Depending on the animal type, you can perform up to 16 different actions for an animal.
Hint
Each action is identified by a symbol. Move the mouse pointer over a symbol in the graphic below and let it rest for a moment. A tooltip appears, presenting information about the respective action. If you click on one of the symbols, you will be forwarded to a description of the respective action.
General procedure
Within the menu Actions you can select the next animal at any time without having to leave the menu item Actions. To select the next animal, proceed as follows:
Select the menu item Actions on the main screen of your VitalControl device and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm by pressing OK and select an animal using the arrow buttons △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu opens in which you will find icons for numerous animal actions. Use the arrow buttons to select the desired action and start the action by pressing the OK button. Depending on the action selected, one or more screens or a pop-up window will appear.
If desired, you can now select and execute another action for the current animal.
After you have carried out the desired action(s) for the animal, return to step 2 ‘Animal selection’. To do this, press the left-hand button F1 below the `Back symbol in the bottom left-hand corner of the footer.
The window from step two will open again automatically and you can select the next animal or return to the main menu by pressing the F1 button below the `Back symbol.
1 - Measure temperature
Measure fever in your animals.
Measure fever
Use the temperature action to measure the temperature of your animals. Insert the measuring tip rectally to the specified measuring depth (for large animals the entire length up to the bulge, for small ruminants approx. 6 cm or 2/3 of the measuring tip). The measuring process runs automatically. As soon as the measurement process is complete, the device displays the measured temperature. The color coding indicates whether the temperature is in the green, yellow or red range. You have a number of options during the Take a temperature campaign:
Save the result to document the measurement animal-specifically
Put the animal on the Watch List. This makes it easier for you to check the repetitions, as you can call up these animals using the ‘observation list’ and thus find the conspicuous animals more easily.
If the temperature is in the yellow area (“elevated”) or red area (“fever”), VitalControl automatically puts the selected animal on the alarm list. By correlating with other data, you can continuously monitor the health of the individual animal.
Preliminary steps
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. The action Temperature is automatically selected. Confirm with OK.
Now carry out the measurement. As soon as the measurement is completed, the temperature is highlighted in blue, green, yellow or red, depending on the threshold set.
Save result
Complete the preliminary steps.
Use the F3 key or confirm with OK to save the result.
Put on the watch list
Complete the preliminary steps.
Press the middle upper On/Off button .
A popup menu opens in which you can select from the menu items Repeat measurement, Add to watch list or Flashlight. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Add to watch list and press the central OK key or the F3 key OK.
Lighting of the measurement location on and off
Complete the preliminary steps.
Press the middle upper On/Off button .
A popup menu opens in which you can select from the menu items Repeat measurement, Add to watch list or Flashlight. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Flashlight and press the central OK key or the F3 key OK.
Repeat the measurement
Complete the preliminary steps.
Press the middle upper On/Off button .
A popup menu opens in which you can select from the menu items Repeat measurement, Add to watch list or Flashlight. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Repeat measurement and press the central OK key or the F3 key OK.
Cancel the action
Complete the preliminary steps.
Press the F1 key to cancel the action.
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
2 - Record weight
Record the weight of your animals.
Record weight
Use the Weighing action to save the weight of your animal individually. To do this, weigh your animals or estimate their weight and enter this value in the VitalControl device. This allows you to check the weight development of your animals and evaluate them individually.
Hint
If the average weight deviates very strongly in one direction (too high/too low), the value for the daily increase should be adjusted.
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to select the action Weighing and confirm with OK.
A menu opens with a weight specification. Increase or decrease this with the arrow keys △ ▽ and save the result with the F3 key or with the OK key.
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
3 - Rating
Rate your animals.
Rate your animals
When rating the animal, you document the condition of the individual animal. The condition is determined visually and recorded with the help of the traffic light system. In the basic assessment, only the general condition is recorded. In the extended evaluation you record the general condition, feed intake, consistency of faeces and respiratory diseases. You can either change the rating mode directly in the Rating action or you can define it in the settings.
Hint
A yellow or red evaluation means that VitalControl classifies the animal as conspicuous and puts it on the alarm list.
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to select the action Rating and confirm with OK.
