This article applies to:
XR5000 weigh scale indicators only
Use 'Days on Forage' to record the number of days animals have been foraging on a particular feed or pasture type. Use this information, together with weights and health data, to better manage animal feed.
When a group of animals are being weighed, the Weigh screen can be set up to display:
A Forage Start Date field. This is the date in the near past when an animal started on a particular feed. This date can be entered during weighing or pre-entered.
The Days on Forage field is a calculated field which displays the number of days since the Forage Start Date and the date of weighing (i.e. today's date).
Set up the Weigh screen to display Forage fields
Set up the Weigh screen to display Forage fields
Tap Settings: |  |
Enable the two fields to display on the Weigh screen: Check Forage Start Date and Days on Forage. |  |
Forage Start Date | Data entry |
Days on Forage | Calculated display field |
The Weigh screen will look like this:
📝 Some fields are designated display fields (bottom left panel) and some are for data entry (bottom right panel).
Using the Weigh screen to monitor forage statistics
Using the Weigh screen to monitor forage statistics
To use the Weigh screen to gather and view forage statistics during weighing:
Set up the Weigh screen with the Forage Start Date and Days on Forage fields enabled, as detailed above.
When an animal steps onto the scale, enter a VID (or scan the EID) of the first animal.
Enter a Forage Start Date and press Enter.
The Days on Forage field will be calculated and displayed in the bottom left panel.
In the example above, animal with VID 123 has been on the same feed since 14/8/24 (26 days).
Press Record to record the weight.
Assigning Forage Start Date to multiple animal entries at once
Assigning Forage Start Date to multiple animal entries at once
Instead of assigning a Forage Start Date on an animal by animal basis often it is more efficient to set the date for a whole set of animals at once (if they all started on a particular forage regime on the same date).
For example: You've done a weighing session and drafted your animals into OK and Underweight. Then you want to split off your underweight animals and offer them supplementary feed starting on a particular Forage Start Date for all underweight animals. |
Splitting the animals into two sessions
Perform a drafting session and draft the animals into, say, 2 groups, OK (100 kg or above) and Underweight (below 100 kg).
📝 For drafting details, refer to Performing a 3-way draft by weight drafting session.
For the current session tap to access your Session > Statistics screen and select all the underweight animals you want to move into a new session.
Choose Recalc Draft > Move animals to a new session...
Changing the Forage Start Date for a particular group of animals
The list of underweight animals can now be examined on the Session Animals screen.
1. Ensure View Session has your new session (listing the underweight animals) selected and tap Session Animals to load.
2. Scroll along the columns of the screen till you see the forage statistic fields.
3. Using the Arrow keys, tab along the column headings and press Enter and select Change “Forage Start Date” for all from the dropdown menu.
4. Enter revised Forage Start Date (e.g. 3 days earlier) and tab to Save and tap Enter.
5. All animals in this session will have their forage statistics recalculated and displayed.
In this example the date was three days earlier than first entered and so the Days on Forage changed from 26 to 29 days.
Auto repeating Forage Start Date for multiple animals in a session
Auto repeating Forage Start Date for multiple animals in a session
When weighing animals and specifying a Forage Start Date, if all the animals in the current session have the same date, you can set the Forage Start Date to repeat for all animals. This saves having to re-enter the data for each animal weighed.
📝 Setting the Forage Start Date to repeat is not suitable if you are drafting on criteria where some animals will NOT require the Forage Start Date assigned to the first animal in the session.
Go to the Settings screen and select Forage Start Date.
Tap Modify to load the configurable settings for the selected field.
Enable Repeat.
Having trouble?
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