Field Descriptions

Herdly keeps track of a lot of information in various fields. These fields show up in lists, like in the animal list or associated child lists. They also show up in actions and on reports. Some fields are more important than others. This topic explains which fields are most important. It is also a reference detailing all of the fields.

Important Fields

We've designed Herdly so that it is still usable even if you enter very little information about an animal. Of course, the more information you give Herdly the more it will be able to do for you, but you aren't required to enter very much. In fact, the only required field that Herdly can't automatically manage for you is the management tag. However, it is important to understand how Herdly uses a few key fields in dashboards, reports, and other calculations. We encourage you to ensure these fields are filled in accurately as far as possible so Herdly's calculations give you correct information about your ranch. Following is a list of fields we consider key to using Herdly (more detailed information about these fields is given in later sections in this topic). We briefly describe why the field is important, but for more detailed information about where these fields are used please see the Typical Cow Life Cycle and Calculations and Formulas topics.

  • Tag. This is the primary way of identifying an animal, even animals that are sold, dead, or archived.
  • Status. Lets Herdly know whether the animal is currently alive, on the ranch, etc. Herdly will update this field automatically when you use the appropriate actions, but it can be manually changed if needed.
  • Gender. Lets Herdly know if the animal is a female or a male. It can be left blank, but there are many actions and calculations that Herdly will only perform if an animal's gender is known.
  • Birth Date. Lot's of calculations require knowing how old an animal is or what year it was born in. If you don't know the exact birthdate of an animal (quite natural for purchased animals), estimate the date. For example, you will often only know the year the animal was born in so you might choose March 15 of the year for all animals you are guessing a birthdate on. This is better than leaving it blank.
  • Calving Year. When Herdly needs to know what animals were born in a certain year for some calculation, it can't just rely on the birth date. For example, in a purebred operation that is trying to calve near the beginning of January there might be a few calves born early at the end of December. In that case, the calving year should indicate the effective year the calf was born in so it is grouped with the correct calves.
  • Wean Date. The way Herdly knows an animal has been weaned is based on this field. If it has a date, the animal is considered weaned. If the date is blank, it is considered not weaned. (This only matters for animals born on your ranch.)
  • Yearling Date. Similarly, Herdly knows if an animal has been kept as a yearling if this field has a date. (This only matters for animals born on your ranch.).
  • Arrival Type. This field helps Herdly know what animals to include or exclude in certain calculations. For example, if you purchased bred heifers in 2018 you don't want them suddenly showing up as part of the born alive count for 2016. Animals are only considered born, weaned, and kept as yearlings if this field is set to Raised. Herdly automatically sets this field for you in most cases.
  • Breeding Pool Entry Date. For many calculations Herdly needs to know if an animal is part of your breeding pool at some point in time, so it is necessary to enter the date an animal entered your breeding pool. If you are purchasing mature animals, Herdly only needs to know the date the animal entered your breeding pool which is typically the purchase date. If you are unsure of the exact date but know the year the animal entered the breeding pool, it should be fine to choose, for example, January 1st of that year.
  • Breeding Pool Exit Date. Similarly, Herdly needs to know when an animal exited the breeding pool. Herdly fills this date in automatically when you use the appropriate actions. You could choose December 31st of the year if you only know the year an animal exited the breeding pool.
  • Breeding Pool Stage. Often shortened to Breeding Stage, this field will be blank for most animals. However, once an animal enters the breeding pool this field is used to track its breeding stage (ex. Open, Pregnant, or Exposed). It is automatically updated as you use the appropriate actions, but can manually be changed if necessary.

In addition to the above fields, we also encourage the following practices:

  • Moving Animals. It is easy to record animals being moved in Herdly, especially when you are moving all the animals at once or sorting certain types of animals out of a field. Moving hundreds of animals can often be done is just a few seconds. Taking the time to record animal movements makes it so Herdly can be helpful in many ways. For example, recording exposure records is fully automatic if you are recording animal movements.
  • Exposures and Matings. Many of Herdly's calculations depend on knowing exposure (and, if known, mating) information. As mentioned above, if you are recording animal movements in Herdly, exposure information will automatically be figured out and recorded, so can come for free.
  • Pregnancy Checking. We recommend that you preg check your cows and record the result here as this drives some of the information Herdly can give you about your herd.
  • Weighing Cows Yearly. Several important calculations need to know the dam's weight to work correctly. Herdly will look for the closest known weight for a cow within a 400 day window, but will not use a weight outside that window. Therefore, we recommend weighing cows once a year where possible. Doing this at weaning or preg check time is often the simplest.
  • Birth and Wean Weights. It isn't always easy to get individual birth or weaning weights, but we encourage this practice where possible. Knowing these weights drives important calculations that can help you know which cows should be culled and which should be kept from a profitability standpoint. Even estimating these weights can be helpful.

