Herd records that explain what happened
Keep each animal’s identity, dates and observations together so the next job starts with a clear history. HerdMobile helps you record births, milk and daily events on your phone, including places with weak reception. Use a steady recording and backup routine to make care handovers and later comparisons easier.
Where should a reliable animal history begin?
Give each animal a clear identity that the team can recognise during busy work. Check the animal card before entering an event, especially when names look similar. Save the actual event date and keep birth, group movement and production observations distinct. Oklahoma State’s record-keeping guidance explains the value of a consistent routine. HerdMobile brings this dated history together so you can find the right event when planning care or handing over a job.
What should be prepared around calving and milk records?
Prepare breeding history and the agreed newborn-care plan before the calving period. Record observed events, assistance and professional instructions with their dates. For milk, identify individual production, group totals and sales separately. The linked articles cover calving preparation, colostrum records, milk comparisons and body condition scales. They help you follow the dam’s recovery, early feeding and milk production through the days after birth. Give urgent animal care priority, then complete the event history for the next worker.
How do you keep the routine usable offline?
Agree who enters records, when the team checks them and how key details reach the next worker. HerdMobile keeps your records on the Android device, ready to open in places with weak reception. Save a current backup file separately from the phone, together with the PIN used to protect that file. Restoring replaces the device’s current records with those in the selected backup. Review missing identities and units while the event is fresh. Clear corrections keep the history useful when comparing earlier and current records.
Questions from the farm
What should I record for each animal?
Start with identity and herd, then add births, milk and dated events. HerdMobile puts the animal’s history on one card for the next feeding or care task.
How do I follow a reminder?
Open the due task, carry out the work and record what happened. The reminder shows the plan; the dated event shows the work completed.
How should I handle an estimated date?
An estimated date gives an approximate time for an event. A note such as “born during the night” explains the estimate until the exact time is known.
How do records help a farm visit?
Open the animal card to find earlier events, milk entries and feeding notes. The history makes it easier to explain when a change began and what happened afterward.
How do I keep animal and herd observations distinct?
An individual milk entry follows one animal; a group total follows the animals milked together. HerdMobile keeps the selected animal or herd with the entry.
How do I prepare for calving records?
Open the dam’s card before calving. Add the birth date, time, offspring and assistance after the event so the new calf, lamb or kid starts with a clear history.
How should milk quantities be labelled?
A milk entry includes quantity, unit and the animal or herd. Production describes milk measured at milking; a sale describes the quantity sold.
What belongs in a colostrum record?
Birth time, first colostrum time, amount fed and the calf’s observations form the early feeding history. Dated notes make these details easy to find at the next check.
How do I distinguish a missing observation from zero?
A missing observation means the information is still open. A recorded zero means a measured quantity was zero, such as no milk in that recorded milking.
What belongs in a vaccination event?
The animal or group, application date and vaccine details describe the completed vaccination. A separate reminder can mark the next scheduled task.
How do I compare body-condition scores?
Compare scores for the same species on the same scoring scale. Dated condition notes show changes alongside milk, feed and health events.
How do I correct an event?
Open the correct animal and event, then update the detail that needs changing. A short note explaining the change makes the history easier to follow later.
How do I record an animal sale?
Select the animal and record the sale date and agreed amount. HerdMobile lets you follow payments received and the amount left to collect.
How does HerdMobile work offline?
Your records stay on the Android phone for daily use without internet. Save a backup file separately to carry the records to another phone or restore them later.
How do I prepare a handover?
Open the animals needing attention and their next tasks. The incoming worker can see earlier observations and completed jobs in the dated history.
How HerdMobile helps
Bring your animals, feed stocks and farm accounts together on your Android phone. HerdMobile keeps your daily work moving offline: record events, compare feed quantities and follow sales and payments in one place. Use your own feeds and herd information to prepare a ration, then keep a backup file under your control.
Sources
Continue reading
- Heat stress: a practical dairy-farm checklist
- Winter feeding starts with forage and water
- Eid livestock finishing: plan the feed transition early
- Sheep and copper: check the complete feed label
- Feed library: compare nutrients and dry matter
- Wheat straw: dry matter, protein and fibre
- Farm notebook: seasonal livestock articles
- Why ration matters on your farm
- Farm finance: separate sales, payments and feed use
- How HerdMobile makes farm life easier
- Farm glossary: feed, livestock and money terms explained