gravity flow of feed from the hopper (12) through the central feed discharge hole (21). A sweep member (25) is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis for sweeping feed under the deflector (22) to the central feed discharge hole (21) for discharge into the trough (11). A closure system (31) is associated with the gravity flow feed openings (30) to automatically close the gravity flow feed openings (30) once animals start moving the sweep member (25) to sweep feed to the central feed discharge hole (21). |