Just by using the above fields, Herdly will be able to calculate the majority of metrics kept for each animal, for the dashboards, and for reports.

Description of All Fields

Description Key

Some fields have an italicized key at the beginning of its description. The following keys are used:

  • Required. If a field is marked as required, it can never be left blank. Otherwise it can be left blank in most cases (sometimes a certain action will require a field to have a value in that context).
  • Optional. These are fields that you can turn off in the Optional Fields section of the Ranch Settings window so they aren't shown for your ranch if you want.
  • Calculated. These are fields that cannot be set directly. Herdly takes care of setting them as needed.

Animal

There are a lot of fields directly associated with an animal, so they are broken into sections.

  • Identification.
    • Tag. Required. This is the management tag of the animal, often the dangle tag. Every animal, even non-current or archived animals, must have a tag. It is often the primary way of searching for or recognizing an animal. However, it is okay to change the tag whenever you want. Herdly will allow multiple animals to have the same tag. If you take advantage of this, it is up to you to know how to distinguish them based on other information, but recognize that other fields may not always be present in Herdly when you need to know which animal is which.
    • Tag Color. Optional. This field can be used to store the color of the dangle tag. There is a list of pre-defined colors to choose from.
    • Alternate Tag. Optional. Use this field to store a secondary ID. For example, you might have two dangle tags. It could also be used to store an older tag number if you change the management tag.
    • RFID Tag. Optional. Stores an RFID or EID tag. Herdly normalizes the tag, whether it is entered manually or scanned from an RFID scanner, to 15 digits.
    • Brand. Optional. Use this field to store the animal's brand.
    • Brand Location. Optional. If you've entered a brand, you can use this field to store the location of the brand on the animal from a list of pre-defined locations.
    • Freeze Brand. Optional. Use this field to store a freeze brand for the animal.
    • Freeze Brand Location. Optional. If you've entered a freeze brand, you can use this field to store the location of the freeze brand from a list of pre-defined locations.
    • Tattoo. Optional. Use this field to store an animal's tattoo.
    • Tattoo Location. Optional. If you've entered a tattoo, you can use this field to store the location of the tattoo on the animal from a list of pre-defined locations.
    • Alternate Tattoo. Optional. If the animal has a secondary tattoo, use this field to store it.
    • Alternate Tattoo Location. Optional. If you've entered an alternate tattoo, you can use this field to store its location on the animal from a list of pre-defined locations.
    • Private Herd Number. Optional. If you give your animals private herd numbers, you can store them here.
    • Private Herd Number Location. Optional. If the private herd number is on the animal, this field is used to store its location.
    • Registration Number. Optional. You can store a registration number here. For example, you could store a breed association's registration number for the animal here..
    • Registration Number Location. Optional. If a registration number is on the animal, use this field to describe where it is.
    • Name. Optional. Use this field to store the name of an animal.
    • OCV Tattoo. Optional. If you need to record an OCV tattoo, you can do so here.
    • OCV Tag. Optional. If you need to record an OCV tag, you can do so here.
    • Animal Description. Optional. This field can be used to give the animal a general description.
    • Main Photo. An animal can have one photo associated with it as its main photo. (Other photos can be associated with its birth, weaning, notes, etc.)
  • Status.
    • Status. Required. Every animal must have one of the following statuses. Herdly will usually change the status as needed when actions are performed on an animal, but you can also set it manually when needed.
      • Current. Current animals are ones that are alive and currently on your ranch.
      • Dead. This status is for animals that were born dead or that died while on your ranch.
      • Sold. This status is for animals that were on your ranch at some point, but have been sold.
      • Source. A source animal is one you need to have some information on, but is not on your ranch. For example, if you AIed a cow using semen from a bull you did not own, you could enter the bull as a source animal and still connect it as the sire when the calf is born.
    • Gender. The animal's gender is stored here, either Female or Male.
    • Classification. You can classify animals for your own purposes using this field. Possible classifications include Calf, Cow, and Bull.
    • Purpose. You can use this field to remember your final intentions for an animal as it grows up. Terminal refers to animals being raised for slaughter while Breeding refers to animals you intend to keep for you breeding program or sell as breeding animals. You can leave this field blank.
