Livestock management system and method for split-weight feeding

摘要

A livestock management system is provided that sorts animals for split-weight feeding based on a calculated median weight of a herd. The system includes a pen area (10) partitioned into a first feeding area (16) containing at least a first feeder (12), a second feeding area (17) containing at least a second feeder (13), and a common watering area (18) containing at least one waterer (11). First and second one-way gates (23, 25) are respectively provided between the feeding areas and the watering area allowing animals to pass from the feeding areas into the watering area. A walk-through scale (27) has an inlet (28) open to the watering area, and first and second outlets (29, 30) open to the first and second feeding areas, respectively. The walk-through scale has a sort gate (31) for selectively directing animals into the first and second feeding areas based on a comparison of a detected weight of the animal and a calculated median weight of the herd.