Version 1.41 Autumn 2014

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Hubert Smith
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1 Version 1.41 Autumn 2014

2 Contents Installation Instructions... 3 Sheep Manager Enhancements... 4 Unidentified and Slaughter Tagged Sheep... 4 Important Electronic ID s and Slaughter Tags... 8 Setup Flock Marks/Tag Codes... 8 ARAMS Movement Document... 8 Sheep Summary Report... 9 Sheep Import Records... 9 Sheep Holdings... 9 Navigation Rams Not Active Default Date Today or Leave Blank Breeds Inactive Stillborn Lambs Lambing History Reports Electronic Devices BioControl HHR Anilog/HHR Data Logger Tru-Test XR3000 Weighhead Animal Logger Installation Instructions Animal Logger Enhancements Version Virtual Stick Version Page 2

3 Installation Instructions Windows 7 and Windows 8 Operating Systems only Microsoft withdrew support for the Windows XP operating system in April If you still use Windows XP we strongly advise that you contact us BEFORE loading this version of the program. Before you start ensure that you have read about the enhancements. You will not be able to load this version of the program if your licence has expired. If you are getting messages telling you that your licence has expired but you have renewed your contract, take the option File Licence Get Key BEFORE you load this version of the program. Remember to make an up-to-date backup of your Sheep Manager data. Make sure that the Sheep Manager program is closed. The option to install the latest version of the program can be found under Sheep Manager in the Support area of the Farmplan website ( You will need your address and customer number. Follow the on-screen instructions to Download Program Now. The exact procedure will vary according to the version of Windows and browser that you use but just follow the instructions on the screen. You will download a file called setup.exe, supplied by Reed Business Information (our parent company), which should then be Run. If Windows SmartScreen (a warning message) appears to block the installation, click on More Information and then Run Anyway. A black box will appear on your screen during the installation. Ignore it it will disappear when the installation is complete. When the installation is complete go into the program your data will be automatically updated to run with the new version (1.41) of the program. Animal Logger/Virtual Stick if you use these modules on a Mobile Device you should also load the updated CAB files. See Page 15 for installation instructions. Page 3

4 Sheep Manager Enhancements Autumn 2014 Please note that full details of each change to this version of the program can be found in the option Help Sheep Manager Enhancements Autumn If you would like help or more information about any of the changes in the program, please contact Software Support on Unidentified and Slaughter Tagged Sheep Lambs do not need to be tagged until they leave their holding of birth or until they reach the age of either 6 or 9 months (depending on whether they are housed overnight). After this time they must be tagged with some sort of tag and, if they are going to be kept longer than 12 months, they must be given an individual tag rather than a slaughter tag. This means that, while you may not wish to tag each lamb until it requires either a slaughter tag or an individual tag, you still want to record any births/deaths etc. The Sheep Manager program now supports both untagged and slaughter tagged lambs without the need to give them a unique animal record, which allows you to keep the statutory Holding Register details and an accurate Medicine book. Average Lambing Date Before you start to use this option check the Average Lambing Date which is found in the second tab within Setup Business Setup. This will be used as the default date of birth when selling, moving or tagging unidentified or slaughter tagged lambs and we recommend that you use this date for all entries in the same season. We have assumed the 15 th March but you may wish to change this. Births of Unidentified Lambs Unidentified lamb records can be now be entered. As a bare minimum a total number of live lambs born can be recorded. This may be done at the end of lambing or in batches at the end of a day/week etc. They can be left unallocated or can be assigned to particular ewes to update their records (optional). This option can be accessed from the Animal Movements option on the Side Bar or from the Entries Menu. Page 4

5 Level 1 Leave Lambs Unallocated Simply enter the number of live lambs born at a particular location and save the record. Level 2 Allocate Unidentified Lambs to Ewes Enter the details as above and then select the ewes that have lambed from the bottom of the same screen. Each ewe can then be allocated a number of live or still born lambs and her status will be changed to lambed. DID YOU KNOW.You can select multiple animals by holding the CTRL key down and clicking on each animal. Alternatively hold the SHIFT key down and click on the first and last animal in the block that you wish to update. NB if you wish to record the full details of each lamb at the time of birth, including giving the lamb an individual ID and allocating it to their dam, you should continue to use the existing Lambing option either from the Dam s Animal Record Card or by using the Lambing Wizard. Page 5

Identify Lambs Allocate Tag At a later date unidentified lambs must be allocated slaughter tags or individual tags before they are moved or sold.

