Recording births

Birth is one of the most important moments in the breeding year. In Herdy you record all birth details in a single, clear form. And the best part: lambs or kids are automatically created as new animals in your herd.

Recording a new birth

1. Navigate to Breeding and select the Births tab.
2. Tap Record birth.
3. Fill in the sections of the form (see below).
4. Tap Save.

Tip: You can also record a birth directly from a mating. Open the mating and tap Record birth. The dam and sire are then filled in automatically.

The birth form in detail

The form is structured as a single, scrollable page. This lets you capture everything in one pass — even in the barn on your phone.

1. Dam (required)

Select the ewe or doe from your herd. The selection shows only female animals.

2. Sire (optional)

Select the ram or buck. If the birth is linked to a mating, the sire is automatically taken from the mating record.

3. Associated mating (optional)

If you previously recorded a mating for this dam, you can link it here. The selection list shows all open matings for the dam. Linking the mating automatically sets its status to Lambed / Kidded.

4. Birth date (required)

Enter the date of the birth. Herdy suggests today's date.

5. Born alive / Stillborn

Enter the number of live-born and stillborn lambs or kids. Herdy uses these numbers to automatically calculate the litter size and display the correct number of young animal forms in the Lambs / Kids section.

When you change the number in Born alive, Herdy automatically adjusts the number of young animal forms: increasing the number adds extra blank forms; decreasing it removes surplus forms from the end.

Tip: Enter the number of live-born animals first, before filling in the details for individual lambs or kids. This way Herdy displays the right number of forms from the start.

6. Birth progress

Document how the birth went. This is important information for future breeding decisions:

• Unassisted — The birth proceeded smoothly without intervention
• Light assistance — You needed to assist slightly
• Heavy assistance — Significant help was required
• Veterinarian — A vet had to be called
• Caesarean section — Surgical delivery was necessary

Tip: Record the birth progress honestly. This data helps you identify easy-lambing lines over time and improve your breeding programme.

7. Rearing behaviour

Rate the dam's maternal behaviour on a scale of 1 to 5:

• 1 — Very poor (little interest in the lambs/kids)
• 2 — Poor
• 3 — Average
• 4 — Good
• 5 — Very good (immediate licking, nursing without help)

Rearing behaviour is a valuable breeding criterion. Ewes and does with good scores raise their lambs and kids more reliably.

8. Foster dam (optional)

If another ewe or doe takes over rearing (e.g. because the dam does not have enough milk or a lamb/kid has been rejected), you can specify the foster dam here. The selection list automatically excludes the already-chosen dam.

9. Lambs / Kids

Herdy displays a separate form for each live-born animal. The number of forms matches the value in Born alive (see point 5). For each lamb or kid you enter the following data:

• Sex — Male or female
• Name — A call name for the young animal
• Birth weight (kg) — In kilograms (e.g. 3.5)
• Ear tag — In Swiss format (if already known)
• Colour / Marking — Free text describing the animal's appearance

Each young animal form is numbered (e.g. "Lamb / Kid 1", "Lamb / Kid 2"). The bin icon lets you remove an individual form — the Born alive count is adjusted automatically.

To add further lambs or kids, tap Add another lamb / kid. The Born alive count is also increased automatically.

Tip: The ear tag does not need to be entered immediately. You can add it later in the animal profile once the young animal has been tagged.

10. Notes (optional)

Record any special occurrences, e.g. "Lamb had to be resuscitated" or "Triplet birth, all strong".

What happens after saving?

When you save the birth, Herdy automatically carries out several steps:

Automatic animal creation

Every lamb or kid recorded as live-born is automatically created as a new animal in your herd. You do not need to add the young animal separately in animal management.

Pedigree is linked

The parent animals (dam and sire) are automatically stored in the young animal's profile. The pedigree appears immediately in the pedigree view.

Mating status is updated

If you linked the birth to a mating, its status is automatically set to Lambed / Kidded.

TVD birth notification is prepared

Herdy automatically creates a draft TVD birth notification. You will find it under TVD > Notifications where you can review and submit it.

For a multiple birth (twins, triplets, etc.) Herdy automatically flags the TVD notifications as a multiple birth. TVD requires this flag so that the second and each additional young animal can be registered correctly. You do not need to set anything manually.

Tip: After a multiple birth, check the automatically created animal profiles. Herdy carries over all the data you entered, but you may want to add further details such as the exact location.

Litter size

The litter size is calculated automatically and includes both live-born and stillborn lambs or kids. Example: for a triplet birth with two live lambs and one stillborn, the litter size is shown as 3 (2 alive, 1 dead).

Births in the overview

All recorded births appear as a list in the Births tab. Each entry shows:

• Dam and sire
• Birth date
• Number of lambs / kids (alive and dead)
• Birth progress

Tap an entry to view the full details, open the young animals' profiles, or edit the birth record.