    • Breeding Pool Stage. When animals enter the breeding pool, they should be assigned a stage using this field. Herdly automatically assigns stages to an animal when it can, but you can also set the stage manually if needed. Possible stages include:
      • Active. A bull currently being used in your breeding pool should have an active status.
      • Exposed. This stage is used for cows in the breeding herd that have been exposed to a bull.
      • Pregnant. This stage is used for cows that are pregnant, usually determined by a preg check test.
      • Open. This stage is used after a cow has calved or when a cow is found open in a preg check test.
      • Removed. If a cow or bull has been in your breeding pool before, but has been removed for any reason (death, cull, sold, etc.), it should have a removed status.
    • Archived. Not currently used.
    • Current Location. Calculated. As you move animals, Herdly keeps track of the current location of an animal. This field is updated automatically based on the last location set using the Move Animals action. It will be blank for animals whose status is not Current.
    • Date Entered Current Location. Calculated. When Herdly updates the current location field, it also sets this field to the date the animal entered that location. It will be blank for animals whose status is not Current.
    • Days At Current Location. Calculated. This field is shown in various places and shows how many days an animal has been in its current location. It will be 0 for animals whose status is not Current.
    • Age In Years. Calculated. Herdly calculates the age of an animal whenever it displays this field. It is simply the current date minus the birth date divided by 365 days. The age will be displayed with 1 decimal place. It will be left at 0 if the animal doesn't have a birthdate.
    • Date Of Last Calf. Calculated. If the animal is a female, Herdly will store the date of when the most recent calf was born in this field.
    • First Breeding Date. Calculated. If the animal is a female, this field will show the first known exposure date for the current cycle, based on exposure and mating records. This field is cleared when a calf is born. (See also note A below.)
    • Last Breeding Date. Calculated. If the animal is a female, this field will show the last known exposure date for the current cycle, based on exposure and mating records. If Herdly believes the animal is still with a bull, this field will be blank. This field is cleared when a calf is born. (See also note A below.)
    • First Possible Calving Date. Calculated. This field is based on the first breeding date, assuming an average gestation length of 283 days. It will be blank if the first breeding date is blank. (See also note A below.)
    • Last Possible Calving Date. Calculated. This field is based on the last breeding date, also assuming an average gestation length of 283 days. It will be blank when the last breeding date is blank. (See also note A below.)
    • Preg Check Date. Calculated. If this animal is a female, this field stores the date of the last preg check recorded for the animal. Only preg check events since the cow's most recent calving are taken into account. (See also note A below.)
    • Preg Check Result. Calculated. If this animal is a female, this field stores the preg check result of the last preg check recorded for the animal. Only preg check events since the cow's most recent calving are taken into account. (See also note A below.)
    • Projected Calving Date. Calculated. If this animal is a female, this field stores an estimated calving date for the animal. If there has been a preg check event since the last calf was born, this date will be based on the preg check results. Otherwise, it will be the same as the first possible calving date. (See also note A below.)
    • Last Treat Date. Calculated. If the animal has ever been treated (recorded as a Treatment Event), the date of the last treatment will be recorded here.
    • Withdrawal Date. Calculated. Each time an animal is given a drug, this field is recalculated and will show the withdrawal date for the animal. This is based on the most future date of all the withdrawal dates of all drug events.
    • In Treatment. Calculated. This field will tell you whether an animal is currently in a treatment program. Whenever you create a diagnosis event for an animal, it goes into a treatment program and stays that way until you tell Herdly that the treatment is complete.
    • Castrate Date. You can record when a male was castrated here.
    • Dehorn Date. You can record when an animal was dehorned here.
    • Branding Date. You can record when an animal was branded here.
  • Attributes.
    • Breed. This field expresses the breed composition of an animal. This is calculated at calving time for new calves based on the breed composition of the dam and sire. It can also be manually set for an animal. The field can still be used if you only know part of the breed composition. (For more information about breed compositions, see the Ranch Setup topic.)
    • Color. This field can be used to store the color of an animal from a list of pre-defined colors.
    • Horn Status. Use this field to store the horn status of an animal. Possible values are Polled, Horned, Scurred, and Dehorned.