6 Identify Lambs Allocate Tag At a later date unidentified lambs must be allocated slaughter tags or individual tags before they are moved or sold. The Identify with Slaughter Tag option allows the date tagged, flock mark used and number of animals tagged to be recorded. Alternatively use the option Tag with Individual Tag to complete the full details of each lamb. As part of this process you will have the option to enter dam/sire details. Retag Animals Lambs that have been previously tagged can be retagged either with a new slaughter tag or individual tag. It is not necessary to know the original tag details but if the previous details are known they can be recorded. NB to retag a known animal go to its Animal Record Card and enter the new tag details in Tag History which is found in the Life History tag. If an animal is impossible to identify a new tagging record will have to be created for it using the Retag with Individual Tag option. Page 6

7 Upgrade Slaughter Tags Slaughter tagged animals can be upgraded to have an individual tag. All tagging options are found within the new side bar option Sheep Identifications or from the Entries menu. Sales/Purchases/Movements of Slaughter Tagged Lambs When entering any sale/purchase or movement you are now able to include Slaughter Tagged Animals. You will be asked to enter the number of animals, the holding they are currently on, the breed and to confirm the year of birth. You can also specify the numbers by flock mark if you know it, but this can be left as unknown. Each movement type can be made up of a combination of individually tagged and slaughter tagged animals. Unidentified Lambs/Slaughter Tagged Lambs Numbers Selecting Unidentified Lambs or Slaughter Tagged Lambs from the Sheep Inspector section of the Side Bar will display the running total of these animals on each holding. As lambs are tagged/upgraded/moved etc. the running totals will be updated. Accurate Medicine Book Drug treatments can be made to unidentified and slaughter tagged animals as well as all individually tagged animals to accurately reflect stocks of drugs and Medicine Record Books. Updated Reports The Holding Register, Sales Analysis, Sales Listing, Deaths Analysis and Movement reports have been updated to include details of unidentified and slaughter tagged animals. Lost/Found/Deaths Records can be created for lost or found animals and deaths. These can be unidentified, slaughter tagged or fully identified and will update the running totals. Page 7

8 DID YOU KNOW that you can right click to exclude animals in a filter, for example when selecting them in data entry or for a report. Black Losses - as well as applying to stock that have genuinely wandered off or mysteriously disappeared, this may also apply to those that had lost any identification and have been retagged. To identify which individually identified animals should be marked as lost, read all of your animals with a stick reader. Using the option to Setup - Batches, import all of the animal details from the stick reader and add them to a new batch. Within the Select Animals option in Lost Sheep RIGHT-click on the filter of Groups which will allow you to exclude any animal that is not in the batch - i.e. was not read with the stick. They can then be easily selected and marked as lost. This will not apply to slaughter tagged and unidentified lambs. Any difference in numbers will be simply adjusted by entering the total lost or found. Important Electronic ID s and Slaughter Tags If animals are scanned using any electronic device (stick reader, Animal Logger etc.) the program will assume that they are individually tagged. Slaughter tags contain an individual chip despite only showing the Flock mark on the outside so any electronic device will not be able to detect that they are slaughter tags rather than individual tags. Electronic readers cannot therefore be used to import slaughter tag details into the program. Setup Flock Marks/Tag Codes Flock marks can either be set up from the Setup menu or while you are entering new animal details right click on the Flock Mark box. To save time, mark one of them as the default so that it is normally presented when entering tag details and movements of slaughter tagged animals. ARAMS Movement Document The English movement document for sheep has been updated to the new ARAMS layout. This form should now be sent to the SouthWestern s address in Milton Keynes instead of your local trading standards office. Page 8

9 Sheep Summary Report This is a new report that summarises the number of sheep in each category according to the filters applied for example by breed, holding, on-farm location etc. This includes both identified/unidentified and slaughter tagged animals. It is found in the Report Library under General Reports. NB Due to its layout, the Sheep Inspector report will only include the records of individually identified animals. Sheep Import Records It is now possible to import existing sheep details in the form of a spreadsheet to quickly set up individual sheep records within the Sheep Manager program. The spreadsheet must be created in the correct format and contain the official tag number/breed/sex and date of birth. Optionally it can also contain the dam and sire s official tags. Full details of the exact format of the file can be found in the program s Help. NB this is only relevant to an initial flock set up where records have previously been kept in a different system. Sheep Holdings It is now possible to have multiple main sheep holdings. If you have set holdings up as sub-holdings we recommend that you change them to be main sheep holdings. A separate Flock Register will be produced for each one. NB any activities on a holding marked as within 5 miles of the main holding will be included in the Flock Register of the corresponding main holding. DID YOU KNOW. that you can any report by using a simple tool to convert a report to a PDF document. Search the internet for print to PDF free. There are several free applications available that are easy to download and work as if they are a printer once they are installed. When you want to convert a printout to PDF format go to print the report as normal but change the printer to this tool which will now be in the list of printers. When you print the report it will be produced as a PDF document which can be saved and attached to an . Page 9

Navigation The tree-view structure of the Sheep Inspector options on the Side Bar has changed slightly.

All Categories is now shown at the top of the list and clicking on this will display all animals in the main body of the screen.

The third level, for example Store/Finishing Wethers will just display those animals, as before.

10 Navigation The tree-view structure of the Sheep Inspector options on the Side Bar has changed slightly. The Sheep Inspector is now colour coded to reflect the difference between individually identified sheep and the slaughter tagged and unidentified lambs. All Categories is now shown at the top of the list and clicking on this will display all animals in the main body of the screen. Clicking on each subheading for example Store/Finishing will now list all of the animals in that category. The third level, for example Store/Finishing Wethers will just display those animals, as before. Clicking on the headings of slaughter tagged lambs or unidentified lambs on the side bar will display running balance of the number of lambs of each type which can then be interrogated further to see each entry. The Animal Filters on both the Home Page and the Inspector screens have changed. The left hand filter relates to the ownership of the animals and the right hand filter lists the holdings that they are on. DID YOU KNOW..that you can print the selected list of animals displayed on the screen by going to Print at the top of the screen. Page 10

11 Rams Not Active Breeding sires can now be marked as Active or Not Active. This means that the selection of rams presented at the time of service, or when allocating a sire can be filtered by Active only or to show All. For example you have sold a ram but still have ewes that are still to lamb so he would still be active. The active tick can be removed when you no longer have any need to select this ram. To change the status of a ram click on the Edit button in his Animal Record card. Take the tick out of Active if this ram is no longer used. NB Reference Animals, of either sex, can also be marked as Active or Not Active so that they can be filtered for use as sires or genetic dams. Default Date Today or Leave Blank The program currently assumes that the default date for any entry is today s date unless you override it. You may prefer to have a blank date box so that you are forced to choose the correct date and time to avoid entering the wrong one by mistake. If this is the case go to Tools Options Other Options and choose the option Leave Blank. Page 11

12 Breeds Inactive Breeds can now been marked as inactive even if they have been used at some point in the past. This means that they are no longer offered as a potential breed by default when entering records, for example lambings or as a filter when producing reports. Go to Setup Breeds and remove the tick against Active Breed for the relevant breed. If you do, subsequently, need to use an inactive breed just right click on the Breed selection box to display all breeds. Page 12

13 Stillborn Lambs Lambing History Reports The Lambing History reports can now be filtered to just include non-viable i.e. stillborn lambs. DID YOU KNOW that you can get a list of weights in a single weighing session by going to Reports Weighings Weighings Listing. Page 13

Electronic Devices BioControl HHR 3070 This is a rugged EID logging device that works in a similar way to the Anilog reader and is now available from Farmplan.

It can also import weights from a range of weighheads using a bluetooth connection.

