Ugh, I don’t know anyone who likes recordkeeping. Even blogging about it makes my fingers numb and my brain cells go dormant. However, it’s one of the most important parts of maintaining a healthy herd. Obviously, I am only talking about records relating to herd management. And for the purposes of both reading and writing sanity, let’s limit the scope of these records to routine herd health and not delve into breeding records you need to supply to your customers.
There are all kinds of nifty software programs available now if you like to go the private database route. I have a tiny herd so I don’t find that worth the expense. It’s the “what” not the “how” that is most important. As long as you have the information, it doesn’t matter what system you use to maintain it.
I use a three part system. Before that even makes your eyes cross and your vision blur, it’s really very simple:
1. Calendar: Everything is driven by my calendar. Everything that has to be done gets on here. It’s my trigger to do anything and also allows me to see if I have any conflicts. If I ever lost the stuff on my calendar, I’d be clueless. Nothing would get done, I’d be a disorganized mess, my brain would implode, and next thing you know, they’d find me wandering down the grocery store aisle with a bewildered look on my face, repeatedly whispering “Peanut butter? Peanut butter?” to the air.
Examples of stuff that goes on my calendar: shows, shots, breeding attempts, behavior testing, due dates, shearing, appointments, animal arrivals and departures, follow up
2. Journal : The journal is the spiral bound book that goes with me to the barn and is filled with almost illegible scribbles (the colder the weather the more illegible) that show on each date what happened. It’s like a diary in that it records not only what was done but also the result. I also use it to track traffic of people and animals through the barn. It doesn’t always agree with the calendar. For example, I may have on the calendar to give a shot on that Friday, but I do it on Saturday instead. The journal records what actually happened, not what was planned.
You may wonder why I record who comes and goes. That’s to track exposure. If it ever were to happen that I had a BVD or corona virus event, the journal would be the only record I have that would delineate the timeline for me to figure out the source and who might be at risk. It’s kind of like insurance: Make the effort and hope you never have to use it.
Examples of stuff in a journal: dates and weights of animals, arrivals and departures of people and animals, vet visits and what was done and the results, dates and shots/treatments, breeding activities (breedings, behavior testing etc)
3. Animal Records: After I’ve recorded something in the Journal, everything gets transcribed into individual animal health records. Along with the input from the journal, the animal records also record any events that happen off the farm when they are at another breeder. In addition to herd management details, individual animal records I keep include shear weights, pictures at set periods (usually one-few days old, two weeks, one month, six month, full fleece weanling, shorn yearling, full fleece adult, shorn adult), histograms, BVD PCR, and ARI. I also like to keep a gallon size bag of prime fiber from each year’s shear.
I’m sure other people have slicker ways of doing all of the above but this system suits my current size very well. Plus it can all be done on paper if you’re PC averse or all in soft copy. My calendar is both online and on paper, my journal is hard copy, and my animal records are all spreadsheets. I like to keep all the individual animal records in soft copy (photos, ARI, BVD PCR, and histograms) because I am pro-email and anti-fax. If I had a really large herd, I’d probably go to a software program and a terminal in the barn. You could input from there and the program would organize the data for you, plus it would probably have an internet interface so you could access your records online anytime anywhere. Now that would be sweet.