    • Weight. Calculated. Herdly automatically sets this field to the most recent recorded weight for the animal.
    • Hip Height. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded hip height for the animal.
    • Frame Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded frame score for the animal. (Range is 1-9, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Body Condition Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded body condition score for the animal. (Range is 1-9, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Udder Suspension Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded udder suspension score for the animal. (Range is 1-9, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Teat Size Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded teat size score for the animal. (Range is 1-9, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Temperament Docility Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded temperament docility score for the animal. (Range is 1-6, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Temperament Pen Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded temperament pen score for the animal. (Range is 1-5, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Claw Set Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded claw set score for the animal. (Range is 1-9, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Foot Angle Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded foot angle score for the animal. (Range is 1-9, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Rear Legs Side View Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded rear legs side view score for the animal. (Range is 1-9, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Rear Legs Hind View Score. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded rear legs hind view score for the animal. (Range is 1-9, although you can use a subset if you want.)
    • Pelvic Area. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded pelvic area measurement for the animal.
    • Scrotal Circumference. Calculated. This field is automatically set to the most recent recorded scrotal circumference measurement for the animal.
  • Performance. The fields in this section are calculated by Herdly as things change. Most fields are calculated for both female and male animals. None of them are calculated for animals that have a blank gender field. You can find the formulas we use to calculates a lot of these values in the Calculations and Formulas topic.
    • Calvings. Calculated. The number of calving seasons where an animal had a calf recorded. Only applies to females. Twins would be counted as one calving.
    • Calves Born. Calculated. The number of calves born. Applies to both females and males. Twins would count as two calves born.
    • Calves Born Alive. Calculated. The number of calves born alive. Applies to both females and males.
    • Avg Calf Birth Weight. Calculated. The average birth weight across all calves that were born. Applies to both females and males.
    • Avg Calf Adjusted Birth Weight. Calculated. The average adjusted weight across all calves that have an adjusted weight. Applies to both females and males
    • Avg Calf Birth Weight Ratio. Calculated. The average birth weight ratio across all calves that have a birth weight ratio. Applies to both females and males.
    • Avg Calving Ease Score. Calculated. The average calving ease score across all calves that have a calving ease score. Applies to both females and males.
    • Calves Weaned. Calculated. The number of calves weaned. A calf is considered weaned if it has a weaning date. Applies to females and males.
    • Avg Calf Wean Weight. Calculated. The average weaning weight across all calves that have been weaned and that have a weaning weight. Applies to females and males.
    • Avg Calf Adjusted Wean Weight. Calculated. The average adjusted weaning weight across all calves that have been weaned and that have an adjusted weaning weight. Applies to females and males.
    • Avg Calf Wean Weight Ratio. Calculated. The average weaning weight ratio across all calves that have been weaned and that have a weaning weight ratio. Applies to females and males.
    • Calves Held As Yearlings. Calculated. The number of calves held as yearlings. A calf is considered a yearling if it has a yearling weigh date. Applies to females and males.
    • Avg Calf Yearling Weight. Calculated. The average yearling weight across all calves that have been held as yearlings and that have a yearling weight. Applies to females and males.
    • Avg Calf Adjusted Yearling Weight. Calculated. The average adjusted yearling weight across all calves that have been held as yearlings and that have an adjusted yearling weight. Applies to females and males.
    • Calves Entered Breeding Pool. Calculated. The number of calves that entered the breeding pool. A calf is considered as having entered the breeding pool if it has a breeding pool entry date.
    • Calving Interval. Calculated. The number of days between the last calving and the previous calving. Only applies to females that have had at least two calves.
    • Avg Calving Interval. Calculated. The average calving internal for an animal. Only applies to females that have had at least two calves.