14 Electronic Devices BioControl HHR 3070 This is a rugged EID logging device that works in a similar way to the Anilog reader and is now available from Farmplan. Electronic cattle and sheep tags can be read with a range of exchangeable antennae and used to log actions and events out on the farm. It can also import weights from a range of weighheads using a bluetooth connection. Once back in the office, recorded actions can be imported back into the Livestock Manager program to automatically update your animal records. For more details please contact our sales team on Anilog/HHR Data Logger Default Management Field Extra options have been added to the selection box to allow the selection of Category (i.e. Breeding Ram/Store Finishing Wether instead of Sex i.e. male) as well as either Age or Last Weight. This will be displayed in the Tag 2 field on the Anilog. This option is found in the File Device - Setup Anilog option. Tru-Test XR3000 Weighhead The action Animal Notes is now automatically sent to the Tru-Test so that free typing text can be record on the weighhead and sent back to the program. The notes will be shown on the animal s record card. Alternatively use the notes to record a miscellaneous action and change the action type on import. Page 14

15 Animal Logger Installation Instructions Attach your Windows Mobile Device to your computer and make sure that it has connected. Make sure that you have sent any outstanding actions from your device to your program before you install the new CAB file. Check that you have installed the latest version of the Cattle/Livestock or Sheep Manager program The CAB file is available from the support area of the Farmplan website. Follow the on screen instructions to save the AnimalLoggerversion.CAB onto your computer. (NB You cannot install it directly onto the Device). Save the AnimalLogger CAB file somewhere on your C: drive. Any location such as My Documents will be fine but remember to take note of where it is (To copy a file use CTRL C or right click on the file and select the Copy option). Now re-copy the file, this time from your computer and paste into a folder on your device. Again My Documents is fine but take a note of it as you will need it when you go to the device. (To paste the file onto your computer use CTRL V or right click and select Paste). From the device go to File Explorer (from the Start button or via Programs). Locate the Animal Logger file that you have just saved. Double click on Animal Logger file and follow the on screen instructions to allow the Animal Logger to be installed onto the Device. An installation message will appear on the screen to say that the previous version of the Animal Logger will be removed before the new one is installed. Click OK to accept this. From the Start menu or Programs option on the device, run the Animal Logger program by double clicking on it. This must be done before you send your own data to it to finish creating the necessary files. Resend your animal details from the program to the device. Page 15

16 Animal Logger Enhancements Version Actions Animal Notes are now selected by default to be sent to the Logger so that they can be used for any miscellaneous action that you might have forgotten to select back in the office. The action type can be changed as part of the import if necessary. Reading Sheep Tags The scan tag screen shows the tag in a UK format rather than the EID reference for sheep tags. Bluetooth the Animal Logger now works correctly if Bluetooth is not present or disabled. Cosmetics The layout of some screens have been changed slightly to improve the appearance and bring them in line with the Virtual Stick application. This is particularly applicable to the iman device. Please note this version also includes the enhancements made in March 2014 which included: Enter Births - These can now be done by selecting the Dam and going to the Breeding tab which allows you to Add calves/lambs. This can be used to add multiple births. Read Tags - The layout of this screen has been modified slightly to make it easier to follow Retag Sheep - Scanning a new unrecognised tag now gives the option to Retag which will replace both the official and electronic tag of an existing animal. Select Animal by Animal Number - An additional find/sort option called Animal Number has been introduced i.e. the individual ID of the animal without the herd/flock number. Speed Mode - The layout of this screen has also been simplified but still allows you to set up the default actions and then scan or find animals manually. Bluetooth - EID tags can now be read using the Animal Logger and sent to another device automatically such as certain weighheads using Bluetooth. NB both devices must have Bluetooth functionality. Virtual Stick Version This now functions with Bluetooth turned on or off and has some minor cosmetic changes. This should be installed from our website using similar instructions to the Animal Logger. Page 16

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Installation via the Internet Flock Manager Enhancements - Spring

Contents Installation via the Internet... 3 Flock Manager Enhancements - Spring 2015... 4 Simplified Animal Categories... 4 Home Page... 5 Flock Inspector... 6 Reassign Breeds... 7 Breeds/Locations Active/Default...