Slotted floor section with built-in means adapted for heating litter in farrowing house

Claim 1

In an animal shelter for newborn pigs, wherein there is provided a plurality of farrowing crates arranged in opposing rows, each farrowing crate having a central pen for confining a sow therein and side pens extending along opposite sides of the central pen for confining a newborn litter of pigs in close proximity to the sow, and wherein there is further provided a center aisle disposed between said opposing rows for access to said farrowing crates, the combination therewith of a plurality of slotted floor sections, commonly referred to as gang slats, arranged in corresponding rows to underlie and support said farrowing crates, each gang slat formed from reinforced concrete and comprising a central section adapted to support the sow in the central pen of one of said farrowing crates and having a plurality of slots in the rear portion thereof for passage of the sow's waste therethrough, said central section also having a plurality of slots in the front portion thereof for the passage therethrough of the waste from the litter of pigs moving about thereon, said slots in the front portion of said central section being of narrower width than the slots in the rear portion of the central section to lessen the likelihood of injury to the feet and legs of the newborn litter of pigs; opposing side sections formed integrally with said central section and extending along opposite sides of said central section, said side sections being adapted to support the litter in the side pens of said one farrowing crate and having a plurality of slots therein for passage therethrough of the waste from the litter of newborn pigs, said slots in said side sections also being of narrower width than the slots in the rear portion of said central section to further lessen the likelihood of injury to the feet and legs of the newborn litter of pigs; adjacent slots in each of said central and side sections defining respective substantially parallel, longitudinally extending concrete slat portions therebetween with at least certain adjacent slots in said side sections being spaced further apart than adjacent slots in each respective central section so that the slat portions defined between said certain adjacent slots of the side sections are relatively wider than the slat portions of each central section; an end section also formed from reinforced concrete and integrally with said central and side sections of each respective gang slat, each end section being positioned adjacent said central and side sections and defining the rear end of the respective gang slat and adapted to be positioned entirely exteriorly of the associated farrowing crate for serving as a rear side aisle floor; and means associated with each of said gang slats for circulation of a heated fluid therethrough so as to aid in maintaining surfaces of said opposing side sections and said rear end section in a warm condition conducive to promoting a healthy litter of newborn pigs and while avoiding applying heat to the sow, said means comprising conduit means embedded within only said opposing side sections and said rear end sections of said gang slats; heat exchanger means for supplying heated fluid for circulation through said conduit means; and means interposed between said heat exchanger means and said conduit means for circulating heated fluid to said conduit means and for returning heated fluid to said heat exchanger means after dissipation of heat therefrom; and said conduit means including longitudinally extending side runs of conduit embedded in and extending longitudinally of only said relatively wider slat portions of said side sections and a transverse run of conduit embedded in said rear end section of each gang slat and interconnecting the respective longitudinally extending side runs of conduit thereof so that said relatively wider slat portions of said side sections of each gang slat will be heated for attracting the respective litter of pigs thereonto conducive to promoting a healthy litter of pigs, and there being at least one of the slots of each side section located between each respective side run of conduit and the respective central section to minimize conduction of heat from the side runs of conduit to the central section of each gang slat for thus avoiding applying heat to the sow.