The rating menu opens. If you want to switch the rating mode, use the On/Off button and the arrow keys ◁ ▷. With the F1 key you get back to the evaluation menu.
Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select a state and save it with the F3 key or the OK key.
In advanced mode, use the F1 and F3 keys to switch between the rating parameters.
Hint
If you do not make a selection using the arrow keys ◁ ▷ but save directly using the F3 or OK key, VitalControl saves a neutral assessment, represented by a gray color.
Basic rating
Extended Rating
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
4 - Apply the chain of action
Applying and setting the chain of action.
5 - Alarm
Add and remove animals from the alarm list.
Alert
With the action Alarm you put animals on the alarm list or remove them from it. The alarm list helps you to find conspicuous animals more quickly and easily, making your daily routine checks easier. To apply the Alarm action, proceed as follows:
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the Alarm action and confirm with OK.
A notification appears that the animal was successfully added to the alarm list and the display for the animal in the header changes. The symbol indicates that this animal is on the alarm list.
You can remove the animal from the alarm list again by applying the Alarm action again. Whether you add or remove the animal from the alarm list by using the Alarm action is indicated with a small + or - sign.
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
6 - On watch
Put animals on the on-watch list or remove them.
On watch
With the action On watch you put animals on the on-watch list or remove them from it. The on-watch list helps you to find conspicuous animals more quickly and easily, making your daily routine checks easier. To apply the On watch action, proceed as follows:
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the On watch action and confirm with OK.
A notification appears that the animal was successfully added to the on-watch list.
You can remove the animal from the on-watch list again by applying the On watch action again. Whether you add or remove the animal from the on-watch list by using the On watch action is indicated with a small ⊕ or ⊖ sign.
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
7 - Animal history
View an animal’s history.
Animal History
The animal history gives you an overview of the data recorded so far and the development of the selected animal. You are free to choose the information displayed. You can also choose whether the history should be displayed as a table or as a diagram. The animal history helps you to see if and when these animals were conspicuous the last time. It also helps to create transparency if several people carry out the animal inspection.
To view the animal history, proceed as follows:
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Animal’s history and confirm with OK.
The information that was set last is now displayed. Use the F3 key to open the selection menu for the information pages.
Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the desired information page. Confirm with the F3 key or with the OK key.
The selected information page will be presented to you.
Use the middle On/Off button to switch between the list and graph display .
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
8 - Edit animal data
Edit data of the selected animal.
Edit animal data
The action Edit allows you to change the animal data of the selected animal directly. This function makes it easier to correct the animal data if, for example, it becomes apparent during the animal inspection that the gender has been saved incorrectly. You can change the following data:
Type of animal
Sex
Birth weight
Breed
Whereabouts
National animal ID
ID
Multiples
Date of birth
Calving ease
To change the animal data, proceed as follows:
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Edit and confirm with OK.
A list with the animal data opens. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the desired change option.
For the data Type of animal, Sex, Birth weight, Breed, Whereabouts, Multiples and Calving ease use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to make the desired change.
For the data ID and Date of birth select them with the arrow keys △ ▽ and confirm with OK. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the corresponding number and the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to navigate within the number fields.
Save the change with the F3 key.
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
9 - Unregister animal
Unregister an animal
Warning
As soon as you delete the animal data record, it is no longer available for evaluation purposes! If you deregister an animal, but want for example evaluate the animal’s development again afterwards, you must retain the animal data record!
Unregister
The action Unregister allows you to deregister an animal as soon as it is moved out. To deregister an animal, proceed as follows:
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Unregister and confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens in which you can save various settings. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the desired setting option. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to select the desired setting.
Use the key F3Unregister to deregister the animal with the specified settings.
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
10 - Link transponder
Assign a transponder to an animal
Warning
This action is not enabled by default! Activate this as described in action settings.
Link transponder
With this action you can assign a transponder to an animal that hasn’t yet been assigned a transponder.
On the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Select the desired animal from the list. To do this, confirm with OK and select the animal ID using the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Link transponder and confirm with OK.
Now scan the transponder that you want to assign to the animal.
The transponder was successfully assigned to the animal.
11 - Animal loss
Register an animal loss.
