HERD FEEDING SYSTEM WITH LOW-COST, EFFICIENT, AND PORTABLE FEED BINS FOR FEEDING INDIVIDUAL ANIMALS

摘要

A feeding system for feeding individual animals of a herd feed, supplements, and combinations thereof. The feeding system includes one-to-many feed bin assemblies or feeding stations such that the system is able to dispense a specified mass of feed to specific animals at user-defined intervals. In this way, each animal of a herd is provided with optimal, individualized amounts of feed or feed material. Multiple feed bin assemblies in a single pasture, for example, can automatically form a network of feeders so that regardless of the specific feed bin assembly or feeding station within the feeding system that an animal visits, the specified amount and type of feed or feed material is delivered. Each feed bin assembly or feeding station can also be equipped to download, archive/store, and/or synthesize data into an individual animal record and/or to transmit data from additional onboard animal sensors such as activity and rumination sensors.