This article applies to:
XR5000, ID5000, JR5000 weigh scale indicators
The 5000 weigh scale indicator allows you to set up a customised target weight plan for your herd. By weighing animals regularly, you can determine how an individual animal is performing against a target growth weight.
📝 In order to track an animal's weight against a target weight plan, the animal record must include a Date of Birth and Breed. If you are using farm management software (e.g. Minda), this can be sourced from there.
For assistance with this, click on the Live Chat bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of this screen or email sf-support@datamars.com
There are three steps required:
Step 1 - Set up a target weight plan
Step 1 - Set up a target weight plan
From the Home screen, press Settings and Information to display and record.
Scroll down, select TWT and press Modify.
For each breed, enter an expected mature weight. This will differ according to the breed.
📝 The breeds listed in the target weight plan come from the Breed field. The Breed field can be customised to match the animal breeds on your farm.
In the example below, the herd consists of large Friesian cows, small Jersey cows and some Crossbreeds. Different expected mature weights have been entered for each breed type:
Step 2 - Set up the Weighing screen to display the target weight
Step 2 - Set up the Weighing screen to display the target weight
From the Home screen, press Settings and Information to display and record. Scroll down and enable one or more of the target weight display options:
TWT - displays the target weight for the animal today based on the expected mature weight for its breed.
Off TWT - displays the difference between the live weight and the target weight for the animal today based on the expected mature weight for its breed.
TWT % - displays the % difference between the live weight and the target weight for the animal today based on the expected mature weight for its breed.
In the example below, we have selected all three target weight types to display on the Weighing screen:
Now if you return to the Weighing screen and weigh an animal, the target weight options can be viewed alongside the animal's live weight.
In the example below, the live weight for animal 12 is 277 kg. Her DOB is 01/02/2024 and breed is Jersey.
Her TWT (target weight) is 295 kg according to the target weight plan.
Her TWT is 94% (slightly below the target weight)
Her Off TWT is -18 kg (18 kg less than the target weight).
Step 3 (optional) - Set up to draft animals according to their live weight vs target weight
Step 3 (optional) - Set up to draft animals according to their live weight vs target weight
You can set up rules to draft animals according to their live weight in comparison to their target weight. Here are two examples:
Example 1 - Draft animals below target weight for extra feed or a health check
Example 1 - Draft animals below target weight for extra feed or a health check
From the Home screen, complete the drafting wizard.
To begin, press Settings, Drafting and press Other draft settings.Step 1 of 6 - Turn Drafting ON. Enable Show draft direction on weigh screen.
Step 2 of 6 - Enable Rules based drafting.
Step 3 of 6 - Set the number of ways to Split animals (e.g. 2)
Step 4 of 6 - Select pens or arrows (e.g. arrows).
Step 5 of 6 - Set manual or automatic recording. In this example, we are using automatic drafting.
Step 6 of 6 - Press Finish.
Delete the two default rules so that you start with an empty screen.
To do this, select the first rule and press Delete.
Select the second rule and press Delete:
Press New Rule to create the first rule.
Select a Draft Direction (e.g. left arrow) and type a Label (e.g. Under).
In the remaining fields, select Off TWT, (Less than), then type -10.
Press the back arrow to return to the previous screen.Press New Rule to create the second rule.
Select a Draft Direction (e.g. straight arrow) and type a Label (e.g. OK). Do not change anything on the second row.
Press the back arrow to return to the previous screen:
The rules should look like this:
Underweight animals 10 kg under their target weight or worse will be drafted left. All other animals will go straight)
📝 Draft rules are always processed in the order set (e.g. first rule will be processed first, then second etc).
During weighing, the Weighing screen will look like this:
Example 2 - Draft animals over their target weight for sale
Example 2 - Draft animals over their target weight for sale
From the Home screen, complete the drafting wizard.
To begin, press Settings, Drafting and press Other draft settings.Step 1 of 6 - Turn Drafting ON. Enable Show draft direction on weigh screen.
Step 2 of 6 - Enable Rules based drafting.
Step 3 of 6 - Set the number of ways to Split animals (e.g. 2)
Step 4 of 6 - Select pens or arrows (e.g. arrows).
Step 5 of 6 - Set manual or automatic recording. In this example, we are using automatic drafting.
Step 6 of 6 - Press Finish.
Delete the two default rules so that you start with an empty screen.
To do this, select the first rule and press Delete.
Select the second rule and press Delete:
Press New Rule to create the first rule.
Select a Draft Direction (e.g. left arrow) and type a Label (e.g. Sell).
In the remaining fields, select Off TWT, (Greater than), then type 0.
Press the back arrow to return to the previous screen.Press New Rule to create the second rule.
Select a Draft Direction (e.g. straight arrow) and type a Label (e.g. Keep).
Do not change anything on the second row.Press the back arrow to return to the previous screen:
The rules should look like this:
Animals over their target weight will be drafted left. All other animals will go straight)
📝 Draft rules are always processed in the order set (e.g. first rule will be processed first, then second etc).
During weighing, the Weighing screen will look like this:
