With a growing herd, finding one animal quickly matters. Herdy offers a search across all the important fields, filters, sorting, savable views and an export.
Text search
The search bar sits above the filters. Just start typing; the list refreshes shortly after your last keystroke. There is no button to press, and the field keeps the focus while the list reloads.
The search covers, at the same time:
- Ear tag: parts are enough. "4567" finds the animal with tag CH 1234.4567. The spelling with "CH", with dots or with no separators at all is recognised too.
- Name: for example "Bella"
- Breed: via the breed code
- Species: "sheep" or "goat"
- Status: "active", "alp", "departed", "deceased", "slaughtered", "missing"
Important: While a search term is in the field, Herdy lifts the default filter that otherwise limits the list to active animals. That is the only way a search for "deceased" can actually find deceased animals. Results can therefore contain animals of every status.
You can also scan from the animal list: bottom right with the camera, or, if a reader is paired, straight from the reader, even while the search field is active. After a scan Herdy opens the matching animal. If no animal carries that number, Herdy filters the list by the number read so you can see it does not exist. See Scan ear tag and Reader for electronic ear tags.
Filters
The filter row sits below the search. On a phone the filters are collected behind the Filter button, and the number beside it shows how many are currently active. On a larger screen they sit side by side.
Species
Every species your farm keeps gets a button: Sheep, Goats, Cattle, Pigs. Species you do not keep are not shown, because their filter could only ever return an empty list. If your farm keeps a single species, the row disappears altogether.
Status
A picker with Active, On alp, Departed, Deceased, Slaughtered, Missing and All. Without a choice of your own the list shows active and summered animals. All shows every animal regardless of status.
Breed
A searchable picker listing the breeds that actually occur in your herd. If you have also chosen a species, only its breeds are listed.
Group
Appears as soon as you have created at least one group. Besides your groups there is the entry No group for animals that belong to no group.
When you pick a group, a bar appears above the list with the group name and the number of matches. From there you can treat the whole displayed group in one tap, manage the group, return to the group overview, or clear the filter.
Withdrawal period
A button you switch on and off. When active it shows only animals with a running withdrawal period for meat or milk.
Combining and clearing filters
Filters work together. Sheep plus Withdrawal period gives every sheep with a running withdrawal period. Clear all resets every filter.
Sorting
Sort sets the order. The default is Name (A–Z).
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name (A–Z) | Alphabetically by name |
| Ear tag (ascending) | By ear tag number |
| Youngest first | By date of birth, youngest on top |
| Oldest first | By date of birth, oldest on top |
| Recently edited | Animals with the most recent entry on top |
| Longest idle | Animals with nothing recorded for the longest time |
| Withdrawal period – most urgent first | Animals whose period expires soonest |
Animals without the relevant value always come last.
Saving views
Once you have found a combination you use regularly, tap Save view and give it a name, for example "Pregnant cows". The view then appears as a button above the search, and one tap restores search term and filters. All returns you to the unfiltered list. To delete a view, tap the cross on it.
Editing several animals at once
- Tap Select.
- Tap the animals you want. The number selected appears above.
- All selects every animal currently displayed in one step, None clears the selection.
- The action bar with Treatment and Assign group appears at the bottom.
- Cancel leaves selection mode.
The selection always refers to the animals currently visible. So filter first, then select.
Exporting
The icon with the downward arrow downloads the animal list.
- Download CSV: table format with semicolons as separators, opens in Excel and Numbers
- Download PDF: printable list in landscape, with farm name and export date in the header
Both formats contain the same columns: ear tag, name, species, breed, sex, castrated, castration date, date of birth, status and location.
The export follows exactly what is on screen: search term, filters and sorting are carried over. If you filtered to sheep, the file contains only sheep.
Tip: Export a PDF list before moving the herd to the alp. That gives you a handy overview even without reception.