The Animal Details View

The Animal Details View is a window that shows all the nitty-gritty details for a single animal. In some circles, it is called the "cow page" or "cow card". To get to the Animal Details View, select an animal in the Herd Explorer and then select Object->Open from the main menu. Or, just double-click on the animal in the Herd Explorer. You can also get to this view from any check list. Just double-click on an animal in a list.

The Animal Details View is a tabbed window. Each tab corresponds to a "page" of information about the animal. Most of the information can be edited, but some of it is read-only. The pages are:

General
Birth
Description
In/Out
Production
Growth
Events
Reminders

You can move through the herd by clicking on the arrow buttons at the bottom of the view's window. You can move to the first, previous, next, and last animals by pressing these buttons. The animals are ordered alphabetically by barn name or number, not necessarily by how they are listed in the Herd Explorer.

To create a printed report on an animal, select File->Print when you have the Animal Details view open. This will create a Print Preview window. Press the Send to Printer button to actually send the report to your printer.

(You can also create an Animal Details report containing more than one animal. See List View.)

The following sections will describe each page in the Animal Details View.

The General Page

The general page contains basic information about the animal's identification and also shows a summary of its lactation and reproductive status (if applicable).

Barn Name or Number: This is the common name or number that this animal is known by. It can contain up to 20 characters and it must be different than all other animals in your herd.

Registered Name: If this animal is registered with an official registry organization, type in the official registered name here.

Gender: This is self-explanatory.

Visible Tag: This can be any value you want, but typically this would be the external identifier, such as an ear tag or collar tag.

Registration ID: If this animal is registered, this field contains the registration number or identifier.

Group: This is the name of the group that the animal currently belongs to. To change the group, click on Change. You will see the Groups dialog appear.

Other ID: You can use this field for whatever other identification information you want to keep.

Breed: Select the breed of this animal from the list.

Do Not Breed: You can mark an animal as "Do Not Breed" by checking this checkbox. This means that the animal should not be bred, probably because it will be culled after it is finished with its current lactation.

Computer/DHI Number: Normally this number is assigned by your DHIA processing center. Do not change this number unless you are making a correction.

RFID: If you are using RFID tags, enter the RFID number here.

Notes: You can type whatever other additional information you want here.

Lactation: This box contains basic information about the animal's lactation status. It cannot be edited.

Reproduction: This box contains basic information about the animal's reproductive status. It cannot be edited.

The Birth Page

The birth page contains information about the animal's origins and pedigree. Several of these fields are date fields. See Entering Dates for information about how to enter dates.

Date of Birth: This is the date that the animal was born.

Weaning Date: Enter the date the animal was weaned here.

Neutering Date: If the animal was neutered (for example, you want to keep your steers in your herd database), enter the neutering date here.

Purpose: An animal can be designated for Milk Production, Meat, Heifer Raised for Customer, or other.

Sire: This is the animal's sire. If the sire is in your herd database, click the Name/Number radio button and select the sire from the list. To go to the sire's details, press the Details button. If the sire is not in your herd database, click the Other ID radio button and enter the sire's identifying information here, for example its NAAB number.

Dam: This is the animal's dam. If the dam is in your herd database, click the Name/Number radio button and select the dam from the list. To go to the dam's details, press the Details button. If the dam is not in your herd database, click the Other ID radio button and enter any other identifying information here, for example her barn name.

The Description Page

The description page contains information about what the animal looks like. All of these fields are optional.

Brand/Tatoo: Enter permanent branding or tatooing information here.

Color: Enter the animal's color or colorings here.

Distinguishing Marks: If the animal has any unusual markings, enter that information here.

Picture: If you have a picture of the animal in a file on your computer, you can enter that picture into this area. To enter or change the picture, press the Enter/Change button and then find the file that contains the picture in the Open dialog. The picture can be a bitmap, GIF, or JPEG file. Select the file type from the "File of type" list in the Open dialog. Then find the file and press Open.

The In/Out Page

The in/out page contains information about how the animal entered the herd and how the animal left the herd (if applicable). Two of these fields are date fields. See Entering Dates for information about how to enter dates.

Date Entered Herd: Enter the date that this animal came into your herd.

How?: Enter the method by which the animal came into the herd. The list will contain the reasons you can choose from. If you want to add or change one of the items in this list, press the "..." button. This will show the Entrance Reasons dialog.

Number of Previous Lactations: If the animal had calvings and lactations which are not recorded in the herd database, enter the number of those lactations here. For example, if you purchase an adult animal that is in her third lactation, enter "2" for Previous Lactations. This field is also useful when you are setting up your herd file for the first time and you do not plan to enter all of the previous lactation data.

Customer: If you are raising this animal for a customer, select the customer name.

Billing Profile: If you are raising this animal for a customer, select the billing profile to use for computing invoice charges.

Date Left Herd: Enter the date this animal left the herd. If the animal is still in your herd, make sure the checkbox on the date is unchecked.

Why?: Enter the reason this animal left the herd. The list will contain the reasons you can choose from. If you want to add or change one of the items in this list, press the "..." button. This will show the Exit Reasons dialog.

Notes: Any other notes about why this animal left the herd can be added here.

The Production Page

The production page shows this animal's complete lactation history. By default, the current lactation is shown. You can show a different lactation by choosing the lactation number from the Lactation list.

You can view the lactation either as a table or in a graph. Choose which one by pressing either the Table or Graph radio button. If Show Projected is checked, DairyLive will estimate the future lactation curve based on a 305 day lactation. You can select a standard chart to compare the lactation curve with my selecting it from the list labeled "Compare to".

The 305 summary and lifetime summary are also shown on this page. These values cannot be edited.

The Growth Page

The growth page shows this growth history. You can view the data as a table or a graph and you can add or remove growth information. The ADG information is shown on the bottom of the window.

Data: Select either Weight or Height. This is available only when displaying the data graphically.

View: Select either Table or Graph.

Add: Add a new weight and/or height recording. This brings up the Add Measurement dialog.

Delete: Delete the selected weight/height recording.

The Events Page

The events page lists all of this animal's events that have been recorded. You can add additional events by pressing the Add button, and you can edit existing events by selecting an event and pressing the Edit button. Events can be deleted by selecting one or more and pressing the Delete button. See Add Event Dialog for more information.

If you want to print out the event list, press the Print button to get a Print Preview window. Then send it to the printer.

NOTE: You can also view an animal's events by selecting the animal in the Explorer or in a List View and pressing the Events button on the toolbar or selecting Object->Animal->Events from the main menu. The Event View provides more flexibility in filtering events.

The Reminders Page

The reminders page lists all of this animal's future events. You can add additional reminders by pressing the Add button, and you can edit existing reminders by selecting a reminder and pressing the Edit button. Reminders can be deleted by selecting one or more and pressing the Delete button. See Add Reminder Dialog for more information.

If you want to print out the reminder list, press the Print button to get a Print Preview window. Then send it to the printer.

NOTE: You can also view an animal's reminders by selecting the animal in the Explorer or in a List View and pressing the Reminders button on the toolbar or selecting Object->Animal->Reminders from the main menu. The Reminder View provides more flexibility in filtering events.