    • Post Partum Interval. Calculated. Not currently calculated.
    • Avg Post Partum Interval. Calculated. Not currently calculated.
    • Diagnosis Count. Calculated. The total number of diagnosis events associated with the animal. Applies to both females and males.
    • Treatment Count. Calculated. The total number of treatment events associated with the animal. Applies to both females and males.
  • Arrival. The fields in this section refer to when an animal first arrived at your ranch. This might be through a purchase or by being born on your ranch.
    • Arrival Date. The date the animal was purchased or born.
    • Arrival Type. Expresses whether the animal was purchased or born on your ranch.
    • Purchase Price (per Head). If you purchased the animal, you can enter the total price for the animal here.
    • Arrival Weight. This field stores the arrival weight. If purchased, you can enter the purchase weight here. For calves, this field will automatically be filled with the birth weight, unless you override it.
    • Raised At. If you want to distinguish between where a purchased animal was raised at from who it was purchased from, use this field.
    • Purchased From. If the animal was purchased, you can record who you purchased it from in this field. This field is a link to a contact, so the contact must have previously been created.
    • Arrival Note. You can enter any additional purchase information in this field.
  • Birth. This section refers to birth related information. Even if an animal was not born on your ranch, you can still enter whatever information you have about its birth if you want.
    • Birth Date. Stores the birthdate of the animal.
    • Birth Date Type. You can use this field to specify whether the entered birthdate is the actual date or an estimated date.
    • Birth Type. Required. This field is used to store the birth type. Choices include Live, Aborted, Stillborn, and Died At Birth. This field must have a value.
    • Calving Ease Score. This field stores the calving ease score based on the typical 1-5 scale recommended by BIF.
    • Calving Assist Reason. If the birth was an assisted birth, you can describe the type of assistance here.
    • Vigor Score. This field can be used to record the vigor score of a new born calf from 1-4.
    • Sibling Count. Calculated. Herdly sets this field automatically. For a single calf, the value will be 1. If the calf is a twin, the value will be 2 for both of the twins.
    • Birth Weight. The birth weight is stored in this field.
    • Birth Weight Type. Use this field to record whether the birth weight is the actual weight or an estimated weight.
    • Adjusted Birth Weight. Calculated. Herdly automatically calculates this field, adjusting the birth weight based on the age of the dam and other factors. See Calculations and Formulas for details.
    • Birth Weight Ratio. Calculated. Herdly automatically calculates this field based on the last known weight of the dam. See Calculations and Formulas for details.
    • Biological Dam. If the biological dam is known, it should be entered here. This field links the animal to the dam, so the dam must already exist in Herdly.
    • Foster Dam. If this animal had a foster dam, it should be entered here. This field links the animal to the foster dam, so it must already exist in Herdly.
    • Age of Dam At Birth. Calculated. Herdly calculates the age of the dam when the calf was born using the age algorithm recommended by BIF. This means the minimum age will be 2. It is always expressed in years. If it is 0, it is likely that either the calf or the dam is missing a birthdate.
    • Sire Type. This field will be blank if there are no sires associated with this animal. If there is exactly one sire, this field will be Individual. If a group of sires is associated with the animal, this field will be Group.
    • Biological Sire. If the biological sire is known, it should be entered here. This field links the animal to the sire, so the sire must already exist in Herdly. If a sire group is associated with the animal, this field will stay blank.
    • Calving Number. Calculated. Herdly automatically sets this information based on what it knows about the dam's calvings. If this was the dam's first calf, the field would be set to 1. If the dam had a calf the next year, that calf's field would be set to 2.
    • Calving Year. You can enter the calving year in this field. Usually it will be the same year the calf was born, but not always. For example, if a calf was born on December 29, 2017 it is probably part of the 2018 calving season even thought it was born early. The value must be within 1 year (+/-) of the birthdate. If there is no birthdate, it must be between 1950 and next year.
    • Calving Season. If you have multiple calving seasons in the same year, you can use this field to specify which season the calf was part of.
    • Birth Location. This field is used to record the location where the animal was born.
    • Birth Longitude. On a mobile device, you can record the GPS location using this and the next field. Herdly doesn't currently do anything but store this information.
    • Birth Latitude. See above.
    • Birth Note. You can enter any additional information about the animal's birth here if you want.
