This invention relates generally to electric cow trainers used in dairy barns and, more specifically, to an apparatus which permits a plurality of such cow trainers to be rotated into or out of positions simultaneously.
In the dairy industry, it is generally known that what is commonly referred as a "cow trainer" can be employed to prevent cows, and the like, from arching their backs when they are excreting waste. Such devices have been found desirable to use because in the conventional dairy barn arrangement, dairy cows are restrained in staucheons a specific relationship with respect to a waste carrying trough or gutter that runs along a row of stalls. If the cows arch their back and move their hind legs forward when excreting waste, the waste falls onto the floor of the stall rather than into the trough or gutter. The presence of such waste in the stall can eventually soil the cow and/or create a slippery, unsafe footing for the dairy farmer.
The conventional arrangement of these animal training devices is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,535 which issued on May 11, 1986 to Erwald E. Stock. Typically, these animal training devices include an electrically conductive device suspended from an electrically conductive wire. The height of the device is adjusted so that it is a few inches above the cow's back. When properly positioned, the device will only impart an electrical shock to the cow when the cow arches its back.
A problem with conventional cow trainers is that they get in the way of people working in the dairy barn. If the trainers are not energized, this can be a nuisance. If the trainers are energized, they will impart an electrical shock to any person who comes into contact with them.