Design and test of the integrated machine for self-propelled manure collection and bagging in flat chicken coops

Free-range raising in sheds can serve as one of the most crucial steps in the advancement of chicken farming into high-welfare farms. Among them, the composted chicken manure can be converted into valuable resources of organic fertilizer. There is a high demand for mechanized equipment to clean and collect the manure in flat chicken coops. However, various breeding conditions have also been hindered, including the uneven ground conditions within the flat chicken coops, the compact manure layers caused by chickens trampling, and the excessive workload associated with the manual collection of chicken manure. In this study, a novel integrated machine was presented with the self-propelled mode of surface crushing, collecting and bagging, as well as floor cleaning for the efficient management of chicken manure in flat coop environments. Firstly, a field test was conducted to obtain the dimensions of flat chicken coops, the distribution patterns of breeding equipment inside the coops, and material properties (such as thickness and moisture content after post-slaughter processing). Secondly, a crushing mechanism was designed to realize the continuous rotary tillage and crushing using a rotary blade. A folding mechanism was utilized to symmetrically transport through spiral blades. A fecal lifting mechanism was to pack the feces using a chain rake scraper, and a rolling brush mechanism was to clean the residual feces. The operation was finally optimized, according to the required functions of the integrated machine. The results showed that the crushing, collecting, and material lifting mechanisms cleared an area of 216, 280.56, and 280.98 m²/h, respectively. There was no blocking in the collection of the chicken manure, which fully met the design requirements of the entire machine. The crushing mechanism was continuously in contact with the manure layer during cleaning and collecting, which was the most prone component to wear and crack. ANSYS/LD-DYNA module was used to dynamically simulate the manure crushing, and then determine the force on the blade during crushing. The simulation results suggested that the hard layer on the surface of chicken manure was broken when the crushing force generated by the cutting blade was greater than 165.32 N. In addition, there was a 1.10 % relative error between the average simulated resistance of the blade and the empirical formula calculated value. The blade structure was also designed to verify the accuracy of the parameters in the simulation. Specifically, the rack was the core component carrying the working mechanism. The static and vibration mode analysis modules of ANSYS software were utilized to optimize the rack structure for cost-saving manufacturing. The strength and stability of the rack fully met the design requirements. Then, an integrated machine was prototyped with the self-propelled fecal cleaning and bagging. Finally, a series of experiments were carried out to validate the feasibility and collection efficiency of the entire machine. It was found that the flat ground feces were collected into the woven bags, and then the ground was cleaned after cleaning, which fully met the design requirements of the entire machine. Moreover, the rates of ground cleanliness and collection reached 95.38%, and 178.02 m²/h, respectively, when the walking speed of the entire machine was 0.10 m/s and the working component speed was 240 r/min. Better stability and efficiency were achieved in the mechanical operations for cleaning and bagging chicken manure in the flat chicken coops, compared with the single manual ones. At the same time, the finding can also provide theoretical guidance and technical support for the sweeping equipment of flat ground livestock and poultry manure.