    • Birth Photo. You can associate a photo with a birth event if you want.
  • Wean. Weaning related fields are in this section.
    • Wean Date. The weaning date of an animal. If this field has a value, the animal is considered weaned.
    • Wean Weight. You can record the weaning weight in this field.
    • Wean Weight Type. This field stores the type of weaning weight that was recorded. Possible values are Actual, Estimated, and Group. Use Group if you only know the average group weight.
    • Adjusted 205 Day Weight. Calculated. Herdly automatically calculates this field, adjusting the weaning weight based on the age of the dam and other factors. See Calculations and Formulas for details.
    • Wean Weight Ratio. Calculated. Herdly automatically calculates this field based on the last known weight of the dam. See Calculations and Formulas for details.
    • Wean Average Daily Gain. Calculated. Herdly automatically calculates this field based the weaning weight and birth weight. See Calculations and Formulas for details.
    • Creep Fed Days. Optional. You can record the number of days the animal was on creep feed here.
    • Wean Note. You can enter any additional information about the animal's weaning here if you want.
    • Wean Photo. You can associate a photo with a wean event if you want.
  • Yearling. If an animal is held as a yearling, the fields in this section can be used to record related information.
    • Yearling Weigh Date. Record the date the animal was weighed. An animal is considered held as a yearling if this field has a date.
    • Yearling Weight. You can record the yearling weight in this field.
    • Yearling Weight Type. This field stores the type of yearling weight that was recorded. Possible values are Actual, Estimated, and Group. Use Group if you only know the average group weight.
    • Adjusted 365 Day Weight. Calculated. Herdly automatically calculates this field, adjusting the yearling weight to a 365 day weight. See Calculations and Formulas for details.
    • Yearling Weight Ratio. Calculated. Herdly automatically calculates this field based on the last known weight of the dam. See Calculations and Formulas for details.
    • Yearling Average Daily Gain. Calculated. Herdly automatically calculates this field based the yearling weight and weaning weight. See Calculations and Formulas for details.
    • Yearling Note. You can enter any additional information pertaining to when the animal was held as a yearling here if you want.
    • Yearling Photo. You can associate a photo with a yearling event if you want.
  • Breeding Pool. These fields records information about animals entering and leaving the breeding pool.
    • Breeding Pool Entry Date. Use this field to record when an animal became part of the breeding pool. An animal is only considered part of (or used to be part of) the breeding pool if this field has a value.
    • Breeding Pool Entry Weight. This field can be used to record the weight of the animal when it entered the breeding pool.
    • Breeding Pool Entry Weight Type. This field is used to store whether the entry weight was an actual or estimated weight.
    • Breeding Pool Exit Date. This field is used to record the date the animal left the breeding pool for whatever reason (death, culled, sold, etc.)
    • Breeding Pool Exit Weight. This field can be used to record the weight of the animal when it left the breeding pool.
    • Breeding Pool Exit Weight Type. This field is used to store whether the exit weight was an actual or estimated weight.
    • Breeding Pool Exit Reason. You can use this field to record the reason the animal was removed from the breeding pool.
  • Removal. These fields store information related to an animal's removal from your herd, usually due to a sale or death.
    • Removal Date. This field stores the date the animal was removed from the herd.
    • Removal Reason. This field is used to record the reason for removal and comes from a list of pre-defined reasons.
    • Removal Weight. You can use this field to record the weight of the animal when it was removed, usually due to a sale.
    • Removal Weight Type. This field stores the type of removal weight that was recorded. Possible values are Actual, Estimated, and Group. Use Group if you only know the average group weight.
    • Sold To. If the animal was sold, you can record who you sold it to in this field. This field is a link to a contact, so the contact must have previously been created.
    • Sale Price (per Head). If you sold the animal, you can enter the total sale price for the animal here.
    • Removal Note. Any additional information about the removal or sale can be stored in this field.
  • Death. If an animal dies while on your ranch, use the fields in this section to record death related information.
    • Death Date. Record the date of the death here.
    • Death Cause. This field stores the death cause which is set from a pre-defined list.
    • Found Dead By User. This field can be used to record which user found the dead animal.
    • Death Location. The location the animal was in when it died can be recorded here.
    • Death Longitude. Not currently used.
    • Death Latitude. Not currently used.
    • Death Note. Any additional information about the animal's death can be recorded in this field.

