Recording & analysing weights

Weight monitoring is an important tool for breeding assessment and health surveillance. Herdy displays weight development as a chart, calculates daily gain, and warns you when an animal is underweight. This lets you spot early on whether your animals are developing optimally.

Recording a single weight

1. Navigate to Breeding and select the Weight tab.
2. Tap Record weight.
3. Select the animal from your herd.
4. Enter the weight in kilograms (e.g. 45.5).
5. Select the date of the weighing.
6. Optional: Add notes (e.g. "before shearing" or "after alpine summering").
7. Tap Save.

Tip: Record the birth weight directly in the birth form. A dedicated field is provided there. This weight is automatically displayed as the first entry in the weight curve.

Batch weighing

When you weigh several animals at the same time (e.g. at a post-summer weigh-in), batch weighing is significantly faster than recording weights individually.

How to carry out a batch weighing

1. Navigate to Breeding and select the Weight tab.
2. Tap Batch weighing.
3. Select the date — this applies to all weights in the session.
4. Choose the animals you want to weigh. You can either select an existing group or add animals individually.
5. Enter the weight for each animal.
6. Tap Save all.

All weights are saved simultaneously. This saves a lot of time, especially with larger herds.

Tip: For a batch weighing in the barn it is practical to have one person put the animals on the scale while a second person enters the weights on the phone. This is fast and error-free.

Weight chart

The weight chart shows an animal's development as a line graph:

• X-axis: Age in days
• Y-axis: Weight in kilograms
• Blue line: The actual weight data for your animal
• Dashed line: The breed average as a reference value

Comparing with the breed average lets you immediately see whether your animal is growing above or below average.

Requirement for age calculation

For Herdy to calculate the age correctly and display it on the X-axis, the animal's date of birth must be entered. Without a date of birth, no age curve can be created.

Tip: If you do not know the exact date of birth (e.g. for a purchased animal), estimate it as best you can. Even an estimated date produces a useful growth curve.

Growth metrics

Herdy automatically calculates important metrics from your weight data:

Daily gain (g/day)

The daily gain shows how many grams an animal gains per day. It is calculated from the difference between two weighings. This metric is particularly meaningful for fattening lambs and rearing animals.

Example: A lamb weighs exactly 12 kg on day 30 and exactly 30 kg on day 90. Daily gain = (30 - 12) / (90 - 30) = 300 g/day.

Underweight warning

If an animal's weight falls below the breed-specific threshold, Herdy marks the animal with an Underweight badge. This badge is also visible in the animal list so you can quickly identify affected animals.

Possible causes of underweight:

• Insufficient feed supply
• Parasite infestation
• Illness
• Litter size too large (in multiple births)

Tip: An underweight badge is not an alarm, it is a signal. Check the animal, look for possible causes, and act if necessary. Often supplementary feeding or deworming is enough.

Viewing weight data

You can view the weight data for your animals in two places:

From the animal profile

Open the animal in animal management and switch to the Weight tab. There you will see the chart and the complete list of all weighings for that animal.

From the weight list

Under Breeding > Weight you will find a complete list of all recorded weights, sorted by date. Use the filter options to search for specific animals or time periods.

Practical notes

• Weigh regularly: Weigh your animals at regular intervals (e.g. every 4 weeks) so that the weight curve is meaningful.
• Consistent conditions: Weigh at the same time of day and under the same conditions where possible (e.g. in the morning before feeding).
• Lambs and kids: Regular weighing is especially valuable for young animals. A weight plateau or weight loss is an early warning sign of problems.
• Breeding decisions: Daily gain is an important selection criterion. Animals with high daily gain are often genetically valuable for breeding.