a. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to an improved enclosure for housing poultry and more particularly to an enclosure which is particularly suited for housing poultry of different ages and/or sizes.
b. Description of the Prior Art
Enclosures are known which may be used for housing poultry of a variety of sizes depending on the age of the birds, their species and so forth. Typically these enclosures are built so that they allow the birds access to a feeding trough which is periodically filled with food and disposed on the front portion of the cage. The enclosures are designed with openings or access holes which permit the birds to extend their heads out of the enclosure sufficiently to reach the food disposed in the feeding trough. It has been found, however, that access holes of a predetermined size are not always effective because if the hole was large enough to allow access for the larger birds then smaller birds could fall through or escape from the enclosure. On the other hand a small access hole which is suitable to contain smaller birds is too small for the necks of the larger birds.
A solution to this problem is described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,324 to Keen and Siciliano. In this reference, an enclosure is provided for poultry which has a floor area substantially coextensive with its length. The enclosure includes a plurality of walls made of grills of relatively stiff metallic wires. The forwardmost portion of floor area is positioned above the feeding trough and is made of a grill member with access holes sized for relatively large birds. The enclosure is provided with a partition which may be pivoted between two relatively horizontal positions. In a first position, the partition overlaps the floor and includes a plurality of rods which are positioned so that in the overlapping position, the rods reduce the effective size of the access holes thereby allowing the use ot the enclosure for smaller birds. When the partition is pivoted to its second horizontal position away from the access holes, the access holes are left uncovered.
One problem associated with the enclosure described above has been that when the partition is pivoted away from the feeding floor, the partition interferes with the movement of the birds since their feet tend to get caught in the partition rods or in the spaces between the partition rods and the grill which forms the enclosure. As a result the birds may be frequently injured. In addition, the prior art partition is was accessible only by opening the cage enclosure, thereby possibly disturbing the birds.