Animal Note

An animal can have several notes associated with it. A record with these fields is created for each note.

  • Created. Required. The date and time the note was created is stored here.
  • User. Calculated. The user who originally created the note is stored here. Herdly sets this automatically and it can't be edited.
  • Note. Required. You can enter any information in the note field that you want.
  • Photo. You can associate a picture with a note if you want.

Owner

Each animal can be owned by multiple people, each with a different percentage. Each owner associated with an animal has a record with the following fields.

  • Owner. The name of the owner. This is a link to the contacts, so the contact must have previously been created before it can be an owner.
  • Possession Percent. Use this field to express what percent of the animal this owner owns.
  • Genetic Percent. If the genetic ownership of an animal is split up, you can record the percentage of that which this owner owns here.

Exposure Event

Exposure events are a record of when a specific cow and bull where together. Exposures help Herdly determine the most likely bull(s) that sired a calf.

  • Cow. Required. The cow that was exposed to a bull.
  • Bull. Required. The bull the cow was exposed to.
  • Begin Exposure. Required. The date when the cow was first exposed to the bull.
  • End Exposure. The date when the cow was no longer exposed to the bull. It will remain blank while the cow is exposed to the bull.
  • Note. Additional notes about this exposure can be added here.

Mating Event

A mating event is the record of when a cow was bred, either naturally or via artificial insemination.

  • Cow. Required. The cow that bred.
  • Bull. Required. The bull used to breed her.
  • Date. Required. The date the cow was bred.
  • Service Type. Required. Used to indicate whether the mating was a natural mating or an AI mating.
  • User. The user who saw the mating or did the AIing.
  • Location. The location the mating occurred at can be recorded here.
  • Note. Additional notes about this mating can be added here

Pregnancy Check

Each time a cow is preg checked, a record with the following fields is created and associated with the cow.

  • Check Date. Required. The date the animal was preg checked is recorded here.
  • Days or Months. This field is used to record the number of days or months that were entered as called out by the vet. It should be the number of days or months since the estimated conception. The predicted calving date will be calculated based on this value and the check date.
  • Check Method. This field can be used to record how the preg check was done. Possible values are Palpation, Ultrasound, and Blood.
  • Check Result. Required. This field stores the check result and will be Pregnant, Open, or Abnormal.
  • Predicted Gender. If the gender of the calf was predicted, that can be stored here. Possible values are Female, Male, and Undetermined.
  • Predicted Calving Date. If the preg checker estimates the number of days or months since conception, this field will store the predicted calving date which is calculated based on the number the preg checker gave (assuming a gestation length of 283 days).
  • Measurement Area. This field can record the area being measured by the preg checker for predicting the time since conception.
  • Measurement. This field can record the measurement (in millimeters).
  • Checker. Use this field to record who the preg checker was. It links to a contact, so the contact must have been previously created.
  • Note. Additional notes about the preg check event can be stored here if you want.

Diagnosis Event

When you treat an animal you can record a diagnosis and related treatments if you like. A record with the following fields is created when you diagnose an animal.

  • Diagnosis. Required. The name of the diagnosis, from a pre-defined list.
  • Date. Required. Stores the date of the diagnosis.
  • User. Calculated. Herdly automatically stores the user who made the diagnosis in this field.
  • Vet. You can store the name of the veterinarian who was involved in making the diagnosis, if there was one. It is a link to a contact, so the contact must have previously been made.
  • Pull. Calculated. Herdly will automatically calculate the pull number for this diagnosis. The pull number is incremented each time an animal is diagnosed with the same problem.
  • Location. The location of the animal when diagnosed can be stored here.
  • Treatment Finished. Once diagnosed, an animal will be considered in treatment until this field is set to true.
  • Note. Any additional information regarding the diagnosis can be stored in this field.

Treatment Event

Once an animal has been diagnosed, one or more treatment records with the following fields will be created. Note that a treatment event will usually be associated with one or more drug events as well.

