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Differences between weights from a Remote WOW system and a standard weighing setup
Differences between weights from a Remote WOW system and a standard weighing setup

The content of an animal's stomach (gut fill) affects its liveweight.

Brad Nieper avatar
Written by Brad Nieper
Updated over a week ago

'Gut fill' is an important consideration when comparing weights recorded using a Remote WOW system and static weights recorded by a standard weighing setup.

What is 'gut fill'?

Gut fill is the percentage of an animal’s liveweight which can be attributed to the contents of its stomach. Gut fill can be affected by:

  • water access and water quality

  • time since feed and/or water access

  • feeding levels and type of feeds

Gut fill can result in animal weights varying between 12-22%. The table below shows how animal weights can vary over time if an animal has no access to feed and water.

How does 'gut fill' affect Remote WOW weights

A Remote WOW system will be located in a paddock where animals have a continuous supply of food and water, therefore, animals may often be weighed when their stomachs are full.

In contrast, animals weighed using a standard weighing setup may have to walk some distance to yards and they could be away from their food and water source for some time.

Using information in the table above, the liveweight of a 600 kg animal away from its food and water source for 12 hours could be up to 24 kg less than if it were weighed with a Remote WOW system.

Why we recommend recording static weights using a standard weighing setup prior to introducing animals to a Remote WOW system

Datamars Livestock cloud software requires two weeks of weights from a Remote WOW system in order to manage variations caused by gut fill and calculate accurate weight assessments. Entering static weights from a standard weighing setup will provide a ‘base line’ of weights, reducing this time by one week.

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