Animal litter for use in animal husbandry

Abstract

Animal litter for use in animal husbandry, comprising wood flour, cereal flour and a gelling agent. The cereal flour is a cereal middling.

Description

[0001] Animal bedding for use in animal husbandry

[0002] The present invention relates to an animal bedding for use in animal husbandry, comprising or consisting of wood flour, cereal flour and gelling agents.

[0003] Animal litter is bedding used in animal husbandry, among other things, to absorb animal excrement for easier removal. Particularly in cat keeping, animal litter is usually provided in containers. There are clumping litter products specifically for cats, in which bentonite is added to the litter, causing it to clump upon contact with the animal's excrement. This leads to more efficient use of the litter, as contaminated parts can be removed selectively, significantly reducing the need to replace the entire litter. However, the bentonite reduces the environmental friendliness of the litter.

[0004] To create biodegradable clumping cat litter, the bentonite can be replaced by cereal flour, which, due to its high starch content of typically (significantly) more than 60% by weight, is equally capable of effectively absorbing liquid. EP 3364750 B1 discloses such a cat litter containing cereal flour. A gelling agent is also used to accelerate clumping, but its proportion is limited to 0.1% to 4% by weight to limit the litter's stickiness.

[0005] The main disadvantage of using cereal flour for cat litter is, firstly, that raw materials that could actually be used as food are withdrawn from the relevant market, and secondly, that it is relatively expensive to purchase, especially compared to bentonite.

[0006] The present invention is based on the objective of finding an environmentally friendly, more cost-effective alternative to cereal flour for the production of clumping cat litter. The present invention solves this problem with an animal litter having the features of claim 1 and a use of the animal litter according to claim 15.

[0007] According to the invention, the animal bedding for use in animal husbandry comprises or consists of wood flour, cereal flour, and a gelling agent. The cereal flour of the present invention is a cereal re-flour, which allows the cat litter to be produced cost-effectively and at the same time in a particularly efficient and resource-conserving manner.

[0008] Grain by-flour is a milling by-product that arises alongside the actual grain flour during flour production; it is essentially a waste product. The portion of the grain remaining after milling includes, among other by-products, grain by-flour. This is described, for example, in "By-products of flour milling: Results of a project to investigate the feed value of milling by-products," Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, July 2012, Kastner AG, Wolznach, Germany.Flour types are usually designated according to DIN 10355, in its current version DIN 10355:2017-11, with types that refer to the mineral content of the flour. Particularly with commercially available finer flours, such as type 405 or 550, the extraction rate of the grain kernel is relatively low, resulting in high residues, i.e., larger quantities of secondary gluten, which must be disposed of or preferably used in other ways. While secondary gluten can be used in animal feed production, finding suitable applications for it remains a challenge. The present invention thus also solves this problem.

[0009] Preferably, the animal bedding consists of 2% to 98% by weight, and in particular 25% to 95%, of cereal reflour. This allows the animal bedding to have a particularly good moisture absorption capacity.

[0010] The cereal flour can have a starch content of at least 44% wt.% to a maximum of 58% wt.%, and preferably 52% wt.% to 56% wt.%, to promote particularly advantageous clumping of the litter, especially when it comes into contact with cat excrement. The crude fiber content of the cereal flour can be, for example, between 1.5% and 3.5%, preferably between 2% and 2.5%. To compensate for the lower starch content of the flour compared to cereal flour, which results in lower moisture absorption capacity of the litter, the litter can consist of at least 3% wt.%, and preferably at least 5% wt.%, of a gelling agent. This is unproblematic compared to the prior art, as the total content of sticky substance remains reduced due to the lower starch content of the cereal flour compared to pure cereal flour.

[0011] Preferably, the grain secondary flour according to DIN 10355:2017-11 can correspond to a flour type 1600, 1700, 1740, 1800, or 2000, particularly preferably 1800 or 2000. The grain secondary flour is preferably wheat secondary flour, but other grain secondary flours, such as rye, barley, corn, or rice, are also conceivable. The production of the grain secondary flour can, for example, involve removing a portion of a grain flour type, such as a purer type 405, 550, or 812 according to DIN 10355:2017-11, from a mass of milled grain.