  • User. Herdly automatically records the user who gave this treatment in this field.
  • Treat Date. Required. The date the animal was treated is stored here.
  • Weight. You can store the weight of the animal when it was treated in this field if you know it.
  • Temperature. You can store the temperature of the animal when it was treated in this field if you know it.
  • Lung Score. You can store the lung score of the animal when it was treated in this field if you know it.
  • Note. Any additional information regarding the treatment can be stored in this field.
  • Photo. You can associate a photo with a treatment event if you want.

Drug Event

A drug event record will be created each time you give an animal a drug. This can happen as part of a treatment event or directly through a drug event.

  • Event Type. This field stores the type of event which can be used to categorize drugs in some reports. Possible types are Implant, Treatment, and Vaccination. A drug event that is created as part of a treatment event will automatically be set to be of type Treatment, but other drug events can also be set to this type.
  • Diagnosis. If the drug event was part of a treatment event, this field will store the name of the original diagnosis. Otherwise it will be blank.
  • Date. Required. The date of the drug event is stored here.
  • User. Calculated. Herdly automatically stores the user who created the drug event in this field.
  • Drug. Required. The name of the drug will be stored in this field.
  • Administration Route. Required. The administration route will be stored here.
  • Administration Location. This field can be used to record where the drug was administered on the animal.
  • Dosage. Required. The number of units of the drug given to the animal are stored here.
  • Cost. Herdly will calculate the cost of this drug event based on the current price of the drug. It can also be overriden or left blank.
  • Withdrawal. Calculated. Herdly calculates the withdrawal date associated with this drug and stores it here. An animal's overall withdrawal date comes from the most future date of all an animal's drug events.

Attribute History

Each time you record an attribute such as weight or hip height for an animal, a record with the following fields is created. Some attributes are automatically created. For example, when you enter the birth weight of an animal we add that weight to the attribute history. These kinds of records cannot be edited directly, but if you update the birth weight Herdly will automatically update the attribute history record. You can also manually create more records to record different measurements.

  • Measurement Date. Required. The date the measurement was taken.
  • User. Calculated. Herdly automatically stores the user who recorded the measurement here.
  • Event. Calculated. The type of event where this measurement was taken come will be stored here. Most events besides Other are ones that cannot be edited directly. Herdly automatically sets this field.
  • Measurement. Required. This field records what type of measurement is being stored. Weight, Hip Height, Frame Score, etc.
  • Value. Required. This field stores the measurement itself.
  • Note. This field stores any additional information recorded during the measurement.

CCIA Event

When a CCIA event is created, a record with the following fields is created. None of these fields are set directly by the user.

  • Event Creation. Herdly sets this field to the date the event was created. It will not be blank.
  • CCIA Account. This field stores the CCIA account associated with the event.
  • Location. If a premise ID is or can be associated with the event, this field will store the location (a premise ID should be associated with each location).
  • Event Type. This field stores the type of event. Birth Date, Cross Reference, Replaced, etc.
  • Status. This field stores the current status of the event. See CCIA Events for possible statuses.
  • Error Message. If an error has occurred, this field will store the error information.
  • Submitted To Herdly. This field stores the date the event was submitted by someone.
  • Submitted To CCIA. This field stores the date Herdly sent the event to CCIA.
  • Received CCIA Result. This field stores the date Herdly got a result back from CCIA.
  • Next Attempt. If Herdly is in the middle of sending or receiving event information from CCIA, this field will store the date of the next attempt.
  • CCIA Transaction ID. This field stores the transaction ID as given by CCIA for this event. It will be blank until it has successfully been submitted to CCIA.

Notes

  • Note A: When Herdly is calculating the first breeding date, last breeding date, first possible calving date, last possible calving date, projected calving date, and which preg check event to use for the cow's preg check date and preg check result fields, it normally looks at exposures, matings, and preg check events which occurred after the last calf was born. However, if a cow that has missed a calf is kept in the herd this logic will include information that in no longer relevant. Herdly does it's best to detect this by only looking at information that is:
    • After a cow's last calving date.
    • Not more than 365 days old.
    • If a cow has not had a calf in the current calving year, but has had a mating or exposure event after the date of the first calf born in the current calving year, then we only look at exposures, matings, and preg check events which have occurred after the date of the first calf born in the current calving year.