The invention relates to a free-choice supplement feeder of compartmented type to be used for grazing livestock, such as cattle. The free-choice supplement feeder consists of a trough and a cover. The cover is attached to the trough with a centre bolt. The form of the trough is reuleaux triangular inspired with rounded corners and has three integrated compartments that are open to the top, intended for holding free-choice supplements, such as granulated mineral feedstuffs or feed blocks like lick stones. Reuleaux triangular inspired means, that the triangle form is with curved sides and rounded corners, not necessarily being reuleaux triangular in its geometrical definition. The special form and dimension of the three compartments offers the opportunity for a combined use of the feeder as support for buckets with free-choice supplements, such as molassed minerals, and the protection of such mineral supplements in buckets. The cover is circular and flexible, and protects the free-choice supplements against contamination with urine, dung and precipitation, and against drying out and hardening of molassed minerals due to wind and sun. Background art and citation of relevant documents

Comparable compartmented and covered supplement feeders for grazing livestock are known from US patents 2008/0127903 and 347303.

The known feeders have circular troughs, whereby they with small diameters, for instance at 80 cm, have small volumes of the compartments, whether with two or three compartments, and a similar small capacity to hold supplements. Feeders like those referred to needs to have supporting walls with angled sides, so that the livestock cannot get hold and tip them over, and they need additionally to have walls of between around 22 and 30 em's height; so high that the livestock will not easily stand on them, and so low that even small livestock like lambs can eat from the feeders. The walls of the feeders, including the central pipe therefore typically takes up a width of at least 12-15 cm times three, and feeders with diameters of for instance 80 cm therefore typically only have 35 - 44 cm left to serve as fodder trays, i.e. one of 17.5 - 22 cm on each side of the centre pipe. Feeders with large diameters, for instance over 80 cm, are costly to transport on regular rectangular formed 80 times 120 cm euro pallets, because they are wider than the pallets, who in such case only can support one stack. Transport costs makes up a considerable part of the final price for the livestock farm, who buy the feeders, because the feeders typically are transported four times before they reach the livestock farm; from factory to warehouse, from warehouse to regional dealer, from regional dealer to local dealer, and from local dealer to the livestock farm.

The known feeders are due to their circular form, whether with two or three compartmented troughs, not suited to support mineral buckets, typically cylindrical or inverted truncated cone shaped. Buckets used for molassed minerals typically have a diameter of 30 cm and being cylindrically formed. It is advantageous to provide support and cover to mineral buckets, which content otherwise are contaminated with urine, dung and precipitation, which has an adverse effect on the intake of the supplements, and the sun and wind dries the surface and harden the molassed minerals, whereby it is difficult for the livestock to eat them, and they are easily turned around on the field by the livestock, whereby loose chunks of molassed minerals are wasted and the rest easily contaminated with soil and dirt. Supporting place for such buckets in the compartments of cylindrically formed compartmented feeders would require a diameter of around 100 cm, and the shape of the compartments in such cylindrical feeders anyway allow the buckets to topple and slide sideways. Technical problems to be solved

By constructing the mineral supplement feeder with a compartmented trough with reuleaux triangular inspired shape and rounded corners as seen in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, it is possible to have a high volume of the three compartments in relation to the square dimension of the base of the feeder. It is for instance with a widest square dimension of the base of the feeder of 80 cm possible to transport it on 120 x 80 cm standard euro pallets, and to place two stacks on each pallet, whereby the pallets in the length will take up a place that is only about 28 cm longer than a standard euro pallet if the pallets are placed end by end - see FIG. 5.

Another advantage of the reuleaux triangular shape inspired compartmented feeder with rounded corners is that it provides support for commonly used buckets with molassed minerals. Buckets used for molassed minerals typically have a diameter of 30 cm and are cylindrically formed while other may be inverted truncated cone shaped, and with the widest diameter of 30 cm. It is advantageous to provide support and cover to bucket with molassed minerals, which otherwise in use are contaminated with urine, dung, precipitation and dirt, which has an adverse effect on the intake of the supplements, and because the sun and wind otherwise dries the surface and makes it hard, whereby it is difficult for the livestock to eat them, and they and they are easily turned around on the field, whereby loose chunks of molassed minerals are wasted. Disclosure of the invention

In accordance with the invention, this compartmented free-choice supplement feeder for grazing livestock is in accordance with the above description characterised by having a compartmented trough with reuleaux triangular inspired form and rounded corners.

Advantageous effects of the invention

The invention ensures that the mineral supplement feeder, compared to known mineral supplement feeders, 1) has a high volume for free-choice supplements in relation to the square dimension of its base, 2) is able to support and cover commonly used buckets with molassed minerals, and 3) can be stacked on rectangular formed pallets such as euro pallets in a compact way.

Description of at least one way of carrying out the invention by reference to the drawings

FIG. 3 shows a side view and FIG. 4 a cross section of the free-choice compartmented feeder for grazing livestock with a reuleaux triangular inspired form with rounded corners, and a cover attached to the compartmented trough with a centre bolt. FIG. 5 shows how such feeders can be placed in two stacks on a conventional rectangular 120 x 80 cm euro pallet in case the widest square dimension of the base is 80 cm, and FIG. 1 shows that each compartment in the trough can support a bucket of 30 cm diameter.