[0012] The wood flour can be softwood flour. The wood flour is particularly preferably spruce and / or pine flour, for example with a particle size of less than approximately 1.25 mm, preferably comprising 99% by weight. The wood flour can be obtained, for example, by grinding or fiberizing wood and / or as a by-product of sanding and / or sawing / cutting wood.

[0013] According to a particularly environmentally friendly design of the bedding, the gelling agent can comprise or be tapioca (or tapioca starch), carboxymethylcellulose, carboxymethyl starch, and / or guarana. Tapioca, or tapioca and carboxymethyl starch, are readily available and therefore particularly preferred as gelling agents. In one variant, the gelling agent can consist, for example, of 40% to 90% by weight of tapioca or guarana and 10% to 60% by weight of carboxymethylcellulose or carboxymethyl starch.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment, the animal bedding can comprise or consist of 1% to 4% by weight of wood flour, 90% to 98% by weight of cereal flour, and 2% to 7% by weight of gelling agent to achieve a particularly high moisture absorption rate. The resulting starch content of the bedding allows it to absorb liquids very quickly, meaning that after contact with an animal's excrement, especially a cat's, a very small proportion of the bedding needs to be removed, resulting in particularly low bedding consumption.In all embodiments, for example, in a container with dimensions 455 mm x 340 mm x 120 mm (width x depth x height) that is evenly and completely filled with cat litter, the animal bedding can clump to a maximum depth of only 6 cm (this corresponds to a clump depth of the animal bedding, whereby a shallow clump depth corresponds to advantageous, lower bedding consumption) when 20 ml of water is injected with a syringe onto a section of the animal bedding and this water is allowed to act for 5 minutes. This clump depth corresponds to the depth or height of the clump in a vertical direction to the surface or bottom of the container, and this dimension can also be measured after the clump has been removed from the container. Even more preferably, the animal bedding of this embodiment consists of 1.5 wt.% to 2.5 wt.% wood flour, 94 wt.% to 96 wt.% cereal flour, and 2.5 wt.% to 3.5 wt.%...-% of the gelling agent and preferably the animal bedding consists of 2% by weight of wood flour, 95% by weight of cereal flour and 3% by weight of tapioca or guarana, or the animal bedding consists of 2% by weight of wood flour, 92.5% by weight of cereal flour and 5.5% by weight of the gelling agent. Clump depths of less than 4 cm can thus be achieved.

[0015] According to a further preferred, second embodiment, the animal bedding, which can be determined according to DIN EN ISO 60:2023-12, is less than 410 g / L, preferably less than 400 g / L, can consist of 25 wt.% to 90 wt.% wood flour, 5 wt.% to 70 wt.% cereal refining, and 1 wt.% to 10 wt.% gelling agent. For a particularly cost-effective version, the animal bedding can consist of 87.5 wt.% wood flour, 10 wt.% cereal refining, and 2.5 wt.% gelling agent.

[0016] Particularly preferably, the animal bedding of the second embodiment consists of 60% to 64% by weight of wood flour, 29% to 33% by weight of cereal middlings, and 6% to 8% by weight of the gelling agent. In this way, a maximum bulk density of less than 360 g / L can be achieved, which is particularly advantageous for transport and subsequent disposal of the bedding. Most preferably, for a bulk density of approximately or slightly more than 350 g / L, the animal bedding consists of 62% by weight of wood flour, 31% by weight of cereal middlings, and 7% by weight of the gelling agent. In these variants, the gelling agent can consist of 82 wt.% to 100 wt.%, preferably 85%, of tapioca (T) or guarana (G) and otherwise of carboxymethyl starch (C) (T|G+C), wherein tapioca or guarana plus carboxymethyl starch, presently up to 18 wt.%, always constitutes 100 wt.% of the gelling agent. For example, the most preferred animal bedding of this embodiment can contain 62 wt.% of the gelling agent.-% from wood flour, 31 wt% from cereal middlings, 6 wt% from tapioca or guarana and 1 wt% from carboxymethyl starch.