Animal loss
The action Animal loss allows you to register an animal loss. To register an animal loss, proceed as follows:
In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan an animal using the transponder or select an animal from the list. Confirm with OK and select an animal with the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Animal loss and confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens in which you can save various settings. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the desired setting option. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to select the desired setting.
Use the F3 key to deregister the animal with the specified settings.
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
12 - Unlink transponder
Remove the transponder link to an animal
Warning
This action is not enabled by default! Activate this as described in action setting.
Unlink transponder
With this action you can detach a transponder that has already been assigned to an animal from this animal.
On the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan the animal with the desired transponder or select the animal with the transponder from the list. To do this, confirm with OK and select the animal ID using the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Unlink transponder and confirm with OK.
The transponder was successfully detached from the animal.
13 - Calving
Register a calving
Hint
This function is only displayed for cows, but not for calves or lambs.
If you don’t need this function, you can deactivate it in the action settings menu.
Register a calving
As soon as you have entered the action menu, select the menu item Calving and confirm with OK. Proceed as described in the instructions Registration of a calving.
14 - Dry off
Dry off a cow or add her to the fresh cows list
Dry off
Hint
Depending on the initial status of the cow, you can either dry the animal and add it to the dryer list, or you can mark the animal as a fresh milker and thus add it to the fresh milker list. The distinction between the functions is made clear by a plus symbol or a minus symbol.
Dry off a cow
On the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan the transponder of the animal without the national animal ID or select the animal from the list. To do this, confirm with OK and select the animal ID using the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Dry off and confirm with OK.
The animal was successfully marked as dry.
Mark as lactated
On the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan the transponder of the animal without the national animal ID or select the animal from the list. To do this, confirm with OK and select the animal ID using the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Dry off and confirm with OK.
The animal was successfully marked as lactated.
Hint
If this action is not available, the action has probably been deactivated! Activate the action in the action settings menu. Alternatively, resetting all actions will bring that action back up.
15 - Link animal ID
Assign a national animal ID to an animal that does not have a national animal ID
Warning
This action is not enabled by default! Activate this as described in action settings.
Link animal ID
To assign a national animal ID to an animal that does not have a national animal ID, proceed as follows:
On the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan the transponder of the animal without the national animal ID or select the animal from the list. To do this, confirm with OK and select the animal ID using the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Link animal ID and confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens with all the setting options for the animal data. The setting option National animal ID is automatically selected. Confirm with OK.
Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to set the national animal ID. Confirm again with OK.
Save the settings and return to the main menu Actions using the F3 key.
Link animal ID with electronic ear tag scan
To assign a national animal ID to an animal that has an electronic ear tag, proceed as follows:
On the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Either scan the transponder of the animal without the national animal ID or select the animal from the list. To do this, confirm with OK and select the animal ID using the arrow keys △ ▽. Confirm with OK.
A submenu with the animal actions opens. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ △ ▽ to select the action Link animal ID and confirm with OK.
Now scan the electronic ear tag.
The animal has been successfully assigned an national animal ID.
16 - Action settings
Set the menu items for the Action menu and set the chain of actions
Menu items
In this settings menu you determine which actions are displayed to you within the Actions menu.
On the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Use the On/Off button either directly or scan an animal beforehand.
A submenu opens. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the menu item Menu items and confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens with all the actions you can display. Select the desired action using the arrow keys △ ▽ and confirm with OK. The action will now be displayed or no longer displayed to you, depending on its initial status. A yellow circle marks actions that are shown, a gray circle marks actions that aren’t shown.
If you would like to Enable all + reset order, select the corresponding menu item using the arrow keys and confirm with OK.
Save the settings and use the F1 key to return to the Actions menu.
Chain of actions
In this settings menu you set the Chain of actions.
On the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Actions and press the OK button.
Use the On/Off button either directly or scan an animal beforehand.
A submenu opens. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the menu item Chain of actions and confirm with OK.
or confirm with 
.
key to cancel the action.
button and the arrow keys ◁ ▷. With the 
you get back to the evaluation menu.
indicates that this animal is on the alarm list.
to open the selection menu for the information pages.
to switch between the list 
and graph 
display .
to return to the 