[0017] Preferably, the bulk density of the animal bedding, calculated according to DIN EN ISO 60:2023-12, is at least 340 g / L and less than 410 g / L, preferably between 350 g / L and 400 g / L. Even more preferably, the bulk density may be between 350 g / L and 360 g / L.

[0018] For easy disposal, clumping bedding is particularly preferred for animal bedding.

[0019] Preferably, the animal bedding is in granular form, which is advantageous for improved moisture absorption. The animal bedding can, for example, be a clumping, granular bedding, especially for cats or small animals.

[0020] The granules can have a particle size of 1 mm to 10 mm, preferably less than 5 mm. Particularly preferably, at least 40% by weight of the granules have a particle size of less than 1 mm.

[0021] The present invention also includes the use of the animal bedding described above, in particular as the clumping cat litter mentioned.

[0022] All values ​​given above in wt.% preferably include a margin of error of 0.1 wt.%. Variants below a margin of error of 0.5 wt.% are also included as an optional variant for simplified production of the bedding, provided that the total composition of the bedding components may never exceed 100 wt.%. The terms bedding and animal bedding are used synonymously in connection with the present invention.

Claims

Claims 1. Animal bedding for use in animal husbandry, containing or consisting of the following components: a. wood flour; b. Cereal flour; c. Gelling agents; characterized by the fact that the cereal flour is a cereal after-flour.

2. Animal bedding according to claim 1, characterized in that the animal bedding consists of 2% to 98% by weight, preferably 25% to 95%, of cereal flour.

3. Animal bedding according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cereal flour has a starch content of at least 44% wt.% to a maximum of 58% wt.% and preferably of 52% wt.% to 56% wt.%.

4. Animal bedding according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the animal bedding consists of at least 3 wt.%, preferably at least 5 wt.%, of gelling agents.

5. Animal bedding according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cereal flour corresponds approximately to a flour type 1600, 1700, 1740, 1800 or 2000, particularly preferably 1800 or 2000, according to DIN 10355:2017-11.

6. Animal bedding according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gelling agent comprises or is tapioca, carboxymethylcellulose, carboxymethyl starch and / or guarana.

7. Animal bedding according to claim 6, characterized in that the gelling agent consists of 40 wt.% to 90 wt.% tapioca or guarana and 10 wt.% to 60 wt.% carboxymethylcellulose or carboxymethyl starch.

8. Animal bedding according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the animal bedding comprises or consists of 1 wt.% to 4 wt.% of wood flour, 90 wt.% to 98 wt.% of cereal flour and 2 wt.% to 7 wt.% of the gelling agent.

9. Animal bedding according to claim 8, characterized in that the animal bedding consists of 1.5 wt.% to 2.5 wt.% of wood flour, 94 wt.% to 96 wt.% of cereal flour and 2.5 wt.% to 3.5 wt.% of the gelling agent.

10. Animal bedding according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the animal bedding consists of 25 wt.% to 90 wt.% wood flour, 5 wt.% to 70 wt.% cereal flour and 1 wt.% to 10 wt.% gelling agent.

11. Animal bedding according to claim 10, characterized in that the animal bedding consists of 60% to 64% by weight of wood flour, 29% to 33% by weight of cereal flour and 6% to 8% by weight of the gelling agent.

12. Animal bedding according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bulk density of the animal bedding is from 340 g / L to 410 g / L, preferably from 350 g / L to 400 g / L and more preferably from 350 g / L to 360 g / L.

13. Animal bedding according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gelling agent consists of 82 wt.% to 100 wt.%, preferably 85%, of tapioca or guarana and otherwise of carboxymethyl starch, such that tapioca or guarana and carboxymethyl starch always constitute 100 wt.% of the gelling agent.

14. Animal bedding according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the animal bedding is a granulate.

15. Use of the animal bedding according to any of the preceding claims as clumping cat litter.